Is the economy killing Pres. Obama's chances of a 2nd term?
President Obama's chances of winning a second term may have been downgraded... right along with this country's credit rating.
Consider the recent rough economic news facing the United States:
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- An unemployment rate that remains stubbornly above 9 percent
- A tumbling stock market... down more than 630 points today after a 513 point drop last Thursday
That historic downgrade in our credit rating - the first time ever in U.S. history and it happened on President Obama's watch.
There's also a possibility of a further downgrade if we don't straighten out our debt situation. And that's doubtful after watching the charades in Washington that passed for negotiations on the debt ceiling.
- Economic growth under 2 percent... with many worried we're headed for a double-dip recession
- Home values worth one-third less than they were five years ago.
- Only 58% of working age Americans in the labor force... that's the lowest in nearly 30 years.
- Consumer confidence at two year-lows... and polls showing majorities disapprove of president obama's handling of the economy.
All this is not lost on Republican candidates for 2012... they have already linked President Obama to the S&P credit downgrade and the weak economy and you can believe they will ramp up the criticism as the election gets closer.
Perhaps the only factor working in Mr. Obama's favor is he's got time... the election is still more than a year away.
Suffice it to say if the election was held today he would be back organizing communities.
If the president is going to turn this ship around, he better start soon. Americans who are out of work and seeing their life savings evaporate in the stock market probably don't have much patience left.
Here’s my question to you: Is the economy killing President Obama's chances of a second term?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What will it take to change things in Washington?
(PHOTO CREDIT: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
I guess we should all send Congress thank-you notes. Don't know where to send them, though. They're on vacation ... for five weeks.
Before they rushed through that phony bill on deficit reduction and the debt ceiling, they were told by the ratings agencies that a minimum of $4 trillion in cuts would be necessary to preserve this country's AAA credit rating.
They passed, and the president signed, less than $1 trillion in cuts. We may or may not get an additional trillion or so in cuts from the "special commission"; that remains to be seen. Whichever happens, it's not nearly enough.
In the meantime, while President Obama is celebrating his birthday and Congress is partying it up on vacation, the country has lost its triple-A credit rating for the first time in our history.
Standard and Poor's, one of the ratings agencies, says there's a one-in-three chance the United States’ credit will be downgraded again in the next six months to two years if the government doesn't come up with the cuts necessary to satisfy the current AA+ rating.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is in shock. Markets around the world are selling off as trillions of dollars in valuation are being wiped out. Our stock market is headed straight south, and our citizens are watching as their savings and retirement plans are becoming worth less and less by the hour; a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice disappearing before their eyes. And the president parties and Congress is on vacation.
No one deserves a government that treats its people this way. And none of these people who voted for this deserves to be re-elected. None of them. But sadly, a lot of them will be. The Reids and Pelosis will still be there after the 2012 election, along with many of the rest of the incumbents.
And that's the real problem. The country is being destroyed, and we continue to send the destroyers back to Washington.
I guess in the end, we get what we deserve.
Here’s my question to you: What will it take to change things in Washington?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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