It all comes back to the stimulus

Obama will be held accountable for his policies, all right, which is why
he is running around the country pumping the Recovery Act at
every battery plant he can find. It’s good politics, because tangible
results are what Americans are thirsting for in a terrible economy where nearly
18 percent of workers are either un- or underemployed. The problem is,
there just haven’t been enough examples of stimulus working because most
Americans don’t know where the money went, don’t believe it created jobs and
don’t believe it will in the future. After promising the Recovery and
Reinvestment Act would keep unemployment from reaching higher than 8 percent,
that is exactly what unemployment did after the stimulus program was
enacted.
 
A CBS poll out this week found
that two-thirds of the public think the president’s economic policies have had
no effect on the economy, only 13 percent think they have helped and 23 percent
believe Obama’s policies have hurt them.
 
Since the stimulus package was enormously expensive and was the very first
thing Obama did in office, I explained in my column this week why
I believe the troubles the Obama agenda ran into all began with the stimulus.
He may spend the rest of his presidency defending it, but at this point
Democrats can’t mention it on the campaign trail and the public isn’t buying
it.
 
Indeed, voters will hold Obama accountable for the stimulus at the polls this
fall.
 

IS REGULATORY REFORM A VICTORY FOR OBAMA? Ask A.B. returns
Thursday, July 22. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your
questions and comments to askab@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com.
Thank you.