We The People of Longview, TX

It is established practice in Washington that if you have to release bad news, it is best to do it on a Friday … the later in the day the better. So not only did the White House schedule the publication of the “Mid-Session Budget Review” for last Friday, but they then released it three hours late to ensure that as few reporters as possible were left in the nation’s capital to cover it. But Heritage’s dedicated budget team patiently waited the Obama administration out, and their analysis shows that this year’s mid-session review is nothing short of a complete admission of failure of the White House’s economic policies.
Continue reading from The Heritage…

Without spending a single dime, the Obama administration did more yesterday to create jobs for the U.S. economy than it has throughout its entire existence. With the single stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that set in motion 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies.

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The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill passed by the Senate yesterday promises to generate historic levels of red tape.  But apparently the 2,300 pages are so complicated that a debate has broken out over precisely how many new regulatory rule-makings it will require, says the Wall Street Journal. 

According to an analysis by the Davis Polk & Wardwell law firm: 

• At least 243 new federal rule-makings are on the way, not to mention 67 one-time studies and another 22 new periodic reports.
• The attorneys were careful to note that this was a low-ball estimate, counting only new regulations mandated by the bill. 

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic rebound is stalling.

A raft of weak new reports Thursday provided the strongest evidence yet that the recovery is slowing and added to concerns that the nation could be on its way back into recession.

Most notable was a rise in the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time. The four-week average for jobless claims now stands at its highest point since March. Continue reading…

Following the release of the 2,000-page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill last Friday, fixed-income portfolio manager Christine McConnell told Businessweek: “Clarity is good. [Once financial institutions] understand the rules of the road they’ll be able to accommodate their business models.” There is only one problem: passage of the Dodd-Frank bill doesn’t provide any clarity. In fact, it does the exact opposite. The New York Times explains: “The bill, completed early Friday and expected to come up for a final vote this week, is basically a 2,000-page missive to federal agencies, instructing regulators to address subjects ranging from derivatives trading to document retention. But it is notably short on specifics, giving regulators significant power to determine its impact.” Continue reading from The Heritage…

It looks like the Obama spin machine is at it again, this time launching a concerted effort to rebut reports this week that President Barack Obama is anti-business. But given Obama’s record of stoking government intervention in the private sector and creating an environment of uncertainty poisonous to business growth, hiring and expansion, it’s no wonder the President is branded with an anti-business scarlet letter.
Continue reading from The Heritage.

Even the Aspen Ideas Festival, an annual gathering of the country’s brightest lights, isn’t Obama country anymore. Lloyd Grove on the president’s waning support among the intelligentsia.

“The real problem we have,” Mort Zuckerman said, “are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.”

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No one opposes unemployment benefits as a transition aid for people to get back on their feet and find a new job.  Unemployment benefits are a safeguard for individuals down on their luck.  But to argue that unemployment benefits actually reduce unemployment is disingenuous at best, and could induce our government to enact policies that have the effect of destroying our nation’s production base from whence all benefits ultimately flow, says Arthur B. Laffer, chairman of Laffer Associates and co-author of “The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy — If We Let It Happen.” 

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June’s employment report was disappointing.  Though the national unemployment rate fell slightly — it’s now at 9.5 percent from 9.7 percent in May — the report reveals deep structural problems that go beyond the number of those who remain without jobs, says Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO, and author of “When Markets Collide.” 

For example: 

• Almost half of unemployed Americans have been without a job for over six months.
• The average duration of unemployment, which hit a post-World War II record many months ago, continues to go up; last month it clocked in at 35 weeks.
• Unemployment is particularly severe among the young: A quarter of Americans between 16 and 19 years old in the labor market are without a job. 

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