Barack Obama Watch: It Is The Economy, Stupid

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., second from right, Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and others, applaud at a Chicago 2016 Olympic rally, Friday, June 6, 2008, at the Daley Center Plaza in Chicago.

News Item: Biggest jobless jump since ’86 — Wall Street sinks

Pink slips piled up and jobs disappeared into thin air in May as the nation’s unemployment rate zoomed to 5.5 percent in the biggest one-month jump in decades. Wall Street swooned, and the White House said President Bush was considering new proposals to revive the economy.

Help-wanted signs are vanishing along with jobs, so the unemployment rate is likely to keep climbing, a government report indicated, underscoring the toll the housing and credit crises are taking on jobseekers, employers and the economy as a whole.

Adding to the pain, oil prices soared to a new record high, while the value of the dollar fell.

The Dow Jones industrials tumbled almost 400 points.

The White House snapped into crisis-management mode. The president is now considering further plans to help energize the economy, which had already been teetering on the edge of recession, said counselor Ed Gillespie. Bush acknowledged, “This is a time of turbulence in the housing market and slow growth for our overall economy.”

And, Barack Obama is starting a tour on Monday as the presumptive Democrat Presidential nominee focusing on what?

The economy, stupid

The Obama campaign announced today that Senator Obama will launch a two-week economic swing—the “Change that Works for You” tour—on Monday, June 9. Obama will travel across the country, talking to Americans about how the economy affects their everyday lives. He’ll hold events with voters where they work and where they live, discussing the challenges we face and his plans to turn the economy around.

The tour will kick off on Monday with an economic speech in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“The middle class has always been the engine of prosperity in this country—but for nearly eight years we’ve had an administration that tells working people ‘you’re on your own,’” Senator Obama said. “Not when I’m President. I’ll reform our tax code to benefit the middle class instead of the big corporations. I’ll make sure that quality health care is affordable and accessible for every American. And I’ll provide real relief from the housing crisis by creating a foreclosure prevention fund, providing a tax break for homeowners, and cracking down on fraudulent lenders. Those are the kind of solutions that will make a difference for working Americans—and that’s the kind of change we’ll be discussing on this tour.”

The WRONG prescription for the economy, Barry. But it sounds good to the voters and the voters are already pissed about $4 plus gasoline prices.

If the economy begins to “tank” there will be no chance for John McCain to win the Presidency and the GOP will face a wipe out in the Congress.

In a tough year for the GOP, the economy is making it just that much tougher.

Look for President Bush to take more stimulus action and FAST.