AP: 'Becoming More & More an Obama Economy'

Another Associated Press reporter has gone off the reservation, doing some actual thinking and, in an analysis piece clearly labeled as such (for a change), says that Obama's "recovery plans are sowing some unease."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama offered his domestic-policy proposals as a "break from a troubled past." But the economic outlook now is more troubled than it was even in January, despite Obama's bold rhetoric and commitment of more trillions of dollars.

And while his personal popularity remains high, some economists and lawmakers are beginning to question whether Obama's agenda of increased government activism is helping, or hurting, by sowing uncertainty among businesses, investors and consumers that could prolong the recession.

Although the administration likes to say it "inherited" the recession and trillion-dollar deficits, the economic wreckage has worsened on Obama's still-young watch.

Every day, the economy is becoming more and more an Obama economy.

Did you catch that last sentence?

Tom Raum notes that of the four million jobs lost since the recession officially began in December 2007, half of the losses have come in the last three months: December, January and February. All since America's businesses learned more about the new president's "plans" for the economy.

Raum sugests that Obama's cavalier attitude toward the stock market, and his suggestion that now might be a good time to put some investment money into it, have backfired.

The president's suggestion that it was a good time for investors with "a long-term perspective" to buy stocks may have been intended to help lift battered markets. But a big sell-off followed.

Presidents usually don't talk about the stock market. But the dynamics are different now.

A higher percentage of people have more direct exposure to stocks — including through 401(k) and other retirement plans — than ever.

So a tumbling stock market is adding to the national angst as households see the value of their investments and homes plunge as job losses keep rising.

The AP report also hints that Americans are catching on to the "jobs lost or saved" rhetoric: that it is merely a ploy to save face if the economy plunges even farther. He quotes U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana:

Even White House claims that its policies will "create" or "save" 3.5 million jobs have been questioned by Democratic supporters.

"You created a situation where you cannot be wrong," the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Montana Democrat Max Baucus, told Geithner last week.

"If the economy loses 2 million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would've lost 5.5 million jobs. If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs," Baucus said. "You've given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct."

If the Associated Press is starting to fact check you and question the underlying assumptions of your economic policies, you may be in trouble.