Beltway Insider: Obama, Economic Chief Pitch EOY Fiscal Cheer; WH Presses UI Extension; Claire Davis Dies; ObamaCare Deadlines

President Barack Obama, feeling the heat this week as he was grilled by the White House Press Corps over his EOY account, remained upbeat while all polls and confidence indicators suggest he is closing the year at the lowest point of his Presidency.

According to Gallup, President Obama’s job approval, over the past week dropped one percentage point to 40% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President rose two percentage points to 53%.

President, Economic Chief Pitch End-of-Year Fiscal Cheer

President Barack Obama and Chief Economic Advisor Jason Furman, separately, tackled the media this week, offering a possible preview to the upcoming State of the Union Address as each pressed forth the Administration’s successes.

Furman, White House Chief Economic Advisor, prepped the media for the President’s annual Holiday Press Conference, and presented his fiscal End-of-Year report, a sector by sector overview of the past twelve months.

Presenting the factors that make a stronger economy, job creation, lower unemployment, GDP (Gross Domestic Product), Housing and Energy, Furman began simply by saying “the economy is finishing the year in a stronger place than it began the year.”

Fighting against the residual effects of a global recession, which has been compared to the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the United States has seen unemployment rates in the double digits, and then stuck stubbornly above 8% for forty straight months.

Job and job creation and conversely unemployment numbers are the clearest indicators of a strong economy. In the past year, the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point in five years, a significant milestone.

“We have been adding over 2 million jobs a year for the past several years.  We’ve added 8.1 million private sector jobs in 45 straight months of private sector job growth.  And in the last couple of months, jobs have come in above expectations, subsequently been revised up, and we’ve been seeing about 200,000 jobs per month,” Furman said.

As the economic chief continued with his presentation he was clear, that while the economy has made great strides there is much more to accomplish.

The Housing Market, which is considered part of the Gross Domestic Product, (GDP), had seen a tremendous breakdown with foreclosures skyrocketing, is showing signs of a real recovery.

“Housing has grown now for 12 straight quarters; it’s grown at about 10 to 15 percent per quarter.  Housing starts and permits have now broken the 1 million unit barrier, and there’s still more potential for growth,” Furman said.

Energy was the most surprising sector of growth. After years of the people demanding the government remove dependence on foreign oil the United States is now, for the first time, less dependent on foreign oil, which called for an increase in oil production and equates to less imports. 

“The United States is now the largest producer of oil and gas of any country in the world.  We exceed Russia, we exceed Saudi Arabia.  We have seen a steady increase in our domestic production of oil, a steady decrease in our imports,” Furman said.

President Obama EOY Press Conference

President Obama met with the media, after the lengthy presentation by his Chief Economic Advisor, mixing seasonal tidings and holiday cheer, and emphasized his progress from the past year.

Determining from a list made by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who was naughty or nice, President Obama took questions hoping his jolly spirit would play well to the tough crowed.

It didn’t. The President was repeatedly pressed on the poll numbers and confidence indicators that show his presidency at an all time low.  The season greetings did not stop the reiterating of the clear stumbles, falls and failures of his Administration over the past year.

While both men attempted to play up the benefits of ObamaCare the rollout and public admissions by Senior White House officials of its dismal failures, inability to handle traffic, repeated outages and what is perceived as clear administration lies resulting in party standard bearers publically criticizing his management, made it obvious it was not the Presidents finest hour.

The Affordable Care Act numbers, from all accounts, seem to be progressing and the only message the White house presents is that the health care law is helping the people, the economy, insurance providers, and, either through criticism or praise, the media.

President Obama and Chief Economic Advisor Furman presented a unified message which appears to represent a clear blue print for the upcoming State of the Union Address. The grilling the President endured will fill in the shallow places and create a stronger message as he prepares for January.

White House Presses UI Extension, Federal Reserve Predicts Accelerated Job Growth

Emergency Unemployment Insurance benefits, the 20 week extension which has been in place to assist those who are still facing difficulties securing employment after the initial guaranteed unemployment benefits expire, are set to end.

The recent bi-partisan budget passed by Congress and sent to the president for approval does not include the extension of those emergency benefits.

While all indicators support a decline in unemployment, and with short-term unemployed on average close to the pre-crisis totals, unfortunately it is the long-term unemployed that are the single highest labor demographic.

“The long-term unemployed, which at 2.6 percent is higher than any long-term unemployment rate we've reported from 1948 through the financial crisis. That's a reminder of why extending unemployment insurance benefits is so important,” Furman said.

The White House is stressing the importance of maintaining the emergency benefits.

“We’re working with Congress directly on how we make this happen.  It’s happened in the past.  It happened under President George W. Bush when the unemployment rate was significantly lower than it still is today; when the average unemployed person was unemployed for 17 weeks as opposed to 36 weeks, which is the truth today -- the unfortunate truth,” Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary said.

Federal Reserve Predicts Accelerated Job Growth

The Federal Reserve predicted last week unexpected acceleration in job growth, a strong indicator of a growing and steadily improving economy.

Using those statistics the Fed has release its unemployment projection for the next two years forecasting 2014 to end with unemployment averaging between 6.3% and 6.6% and 2015 estimates the unemployment rate averaging 5.8%-to-6.1% in 2015.

Arapahoe School Shooting Victim, Claire Davis, Dies

Claire Davis, the sole victim of the Arapahoe High School shooting has died. She was 17.

“It is with unspeakable sadness that we write and say that Claire has passed away from the gunshot wound she received at Arapahoe High School on December 13, 2013,” her parents said via a statement posted on the Littleton Colorado Adventist Hospital Facebook page.

“Although we have lost our precious daughter, we will always be grateful for the indelible journey she took us on over the last 17 years—we were truly blessed to be Claire’s parents. The grace, laughter and light she brought to this world will not be extinguished by her death; to the contrary, it will only get stronger.”

They went on to thank all for exhibiting “professionalism, courage and love” and asked for privacy as they grieve.

Arapahoe High School outside of Denver is eight miles from Columbine, the scene of the 1999 school shooting in which 17 students and a teacher were slaughtered. Then, it was unspeakable that a tragedy of such magnitude could happen.  

Fourteen years later mass shootings are commonplace. Now, even after the senseless and unfathomable massacre in Newtown, a senior from Arapahoe assembled an arsenal of weapons, as if he were chasing numbers, and no one knew, no one had any idea of his intentions.

The deeper and more socially responsible question falls on those who knew the perpetrators, had a feeling, thought something was unusual, had conversations that centered on mass casualty or sold the weapons.

Each of those responsible for the horrors compiled an arsenal. Someone somewhere knew something and said nothing or did anything.

Is Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Newtown, so cold in our memories that any person can prepare an arsenal and succeed in carrying out an shocking, overwhelming, terrifying attack that will add another town or school to the all too common lists?

We, collectively as a society, can no longer look the other way.  We should feel responsible and ask ourselves how we can work to stop senseless gun violence. It is up to us, we the people, to petition our government for change. Either they are not listening or we are not speaking loud enough.

ObamaCare Deadlines

The Affordable Care Act, which mandates minimum coverage to all who are uninsured, is nearing the midway point for open enrollment.

As the first three months of the six month open enrollment period ends, all those who are hoping to be covered by January 1, 2014 have until December 23, 2013 to register through The Marketplace.

For all others the final date is March 31, 2014.

 

For more information on President Obama: www.whitehouse.gov   

For more information on the Affordable Care Act: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

Sources: Gallup, Wikipedia, Whitehouse.gov,

 

 

 

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