I suspect that this trend will continue, if Obama doesn’t allow Republicans to dictate the agenda. Sadly, this is a very big if. He hasn’t seemed to want to win arguments with the opposition, so much as to make them ever so happy that he’s a great guy who really want to listen to their point of view. this approach disregards that fact that the opposition simply doesn’t care about policy. The care about hamstringing the president and the Democratic party, not matter the cost to the American people.
Since 1975, Democratic Presidential administrations have seen an average job surplus of 1,291,000 per year. That is, during these 12 years, there were enough jobs created to employ our growing population and more than an additional one million per year to help employ those who are unemployed. During Republican Presidencies, there were an average number was -520,000: there were a half million jobs fewer created each year that were needed to employ our growing population. During these 20 years, our unemployment grew substantially.
What do these number tell us? Over the past 34 years, Democratic Presidents have overseen periods when the unemployed became employed, and Republican administrations were characterized by an increase in unemployment. Keep in mind that this encompasses the administration of Ronald Reagan, a time when so many people think that our economy was quite robust. It may have been for some, but even during his eight-years in office, jobs growth paled in comparison with that of our last two Democratic Presidents.
