A recent
Bloomberg poll shows that most Americans know very little about recent economic activity in the U.S.
For example, the average citizen doesn't realize that:
- The Obama administration has cut taxes for middle-class Americans,
- The government expects to earn a profit on the Wall Street bailout money; and
- The economy has grown for more than a year.
In truth, though, President Obama has cut taxes by $240 billion since taking office in January 2009. That $700 billion financial rescue package for banks and Wall Street firms will net the government a tidy return on taxpayers' money. And the economy has actually expanded for the past five consecutive quarters.
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=950755&pid=950754&uts=1288819649
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Recent Obama Photos
NOVEMBER 2: In this photo provided by the White House, President Barack Obama makes a midterm election night phone call to U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) from his Treaty Room office in the White House residence, November 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Boehner is positioned to become the next Speaker of the House with the Republicans' big gains in the midterm elections.
Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images
FR48174 AP
BlackVoices.com
Recent Obama Photos
NOVEMBER 2: In this photo provided by the White House, President Barack Obama makes a midterm election night phone call to U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) from his Treaty Room office in the White House residence, November 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Boehner is positioned to become the next Speaker of the House with the Republicans' big gains in the midterm elections.
Recent Obama Photos
U.S. President Barack Obama holds a news conference, the day after Republicans gained 60 seats in the House of Representatives during the midterm elections, in the East Room of the White House November 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. As of the morning of Novmber 3, the Republican party had won 239 seats in the House, giving the GOP control of the chamber for the first time since 2006. The power shift could jeopardize Obama's legislative plans for the next two years.
Recent Obama Photos
President Barack Obama walks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, towards the East Room for a news conference the day after the midterm elections.
Recent Obama Photos
President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House November 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. Obama would not concede Wednesday that a Republican election rout marked a massive repudiation of his agenda, but did shoulder the blame for deep voter frustration over the economy. Hours after Republicans captured the House of Representatives and slashed the Democratic majority in the Senate, a subdued Obama said in a White House news conference that voters were mostly preoccupied with the slow recovery.
Recent Obama Photos
President Barack Obama holds a news conference, the day after Republicans gained 60 seats in the House of Representatives in midterm elections, in the East Room of the White House November 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. As of Tuesday morning, the Republican party had won 239 seats in the House, giving the GOP control of the chamber for the first time since 2006. The power shift could jeopardize Obama's legislative plans for the next two years.
Recent Obama Photos
A woman gives President Barack Obama a hug as he makes a final get-out-the-vote push for Democratic candidates during a rally at Cleveland State University, in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010.
Recent Obama Photos
First lady Michelle Obama and U.S. President Barack Obama greet trick or treaters and their parents at the White House October 31, 2010 in Washington, DC. The Obama's greeted children and military families at the North Portico to celebrate Halloween and to trick or treat across the North Lawn.
Recent Obama Photos
President Barack Obama (L) and First Lady Michelle Obama (R) hand out treats to local children and military families for Halloween on October 31, 2010 at the White House in Washington, DC.
Recent Obama Photos
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hand out Halloween treats as they welcome children from Washington area and military members and their families to trick-or-treat at the White House, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010 in Washington.
Recent Obama Photos
Rapper Common performs at President Barack Obama's 'Moving America Forward' Rally October 31, 2010 at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. President Obama has been traveling the country campaigning for Democratic candidates leading up to Tuesday's crutial midterm election.
Recent Obama Photos
I'm not surprised that those interviewed for a national Bloomberg Poll aren't seeing the big picture. It's tough to think about the gross domestic product and economic output when your job may be threatened (or perhaps you're already out of work), you're struggling to pay your mortgage (or maybe you're already in foreclosure), and you're watching your investments slowly dwindle (that is, if there's anything left at all in your battered 401(k) plan).
Related:
+Immigrants
Top Native-Born Americans in Finding U.S. Jobs
+Which
Credit Report or Credit Score is More Important?
But let's not portray Americans as dopes. The average U.S. voter isn't going to be concerned with broader economic statistics and outcomes. They want to know -- rightfully so -- when their own personal economy is going to be on the mend.
Unfortunately, the results of this Bloomberg poll turned into bad news for the Democrats in the midterm elections.
Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, an award-winning financial news journalist and former Wall Street Journal reporter for CNBC, has been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, and the New York Times, as well as magazines ranging from Essence and Redbook to Black Enterprise and Smart Money. Check out her New York Times best seller
'Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom.'
Leslie Odom Jr.: We Are Not All Artists the Same
Kanye West & Beyonce Lead BET Award Nominations
Comments: (54)
Add a comment
By: Mimi on 11/03/2010 6:43PM
THE WORLD IS WATCHING THE REPUBLICANS.
IT'S TIME FOR THE REPUBLICANS TO DO SOME REAL WORK FOR A CHANGE AS OPPOSED TO B'CHING AND MOANING.
AMERICANS ARE LOOKING TO THE REPUBLICANS TO CREATE JOBS (IN AMERICA AS OPPOSED TO OVERSEAS).
DON'T TRY TO FABRICATE ANOTHER WAR TO GET OUT OF CREATING JOBS. WE ALREADY KNOW HOW THAT PLAYED OUT DURING THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION.
THE REPUBLICANS DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT JOBS THAT'S WHY SO MANY JOBS WERE SENT OVERSEAS. THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION KEPT ALL YOU DUMB REPUBLICANS SCARED OF THREATS OF TERRORISM, WAR AND BIN LADEN. THERE WAS NEVER ANY TALK ABOUT THE MILLIONS OF JOBS THAT LEFT THE COUNTRY AND WENT OVERSEAS. THE ONLY TALK COMING FROM THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAD TO DO WITH THE WAR AND TERRORISM.
BUSH NEVER FOUND BIN LADEN BECAUSE HE WASN'T LOOKING FOR BIN LADEN. BUT WHEN THERE WAS AN ELECTION BUSH COULD ALWAYS GET A HOLD OF A BIN LADEN TERRORIST VIDEO JUST TO SCARE THE DUMB REPUBLICANS WITH. BIN LADEN, THE WAR AND TERRORIST WERE AN ASSET TO THE REPUBLICANS DURING THE BUSH YEARS.
THE REPUBLICANS WERE REALLY MAD AT PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR SENDING THE TROOPS HOME IN IRAQ. THAT'S WHEN THEY REALLY STARTED GOING CRAZY BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT IF THE WAR ENDS THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO CREATE ANOTHER ONE SO THEY CAN HIDE BEHIND IT AS OPPOSED TO DOING ANY REAL WORK FOR AMERICANS.
REPUBLICAN JOHN MCCAIN SAID IN 2008, THAT HE HOPES THE WAR LASTS 100 YEARS. I KNOW HE IS NOT THE ONLY REPUBLICAN TO FEEL THAT WAY. LET'S FACE IT THE REPUBLICANS WERE GETTING PAID BIG TIME ON GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS (AKA CORPORATE WELFARE) FOR THE WAR, WHILE EVERYONE ELSE WAS LOSING JOBS, HOMES, 401K PLANS, HEALTH INSURANCE, ETC. THE WAR IS WHAT CAUSED THE DEBT TO GO UP INTO THE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
NOW LET'S SEE WHAT THOSE REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO DO NOW THAT EVERYONE IS WATCHING THEM TO SEE JUST HOW THEY ARE GOING TO CREATE JOBS, WITHOUT INSTIGATING ANOTHER WAR TO HIDE BEHIDE.
ALL EYES WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE REPUBLICANS NOT PRESIDENT OBAMA...BUT THE REPUBLICANS.
THE REPUBLICANS DON'T KNOW IT YET, BUT THEY PLAYED RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE DEMOCRACTS FOR 2012.
Report This
By: BlackAustrian on 11/03/2010 6:31PM
Before you can help the economy, you have to understand the economy. I don't expect President Obama to know much about economics (since he's never run a business and apparently didn't study business), but he can at least surround himself with people that have opposing views on economic policy. His advisers are the absolute WORST!
The reality is that there is no such thing as "THE Economy". No matter how much DC tries to manipulate, manage, and align national industries, their efforts always have and always will end in some perverse distortion. THE economy is simply not real. What IS real is that we have a local area, a state, and a nation that contains MILLIONS of individuals making economic decisions to support their individual interests.
There are 'economic indicators' that can be used to describe the PAST behaviors of these millions of individual decisions, but it in no way describes a national or even a regional economy.
The BEST thing President Obama can do is to fire his entire economic team (since their just a bunch of mathematicians and policy administrators), downsize DC by at least 1/3, eliminate the federal gasoline tax and give the interstate system to the states, end ALL of the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Poverty, Drugs, Homelessness, etc) and limited conflicts, and end all federal efforts at price fixing (subsidies, tariffs, etc.).
Today, the Federal Reserve Bank announced that over the next year, they would ease credit by injecting nearly $900 BILLION into the banking system in hopes of encouraging banks to lend. I will go on record today, Nov 3, 2010 and say that this will FAIL and will produce a result that's nearly identical to the 2008 collapse.
Standby for banking failure Part II....
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: BlackAustrian on 11/03/2010 7:44PM
Alexis, When I saw that you posted a link to a NY Times article by Paul Krugman in response to Tom Truth (an odd name to be sure), I dropped to my knees and prayed to Buddah, Jesus, Allah, and Moses that you would comment on my post wish a similar reference. I don't know who answered my prayers, but I thank them with every ounce of gratitude that I can muster!
I'll begin by saying that referencing, and even worse, QUOTING, Krugman is NOT a sign of intelligence. Rather, it's a sign a Pavlovian reaction by someone who has chosen to substitute someone else's magic for sound economic reasoning vice researching economic theories to develop their own understanding.
The problem with your Krugman quote (no, I'm not going to waste precious seconds out of my life reading a Paul Krugman article) is that he is superficial in his assessment. No surprise there since he's made a career out of being superficial--even won a Nobel Prize for his superficial explanations! (BTW, the Nobel Prize has been officially discredited from relevant to real achievement because of Krugman's award.)
Krugman never speaks of underlying causes of economic decisions: govt policy, interest rates, discount window rates, total money supply, and the true impact of deficits and debt. He is an avid believer and follower of Keynesian economics, a theory that works wonderfully for short-sighted politicians, but ultimately ends in the death of prosperity and production. There are glaring flaws in the Keynesian theory (for instance, replacing the loanable funds market for a central bank centric liquidity preference) that Krugman cannot explain with any level of expertise, but what he does is maintain his op-eds on a very superficial level so that they will appeal to those who are also superficial (and most often extremely ignorant in economics).
BTW, I'm not an advocate of tax cuts--cutting is much too mild of a term. I'm in favor of ELIMINATING spending line items altogether which would in turn eliminate the need for taxes. Furthermore, I will never advocate that one party is any better, and more specifically and different, than the other. Again, that's a very superficial and condescending line of thinking that I will have no part in. The sooner people realize that there is no difference between the two parties, the sooner we'll have real progress.
Report This
By: bestausweh on 11/03/2010 10:23PM
"The BEST thing President Obama can do is to fire his entire economic team " and hire some working class people.
These are the people who have had to really manage a budget to stay alive through out this whole debacle of wars created, while family members returned home injured to face cuts in veteran health care and healthcare, job loss and every thing else the rich forgot about as soon as they received their secured financial and power positions in the Congress.
Lofty economic THEORIES are such a luxury to contemplate when you are not starving to death.
Report This
By: Helena on 11/04/2010 10:26AM
I agree most folks either do not realize or hate to admit that President Obama has done an awesome job considering the mess he entered into. The auto industry is improving thanks to President Obama's intervention and assistance. Federal cuts. Wage cuts in government starting with his own staff. Withdrawing Iraqi troops. Full report of war events instead of what the media want us to hear. Cash for clunkers. Equal pay for women.
This is a small fraction of what the President has enforced and/or implemented. Let's hear more of these things media and special interests groups!!! I am tired of the negativity! You can't discuss his blunders without including the blunders of the Repubican Party under the Bush Administration!!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Real deal on 11/03/2010 6:43PM
Mr. Truth need you be reminded that it was the republican party who got us here. to say that President Obama's policies have kept this countries economy sluggish is like saying you don't need to put out a fire before rebuilding. Anyone who expected an overnight fix, well it was just fantasy. The president has pointed us in the right direction but some are so full misguided hate they can't see the forest for the trees.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: BlackAustrian on 11/03/2010 6:42PM
TT: It's not all President Obama's fault. He is simply the continuation of a long line of POTUS office holders who have permitted bad fiscal, monetary, and economic policies. In many regards, he has done very little to differentiate himself from President Bush. One difference has been that Bush gave excess cash to his political supporters in the defense contracting sector, but, based on your comment, Obama has channeled funds to unions and the like.
I wouldn't be willing to bet even the smallest amount on Republicans being willing or able to change any of the issues that they are supposedly being elected on.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: bobbie cornett on 11/03/2010 6:44PM
I know president Obama and Michelle are very intelligent and proud people, and probably don't like to fail. I hope he realizes that he is not rejected because he is not doing a grand job... but the deep seated hatred in this country will never die. I hope they enjoy their lives. This country is in for a rough ride. This period, already messed up before he took office, will likely be the best time we will have before this place shut down. They're not only rejecting pres. Obama...but also former pres. Clinton. Can you name me anyone else who was as good for the economy as he was? I rest my case. God said, my people are destroyed because of the lack of knowledge.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: JULES on 11/03/2010 7:17PM
You all are witnessing the fall of "rome" in the 21st Century. To the majority it's worth it to keep the minority at bay even at their own peril. OBAMA is a messenger, he will be fine!! There are those out there who would crucify JESUS again even knowing he is the savior. YOU ALL BE BLESSED. You didn't create yourselves and you have no control over what will happen. Those GOP and tea party clowns will not stop, but will fade out with the ruins after having destroyed all of our futures!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: MMitchell on 11/03/2010 7:22PM
President Obama, didn't make the MESS but the people are blaming him, for BUSH'S MESS. I bet that the republican WON'T and WILL NOT do a better job. They were the reason for this MESS. I saw the brewing to mortgage market happening. In the early 2000's, WAKE-UP people, we will be in this MESS FOR YEARS. The Republican JUST WANT TO FATTEN THEIR POCKETS. AND BLAME EVERYONE ELSE.
Reply to this Comment | Report This