While we were all enjoying our summers, and Blacksburg was a virtual ghost town, our nation’s leaders had quite the roller coaster of a season. We all watched as our representatives and senators in Congress bitterly argued over whether to raise the debt ceiling, and we anxiously awaited for a deal to be struck so that the U.S. could avoid defaulting on its debt. We watched as unemployment statistics all summer long remained bleak, and we all witnessed the first downgrade of America’s credit rating in our nation’s history.
Obviously I could go on an on about how President Barack Obama has been the worst this country has ever seen on all economic fronts (unless you enjoy seeing reckless spending — he is pretty good at that). He relentlessly attacked Republicans for their proposals to cut spending and address the debt, while he failed to produce a plan himself. It was under his watch that S&P downgraded our credit rating for the first time, and it was his party in the Senate that simply didn’t even allow votes on the Senate floor on bills that were passed with bipartisan support in the House. However, as much as I’d love to elaborate on all of these issues, I only have enough space for one article, so I’ll focus on one of our biggest problems: unemployment.
Let’s focus on us college students. According to the Department of Labor Statistics, unemployment for people 20-24 years old, as of July, is 14.6 percent That’s the highest unemployment rate of any age group over 20, which is our age group — a scary thought. Therefore, I have to ask this question: What college student in their right mind could possibly think Obama is handling the economy well?
What, exactly, has this president done to help lower the high unemployment? Nothing. His best attempt was his famous (or infamous) stimulus package of $787 billion passed in February 2009. A report released by the president’s Council of Economic Advisors reported that the stimulus bill would keep national unemployment below 8 percent. We got the stimulus, and unemployment still peaked at over 10 percent. Before it was passed, Nancy Pelosi said, “Every day we don’t have a stimulus, 500 million Americans lose their jobs.” Actually, there’s just over 300 million people in this country, but I’m glad the stimulus kept every single American from losing their job — two jobs in some cases — in one day.
A version of this article appeared in the Aug 25 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Most students except Matthew who drives a hummer
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Yes the economy still sucks, no it's not Obama's fault. For anyone who cares to read what an actual economists take on the situation is: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
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krugman is way too politically motivated to take seriously.
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You mean you disagree with what he ha to say so you'll ignore him. The guy has more knowledge about economics in his little finger than you or I will ever have.
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not at all what I mean, I'm a liberal; just not an extremist like him. I have a background in economics and while I agree the man knows his stuff, when he writes articles he manipulates facts and leaves out significant basic information that if it were otherwise written into his articles would change the entire context. He's a politically motivated economic extremist, don't kid yourself.
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Krugman is a politico and a disgrace to the field of economics.
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Oh boy. Bipartisan support in the house, in Boehner's terms, means that at least 1 democrat supported it. The Republicans did such a ridiculous acting job that it sickens me. They actually tried to convince the public that they were proposing reasonable measures and all those nasty Democrats had to do was agree with them, but they just wouldn't do it.
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This example of 'bipartisan support' had 5 democrats and 229 republicans vote for it...
I don't see what part of that is bipartisan at all.
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Exactly my point. If politicians didn't try to spin everything, there'd be no need for sites like factcheck.
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This example of 'bipartisan support' had 5 democrats and 229 republicans vote for it...
I don't see what part of that is bipartisan at all.
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every president goes on vacation. often, their vacations coincide with a politically disappointing time, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't take a vacation. I don't think anybody can do the job of the president and not once take a vacation in 4 years.
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President's vacation days at this point in their terms:
Obama: 71
Bush Jr.: 180
Clinton: 28
Reagan: 112
All Presidents take vacation. By this count, Republicans spend way more time on vacation.
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Oops... You made a tiny mistake there...
Vacation=not working
Vacation days at this point in their terms:
Obama: 85
Bush Jr.: 18
Clinton: 28
Reagan: 42
Camp David and Bush's Crawford ranch and the Reagan ranch were fully operational workspaces. Martha's vineyard and the golf course are not.
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Oh my. 2 major flaws in this article (amongst many smaller ones).
Let's start with : "Let’s focus on us college students. According to the Department of Labor Statistics, unemployment for people 20-24 years old, as of July, is 14.6 percent That’s the highest unemployment rate of any age group over 20, which is our age group — a scary thought. Therefore, I have to ask this question: What college student in their right mind could possibly think Obama is handling the economy well?"
Matthew... Care to defend this statement? I'm not sure you understand how the unemployment rate is calculated and even if you do; simple logic is obviously a foreign concept to you.
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And then this just seals the deal:
---"He eventually gave one of my favorite quotes that he has ever said: “Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable…” What part of $14.3 trillion seems “little” to this man"---
This is just a downright terrible article. You're expressing a lot of strong beliefs but at the same time offering no supporting evidence to prove your points. But this excerpt is something worse and I hope someone at the CT takes note and doesn't let you embarrass yourself, the paper, or VT anymore by writing another column.
When you try to mock someone for not doing their job and having no clue what their doing, its pretty ironic (and telling) that you'd exaggerate a statistic (US credit card debt) by ~1,800%.
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Partisan dribble.
Partisan hacks like yourself, Mr. Hunt, are exactly what America needs OUT of the political environment... and especially the economic discussions.
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I think Obama actually did well in the debt cielling negotiation. I think he showed remarkable restraint and refused to take the bait and invoke the 14th Amendment. If he did, he would have been impeached. I don't believe he would have been removed from office but I think it would have been a huge distraction and we would have Rick Perry or/aka George Bush III for President. I am cautiously optimistic that he will have introduced into congress this September well thought out legislation to improve employment. Let the Tea Party vote it down and let Obama do what he does best, campaign on it.
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"It was under his watch that S&P downgraded our credit rating for the first time" - Matthew Hurt
Using Matthew Hurt's low-level logic
September 11th happened under George W. Bush - - so Sept. 11th is 100% his fault.
Bush=terrorist
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By the looks of it, it seems like a lot of people here would still vote for Obama given his track record. If that happens,this country deserves to fail since people seem to vote for failure. I'm sure Obama is a nice guy but we're in a dire situation that needs somebody in office who knows what they are doing.
Liberalism (especially economic) is a mental illness. Isn't insanity doing the same thing over expecting different results? Why another stimulus? Why more spending/debt?
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"Isn't insanity doing the same thing over expecting different results?"
Sort of like renewing the tax cuts for the rich even though they destroyed our economy?
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The Obama Administration pays more than $74 million in interest payments to China everyday; the U.S. is paying China $833 dollars every second.
And We could pay off China faster, IF the tax cuts for people making $200,000+ could expire/end...BUT Republicans won't vote to extend the tax cuts for people making less than $200,000-, UNLESS tax cuts for the $200,000+ remained. Which party is representing whose side??
Mr. Hurt's arguments are filled with straw-man arguments and plain logical fallacies......very sad. It will hurt his political career in the long run....or lack thereof!!
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If you think the president - past, current, or future - has so much power over the economy, you are a fool. "Liberalism (especially economic) is a mentall illness"??? You come across as yet another partisan hack throwing out ridiculous verbage while at the same time being unwilling to take a step back and look at the whole picture.
This is why our country is on the path to failure, as you suggest. Yes, those currently representing us in government leave a lot to be desired, but we as a country put them there. We as a community are responsible for the divisiveness that exists in our society today, both in the votes we cast and the anonymous comments we leave on articles in student newspapers, among other things.
But, hey, it's the other side's fault, not ours...right???
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"We as a community are responsible for the divisiveness that exists in our society today, both in the votes we cast and the anonymous comments we leave on articles in student newspapers, among other things.
But, hey, it's the other side's fault, not ours...right??? "
which is why I said-
"If that happens,this country deserves to fail since people seem to vote for failure. "
If we vote for a president Republican or Democrat that has not brought about positive changes at all, they should be one and done. Just look at the job performance polls, most people are obviously not happy with what we have. Therefore those who are and presumably those who plan to vote for Obama are content with the "current state of things" = failure. Which is why I said if people vote for failure, then this country deserves nothing more than failure since we are the ones who put these fools in office.
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