Based on the President's public pronouncements, things look to be getting better by the day:
"We've got an economy that is showing some positive signs. We've seen many consecutive months of private sector job growth." (12/23/11)
"We’re moving in the right direction. We have made real progress. Now is not the time to stop." (1/6/12)
"The economy is growing stronger. The recovery is speeding up." (2/3/12)
"We are seeing signs that our economy is on the mend." (2/13/12)
But is that what he really thinks?
"Privately, Obama Sees Recovery 1-2 Years Off" (Washington Examiner)
The public President Obama, bubbly in his reelection campaigning about a recovering U.S. economy, isn’t as optimistic in private, telling a select few that it will likely take up to two years for any recovery to click in.
A letter provided to Washington Secrets from Obama to a long-unemployed Portland, Maine carpenter pulls back the curtain of economic hope to reveal the truth about the stagnant economy. “I won’t lie to you,” Obama penned in hand to Charles Oliver in October. “It will probably take another year or two to fully dig our way out of this hole.”
Oliver had written the president in June to ask: “Are we as Americans going to be alright?” Answered Obama, “Yes, we will be ok. Because America has gotten through tough times before, and because of good people like you.”
While happy for the response, Oliver told us that he hasn’t seen any of the recovery the president and media have been heralding. “He’s out campaigning saying everything is coming up roses. He’s a lying SOB,” Oliver said of Obama, who has tried to temper his hopefulness with cautions that the recovery could hit speed bumps.
Surely, I can't be the only one who believes it is better for all Americans to hear the truth, so that we know exactly what we're dealing with (and how best to address it)?
Jeez, what a clown show.
Michael J. Panzner
