The White House Said Unemployment Would Be 6-7 Percent By Now

So, today we learned that the unemployment rate ticked down to 9.0 percent, and that has Democrats acting like we’re now oh-so-lucky. Nancy Pelosi is even saying that had it not been for Obama’s stimulus, the unemployment rate would be 15 percent.

Besides the fact that she merely pulled a bigger number out of her ass to make 9 percent unemployment sound like an achievement, the fact of the matter is that the White House sold the stimulus on the assurance it would keep unemployment below 8 percent.

As you know, it didn’t. Unemployment peaked at 10.2 percent, and has remained well above Obama’s estimates. In fact, according to Obama’s calculations, the unemployment rate would have been between 6 and 7 percent by now.

This graph is particularly telling:

Image courtesy of The New York Times

The unemployment rate was actually worse than White House projections had there been no stimulus at all.

That is far more telling than phony estimates from Nancy Pelosi when her objective is to not make Obama look like a total failure.

The New Top Three

Cain still on a roll, but I do think we are seeing Newt on the rise.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary voters shows Cain with 26% of the vote over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s 23%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich draws 14% support, with no other GOP contender reaching double-digits. Thirteen percent (13%) of GOP voters are undecided at this time. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

With Perry picking up only 8 percent in the poll, could it be he’s near through?

Wednesday Open Thread

Lots of stuff going on… Enjoy discussing it!