Obama Misspoke: It's the Public Sector That's Doing Fine

President Obama recently claimed in the middle of a big press conference, that "the private sector is doing fine." Oddly, Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said exactly the same thing six months ago, when pressing to hire more unionised government workers. But really, just how would those two big-government diehards know whether the private sector was doing well? They are so deep up the government colon they wouldn't know a healthy private sector from an outer space alien invasion.

Obama and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid have it precisely backward: It’s the public sector that’s doing fine. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for government workers last month was just 4.2 percent (up slightly from 3.9 percent a year ago). Compare that to private-sector industries such as construction (14.2 percent unemployment), leisure and hospitality services (9.7 percent), agriculture (9.5 percent), professional and business services (8.5 percent) and wholesale and retail trade (8.1 percent). As Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute points out, the public-sector unemployment rate “is the lowest of any industry or class of worker, even including the growing energy industry.” If the rest of Americans enjoyed the same unemployment rate as government workers, Obama would be cruising to reelection.

Meanwhile, the private sector continues to struggle under the weight of Obamacare, the spiraling national debt, the $46 billion in annual costs of the new regulations imposed by Obama, and the looming threat of “taxmageddon” — when, come January 2013, the private economy will get hit with hundreds of billions in higher taxes.

The result? In the first quarter of this year, private-sector GDP grew by a meager 2.6 percent. That is certainly better than the pathetic 1.2 percent growth rate last year, but compared to previous recoveries, it is anemic. When Ronald Reagan ran for reelection in 1984, private-sector GDP grew by 6.5 percent — 2 1 / 2 times the current rate. That’s why Reagan was able to declare “It’s Morning in America again” while Obama can’t.

Obama and Reid may think 2.6 percent private-sector GDP growth is “just fine,” but the 23 million Americans who are unemployed, underemployed or have quit looking for work don’t share their complacency. Unless Obama wants to put them all in government jobs (which he might), the only way to help these Americans find work is to reduce barriers for job creators in the private sector. The election will likely hinge on who Americans better trust to do that.

That is why Obama’s gaffe is so damaging to his prospects for reelection. It feeds a growing public perception — which is being actively cultivated by the Romney campaign — that when it comes to the economy, Obama is out of his depth and hostile to private business. _WaPo Opinion

This mentality of government uber alles -- an amorphous and swelling general dependency upon government for more and more essentials while at the same time as government budgets are being destroyed by out of control government union pensions, pay, benefits, and double dipping -- is killing state and local governments. Of course, if these regional governments could print money -- as Obama's and Reid's central government can -- they might be able to hold out against the taxpayer revolt a little bit longer.

The following video provides a counter-point to this ruinous mentality of government dependency and unlimited government growth. Meet Emily O'Neill, of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity (h/t Daniel Mitchell)



Some people believe it will take something on the order of a "civil war" to clean out the nests of vermin, vipers, and vultures out of all the regional governments.

At that point, it will be time to look to the central government. But before the central government can be reformed, Obama and his band of corrupt and merry radicals simply have to go.