Obama Economy Sheds Another 651,000 Jobs

To be fair, we'll only credit 1.3 million jobs lost this year to Obama. We could be mean and tack on all the jobs lost since he was elected, but since he wants to promote the canard about "inheriting" this mess from Bush, we'll just use the numbers from January and February. Either way, it's bleak.

February marked the fourth consecutive month that the economy has shed more than 500,000 jobs, a pace that underscores the magnitude of the problems facing the Obama administration as it promises to save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.

Last month, President Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus package of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and emergency aid. The first tax credits, in the form of reduced payroll withholdings, are expected to appear on paychecks beginning April 1.

Boy, are we going to live large with that extra $13 a week.

On the bright side, look for Obama and his minions to find a way to capitalize on this good crisis. They can just claim another 651,000 new victims and put them on the gubmint dole.

Meanwhile, one economist dares to say Obama is killing the Dow. No doubt the ballerina will be adding him to the enemies list.

From the poorly designed stimulus bill and vague new financial rescue plan, to the enormous expansion of government spending, taxes and debt somehow permanently strengthening economic growth, the assumptions underlying the president's economic program seem bereft of rigorous analysis and a careful reading of history.

Unfortunately, our history suggests new government programs, however noble the intent, more often wind up delivering less, more slowly, at far higher cost than projected, with potentially damaging unintended consequences. The most recent case, of course, was the government's meddling in the housing market to bring home ownership to low-income families, which became a prime cause of the current economic and financial disaster.

On the growth effects of a large expansion of government, the European social welfare states present a window on our potential future: standards of living permanently 30% lower than ours. Rounding off perceived rough edges of our economic system may well be called for, but a major, perhaps irreversible, step toward a European-style social welfare state with its concomitant long-run economic stagnation is not.