“The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers,” Plouffe said, according to Bloomberg. “People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’ ” - White House senior adviser to the president David PlouffeThe article goes on to invoke the mythical "confidence fairy" who will magically create jobs once businesses have "confidence" that the deficit is under control. Because, you know, that's how I make my hiring decisions - not based on how much money I have, and how consumer demand looks in the future, but rather, based on how the President is doing with the deficit negotiations.
Not to mention, it's difficult to "believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family" when his top adviser is claiming that unemployment, which very much has affected me and my family, doesn't matter.
I suspect Plouffe is playing the same card that top Obama advisers played to convince the President not to support a real stimulus. The economy is going to get better soon, the argument went at the time, so no need for a stimulus the size of which Krugman, Stiglitz and Obama's own economics adviser said we needed. They're hoping the same failed argument works on unemployment. Or perhaps Plouffe reflects a different thinking inside the White House, that voters actually care about the deficit and will reward the President for reaching a "historic" deal to garotte Social Security and Medicare, just like George Bush wanted, even though far too many of their family members are still unemployed or underemployed.
Yes, can't feed the kids, can't pay the mortgage, but thank God the long-term deficit will be under control in 2024.
