Zoo animals and art exhibits are “interesting.” Chronic unemployment is not—unless you’re President Obama.
In a Google+ video conference Tuesday, President Obama told a Texas woman that it was “interesting” that her husband couldn’t find a job. The woman, Jennifer Weddel of Fort Worth, wanted to know why it was so difficult for her husband, an engineer, to find a job.
President Obama proceeded to lecture her that it should actually be quite easy for her husband. “As a basic matter,” he said, “there’s a huge demand for engineers.”
When Jennifer said that just wasn’t true, he responded with the coolness of a detached professor, intrigued by a complex case study: “It’s interesting to me…”
Jennifer’s husband is a semiconductor engineer, so Professor Obama explained that “the word we’re getting” is that an engineer in that field “should be able to find something right away.”
Jennifer put it best: “I just think I stumped him a little and he wanted me to hush about it,” she later said in an interview.
For three years, the American people have been suffering under the Obama economy. Jennifer’s husband is hardly alone. 13 million people are out of work. Millions more cannot find enough work.
The president, meanwhile, has made things worse. His stimulus failed, and his regulations, mandates, and threats of tax increases have made it more difficult for job creators to hire workers. When someone dares to speak out, he wants them to “hush about it.” Americans need jobs, but Obama is just out to save his.
This detachment is nothing new. We saw it in the State of the Union—when the president repeated old, broken promises but gave no mention to the millions of unemployed Americans he’s ignored or the trillions of dollars in debt he’s created.
We saw it also with the Keystone energy pipeline. America had an opportunity for a source of affordable, secure energy, but the president blocked it. We had a chance for 20,000 new jobs, but the president said no. He was more interested in pleasing a small cadre of vocal political supporters than listening to the needs of Americans.
Jobs? Deficits? Energy? Debt? “Hush,” he wants to say. “I’m running for reelection.”
Instead of taking responsibility for the failing economy, President Obama casts blame elsewhere. Difficult job market? “That’s not the word we’re getting.” If someone is out of work, Obama insists it’s not his fault. He assumes there’s something wrong with the unemployed.