Obama: Hold me accountable for unemployment

[Peter Pan]

President Obama said in an interview Friday that voters should hold him accountable for the struggling economy, but that his policies are restoring it to health.

Obama welcomed voters to judge his administration’s work on the economy as the November midterm elections approach. The economy and jobs consistently poll as the number one issue for voters.

“If somebody’s out of work right now, the only answer that I’m going to have for them is when they get a job. Up until that point, from their perspective, the economic policies aren’t working well enough,” he said in an interview with NBC News. “That’s my job — as president — is to take responsibility for moving us in the right direction.”

Though polls show that the voters are worried about the state of the economy and high unemployment, Obama used the interview to express confidence about his policies and contrast them with Republican ideas.

Obama said he is responsible for instilling the recovery, but stressed that policies enacted by previous GOP-controlled Republicans and former President George W. Bush left the economy in a recession.

“What I’m absolutely convinced of is that we’re going to have a choice, not just in November but for years to come,” he said. “We can go back to all the same policies that got us into this mess, where we basically provide special interest loopholes, we don’t regulate Wall Street, we have a healthcare system that’s out of control, we provide tax cuts to folks who don’t need them and weren’t asking for them.”

Democrats are stepping up efforts to draw a sharp contrast between themselves and the Republicans as they head into a challengeing election. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs stirred up his own party this week when he acknowledged a GOP takeover of Congress was possible.

Asked about Gibbs’s comments, Obama said: “This is going to be a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and my policies that are getting us out of this mess.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) responded on Twitter "POTUS on NBC News: 'I expect to be held accountable on jobs'; Where are the jobs?"

With unemployment still hovering at 9.5 percent, Obama said he would not be surprised if there is a backlash at the polls. (Ya think??)

“What I’m prepared is to be held accountable for the policies that I put in place. But Americans don’t have selective memory here. They’re going to remember the policies that got us into this mess, as well. And they sure as heck don’t want to go back to those.”


Obama: Hold me accountable for high unemployment - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room


I see after being in office for 18 months it is still Bush's fault that we went from under 8% unemployment, pass stimilus and it would not go over 8% and we are at 9.5% this must be Bush's doing no doubt about it he is after all still president, not

[ChasC5]

Everyone knows … 18 months after the Great Depression … Unemployment percentages were back to normal.

So why can’t Obama snap his fingers and make Corporation hire back everyone they laid off?

[Z06PDQ]

Reagan started with 10% unemployment. W's last month in office we lost over 700,000 jobs. [just sayin']

[Y2Kvert4me]

Seems most of his policies are anti-business oriented. Why on earth would he expect a growth in employment to result from that?

Mr President, as a socialist, the only way your policies will ever create employment, is if we all become government employees. Stifling business in a capitalist market does not create employment in the private sector, and never will.

Your best bet is just to hire several million more census takers. Then you can once again brag about how many jobs you created, and hope that line will continue to fool your followers.

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by Z06PDQ

Reagan started with 10% unemployment. W's last month in office we lost over 700,000 jobs. [just sayin']

And what 18 months did all of this happen ... link please ....

Or are you saying it took longer than 18 months ... please clarify.

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

Seems most of his policies are anti-business oriented. Why on earth would he expect a growth in employment to result from that?

Mr President, as a socialist, the only way your policies will ever create employment, is if we all become government employees. Stifling business in a capitalist market does not create employment in the private sector, and never will.

Your best bet is just to hire several million more census takers. Then you can once again brag about how many jobs you created, and hope that line will continue to fool your followers.

So ... what are the Employments numbers over the last 18 months that you are in control of?