In yet another example of President Obama’s disconnect over what is important to the electorate and the American people, he will be delivering a major speech on climate change at Georgetown University this Tuesday.
The President is expected to lay out a bunch of executive actions (what else is new?), one of which may be even more regulations for existing power plants.
One has to wonder what in the world Valerie Jarrett and Dan Pfeiffer are thinking in believing this is an issue anybody cares about, outside of the core base of Obama supporters. In fact, in the latest poll available by CBS, voters were asked about priorities:
Not surprisingly, climate change is nowhere to be found. It may be tucked in the “other” category, but since an issue needed 3% to make the list, climate change probably ranks up there with keeping cowboy poetry fully funded.
Rather than bothering with marginal issues the majority of the public has no interest in, the President would do well to start focusing on the following areas of his administration:
1. GDP Growth – Since 2011, the average GDP growth in the United States has been an anemic 1.9%, despite Americans being told over and over that we’re in the midst of a “recovery.” It may be a recovery, but it is the slowest economic recovery since World War II.
2. Job growth – The administration and its supporters are convinced job growth is fine. The latest jobs report showed growth of 175,000 jobs, which sounds good on the surface. However, job growth during the Obama administration has been relatively poor. Much of the reduction in the unemployment rate can be attributed to a shrinking workforce. The 7.6% rate of unemployment would actually be 11.3% if the labor participation rate were the same as it was in 2009. The percentage of the population with a job sits at 58.6% — a 30 year low.
3. Over-regulation – Obama’s ramp up of regulations has cost the country plenty in expenditures and lost productivity. Heritage explains:
In our “Red Tape Rising: Obama-Era Regulation at the Three Year Mark” report, James Gattuso and Diane Katz detail how the Obama Administration has imposed new regulations costing $46 billion annually, with nearly $11 billion more in one-time implementation costs. That is about five times the cost of regulations imposed during the first three years of President George W. Bush’s administration, but the burden is even higher. The red tape of the past three years helps explain why the economic recovery has been so slow and job creation so anemic.
4. The Obamacare Effect – Bottom line: It is costing the country jobs. Remember when Nancy Pelosi promised Obamacare would create 4 million jobs? Not even close. A Gallup survey of small businesses revealed the following:
The most recent evidence comes from a Gallup survey of small businesses, commissioned by the Littler Mendelson consulting firm. Gallup found that more than four in 10 companies have frozen hiring because of Obama-Care, and almost one in five have cut workers to minimize the cost of the law.
Another 38% said they’d “pulled back on their plans to grow their business.”
Meanwhile, just 9% thought ObamaCare would be good for their business.
5. Corporate taxes are too high – Mike wrote a great post about Apple and how they do the best they can for their shareholders. For some reason, this irks Democrats. President Obama, during the 2012 election cycle, did put forward a plan to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% in exchange for closing some loopholes. That plan was jettisoned to the wayside after Obama won. Beholden to his left-wing base, he has thus far refused to discuss lowering the corporate rate, despite bipartisan support. The Brookings Institute, not exactly a bastion of conservative politics, agrees.
The President has steadfastly refused to push or work with Congressional Republicans on pro-growth policies. Since his own stimulus package failed, the chances of even more “jobs bills” (aka spending bills) hitting his desk for his signature are near zero.
Instead, he has chosen to burn his political capital on issues like gun control, immigration reform, and now, climate change. While this has given life to his liberal base, it makes little sense from a policy standpoint.
President Obama is six months into his second term and has shown little to no interest in tackling any of the issues that truly matter to people. Where is that laser-like focus, Mr. President?