In response to a question about whether Mr. Obama underestimated how difficult it would be to fix the economy, Mr. Obama said, “I always believed that this was a long-term project.”
“For individual Americans, who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. Reversing structural problems in our economy that have been building up for two decades, that was going to take time. It was going to take more than a year. It was going to take more than two years. It was going to take more than one term. Probably takes more than one president.”
Mr. Obama also said it was “possible” the unemployment rate could fall from its current level of 8.6% to as low as 8% by November 2012.
While Obama claims that he's focused on the economy, his policies are the biggest roadblocks to job creation - something Wisconsin small business owners know all too well. The unpredictability of his regulatory regime and tax policies leave businesses skittish and less likely to hire new workers. The cost of Obamacare saps their extra capital. And the mountain of national debt destabilizes the credit and stock markets.
Luckily, Wisconsinites have a Republican governor and a Legislature working to counteract the effects of Washington's roadblocks to economic prosperity. Their reforms have promoted small business growth and empowered the private sector while at the same time making government more efficient and less costly.
Recently, we've seen some encouraging signs of Wisconsin businesses hiring new workers, despite the difficult Obama economy. In Sheboygan, Rockline Industries is expanding. West Business Services is adding jobs in Wausau and Blue 7 Solutions is hiring in Bayside.
But consider how much more progress - actual progress - the state could be making without the burden of the Obama presidency. Consider, too, how much better off the entire country would be if the president were willing to work with House Republicans to help small businesses, lower taxes, balance the budget and ramp up domestic energy production.
Instead, the president has spent the past three months traveling the country campaigning for his American Jobs Act, his "jobs plan" that received bipartisan opposition in the U.S. Senate. Refusing to admit that a second stimulus would create more spending than jobs, he continues to champion it for political purposes.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives have written and passed over 20 bills that would directly spur job creation - without raising taxes or accumulating more debt. Even better, each bill passed the House on a bipartisan vote. The president says he wants a bipartisan jobs bill, and House Republicans have 20 of them ready to go. If only he and Senate Democrats would act.
But the truth is as long as the Democrats and Obama are in campaign mode, they are uninterested. With the dismal record that they have, their campaigns have made the cold political calculation that it is in their best political interest to be uncooperative and then blame the other side.
In a vain attempt to win in 2012, they've ensured that the American people will continue to lose jobs and lose hope. Republicans across the country, in Wisconsin and Washington, have done everything they can to grow the economy. But as long as Obama resides in the White House, the results of their work remain limited.
In 11 months, Americans will have a choice: to repeat the past three years or to change course. With 86% of the country saying we're heading in the wrong direction, that seems like a pretty easy choice.
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