The problem with Obama

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Obama was walking on political air in March after his bravura performance drove health care reform through Congress -- a victory no previous Democratic presidents had savored.

He then clinched a nuclear arms reduction deal with Russia, and proved his growing global clout by bringing world leaders to Washington for a nuclear summit.

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On Thursday he insisted in a CNN interview: "this is the best job on Earth."

And White House spokesman Robert Gibbs rejects the media narrative that the oil crisis will crimp Obama's agenda.

Some facts also bolster the White House case.

Despite the media fixation on the oil spill, Obama looks set to add several legacy filling achievements in the coming weeks.

It seems likely he will have a sweeping financial reform bill to sign before the July 4 holiday, and his second Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan looks set for a trouble-free confirmation.

Most opinion polls still show Obama at just below the crucial 50 percent barrier -- making him much more popular than his political foes.

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By Robert Reich, Guest blogger / June 5, 2010

We’re falling into a double-dip recession.

The Labor Department reports this morning that the private sector added a measly 41,000 net new jobs in May. (The vast bulk of new jobs in May were temporary government Census workers.) But at least 100,000 new jobs are needed every month just to keep up with population growth.

In other words, the labor market continues to deteriorate.

The average length of unemployment continues to rise – now up to 34.4 weeks (up from 33 weeks in April). That’s another record.

More Americans are too discouraged to look for a job than last year at this time (1.1 million in May, an increase of 291,000 from a year earlier.)


Of the small number of jobs created by the private sector in May, many came from temporary help services.

Which is one reason why the median wage continues to drop.

Why are we having such a hard time getting free of the Great Recession? Because consumers, who constitute 70 percent of the economy, don’t have the dough. They can’t any longer treat their homes as ATMs, as they did before the Great Recession.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Robert-Reich-s-Blog/2010/0605/US-is-falling-Into-a-double-dip-recession

After nearly two years of job losses, the economy has now added jobs in five of the last six months. With upward revisions for both March and February, there has been a gain of 573,000 jobs since the start of the year.

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