Obama Can Run On His Record

Throughout this election season there has been a lot of stomach turning, and head scratching talking points thrown out by those on the conservative side of the aisle. “Barack Obama goes around the world apologizing for America” is one, (nice to see Colin Powell slap Sean Hannity down for that one.) another is “Barack Obama wasn't properly vetted”. In addition to getting the Fox News treatment in 2008, then Senator Obama's past was prodded and probed so much by the main stream media Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell would have been pleased. The most interesting talking point of all however seems to be the one that presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney likes saying the most, “President Obama can't run on his record”.

It's almost as if all of the big dogs within the GOP got together and passed down the memo “President Obama can't run on his record”. Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh are all doing their part, acting as Kelly Rowland and the other one to Romney's Beyonce. “President Obama can't run on his record”, If you really delve deep into the facts you'll find out that statement isn't accurate.

Let's start with the fact that under President Obama the nation has experienced 26 straight months of private sector job growth. During this time 4.25 million jobs have been created. In the last days of The Bush Administration the economy was shedding over 700,000 jobs a month, The President was able to turn things around in large part because of the passing of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which cut taxes on small businesses and 95% of working families, debunking another conservative myth that the Obama policies are killing small businesses.

Back in 2004 when George W. Bush was sweating re-election the number of jobs he created in his first three years in office after two massive tax cuts was negative 700,000. That's not exactly something to write home about, but back then an Ohio Representative by the name of John Boehner was shouting it from the mountain tops. “Eight consecutive months of positive job growth shows the Republican plan for economic prosperity is working”. If that's the standard then Obama should be re-elected automatically for having three times that amount in his first three years.

You also have to couple that with the fact that The President put his neck on the line by choosing to save the auto industry which was not as easy a decision as most people think. That decision however and the position that the respective nominees from both parties took draws a huge distinction between these two men and what kind of President they each would be. Saving the auto industry meant saving one million jobs and $96 billion in personal income, something Romney didn't even give a thought to when he wrote his now infamous op-ed “Let Detroit go Bankrupt”. This is the same guy who is now trying to stave off criticism for his activities at Bain Capital, while former employees of the companies that Bain crippled tell their heartbreaking stories. There was very little to gain for the President Obama initially when he made this decision, if it had failed Republicans would have been bringing up the fact that the unemployment rate would have been at or over 10%, and now that it has succeded they still can't fully invest themselves into giving the President credit.

The biggest bombshell of all in my opinion was dropped this week. The website Marketwatch an arm of  The Wall Street Journal (not exactly a left leaning newspaper) produced evidence that under President Obama federal spending is at it's slowest pace since the 1950s. Outside of the $5 trillion added to the deficit which was desperately needed in the wake of the economic collapse of '08 this administration has been fairly silent when it comes to government spending, yet if you listen to most of the media and the GOP spin machine the federal deficit is at $30 trillion thanks to Obama.

The President and the Administration would be the first to say we are not there yet, 23 million people being out of work is way to many, but even the most ardent conservative if injected with some sort of truth serum would tell you we are headed in the right direction. A Romney victory in November means Bush style policies and a return to 2008. So to the thirsty out there drinking the Fox News kool-aid The President does have a record to run on and it's a damn good one.