When Will Obama Own the Recession

When will the economy stop dropping because of the recession and start dropping because of the harm Obama's cure to the recession is inflicting? There will likely be a seam that will run through the polling and recession statistics in the next few months when the symptoms of the disease abate and those triggered by Obama's program begin to kick in. In short, when will the Bush recession become the Obama recession? In fact, it may already have happened.

Obama's popularity and the economic statistics fell, pretty much in tandem from his inauguration until early April. During this period, unemployment rose by two points, consumer confidence fell, and over 2 million jobs were destroyed. Over the same term, the president's approval ratings (as measured daily by Scott Rasmussen - www.rasmusenreports.com) fell from a post-inaugural level of 65% to 55%.

But now both the economy and Obama are back on a downward trend. Could it be that the false dawn of late April was the seam we are awaiting? Could it have been the moment when the economy did what it would always naturally do and begin its recovery only to have the momentum squashed by Obama's policies?

Perhaps it was. But whether it was or not, the moment is likely to come when the after-effects of the cure overcome the recovery from the economic disease.

The signs of a negative economic reaction to Obama's program are already quite visible. Interest rates on ten year Treasury bills have risen by 50% since January in anticipation of the coming bout with inflation. Capital has been diverted wholesale from new businesses into channels that do the economy no good. The treasury's debt is soaking up funds. So is the sale of toxic assets from banks. The demands for capital set in motion by Obama's spending spree and his bank bailout plans are already blocking investment in economic growth.

Then, last week, in a breath-taking demonstration of presidential chutzpah, the president warned that the deficit (which he caused) is growing too large and that inflation (as a result of his policies) might be looming ahead. His peroration was likely to prepare the way for tax increases. Just as Reagan drove down taxes while increasing military spending and then used the resulting deficit to stymie liberal spending plans, Obama is increasing spending and the deficit to force tax increases.

But the president's belated recognition of the damage of his policies is scant compensation for the havoc they will increasingly cause.

And, at some point, soon, the public will get it that we are now in a recession caused by Obama's programs not by the shocks of 2008. His ratings will probably resume their stately descent and sink further. The key moment, of course, will be when his presidential approval score drops below his vote share of 52%. At that point, he is shedding votes and the political impact becomes serious.

Whether we have entered this phase or the seam has yet to come, the transition from the Bush recession to the Obama recession will be an historic moment with huge political consequence for this Administration.

COPYRIGHT EILEEN MCGANN AND DICK MORRIS 2008.

Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports.

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