Obama Grabs Credit Again

Regarding jobs and community colleges, President Barack Hussein Obama has (according to this press release), through the Giving American Workers the Skills they Need to Compete program:

• made historic investments in community colleges. In 2011, the Administration invested $500 million through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative to support partnerships.
• helped launch, in 2011, "Skills for America's Future," an industry-led initiative to improve industry partnerships with community colleges and build a nationwide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placements.
• created the "Workforce Innovation Fund," administered jointly by the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, which later this year [2012] will make $125 million in competitive grants to improve employment and training outcomes and the cost effectiveness of the public workforce system.

Obama proposes to further spend tax money by establishing:

• A new Community College to Career Fund, which will help forge new partnerships between community colleges and businesses to train two million workers for good-paying jobs in high-growth and high-demand industries. (where have we heard that before?)
• A new Universal Displaced Worker program, which will provide up to a million displaced workers a year with job-search assistance, access to critical skills training for high-growth and in-demand industries (where have we heard that before?) and, for older workers, the option of wage insurance.
• Creation of a $50 million American Job Center network to unify all Federally-supported One-Stop Career Centers and electronic resources.
• A Pathways Back to Work Fund to help jumpstart America's economy by putting thousands of long-term unemployed and low-income adults back to work immediately and helping them gain job skills. (where have we heard that before?)

Why are, if Obama's jobs and economic policies are so great as Democrats say, all these jobs programs and tax money spending needed?  Would all the programs and funds and money spending be necessary if Obama's jobs policies been anything besides an utter disaster?  Could a truly motivated unemployed person (rather than some Obama "gimmie" zombie) seek job retraining without all this "help?"

With that job training through community colleges stage setting, let's see what Obama is up to now.  Obama spoke Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at Lorain County Community College (LCCC) in the Cleveland-area town of Elyria, OH.  Obama's trip to Ohio was ostensibly official, not a campaign event, but he again stuck taxpayers with the bill for his campaign expenses.

He praised his support for investment in job training programs that connect community colleges with unemployed workers, programs he warned the Republicans would "gut" under their budget blueprint.   (where have we heard that before?)

Obama visited with students in LCCC's Transformations program for Computerized Numerically Controlled Machining, a program that has placed more than 90 percent of participants in jobs within three months of graduation.

Obama touted the job training programs at LCCC.  He emphasized their importance to growing the economy.  Students in the LCCC jobs training programs have lost their previous jobs and are learning new skills in hopes of finding new jobs. 

Obama said of the LCCC students, "These people inspire me.  The resilience they show and the determination they show, that's what America is all about.  That defines our spirit.  We don't quit."  He continued, "Why would anybody want to cut this? This is just common sense. This is not about taking from rich people to give to poor people."

Is Obama's statement ironic? We have to ask why the workers were unemployed in the first place if Obama's jobs policies were so great?  Why is the LCCC jobs training program even needed?  Would the LCCC program be needed had Obama used a little "common sense" to formulate his jobs and economic policies?

While celebrating Ohio's resurgence, Obama unintentionally repudiated his own tax and spend policies that destroy jobs.  Ohio proves once again that conservative fiscal policies work in spite of what Obama does or tries to claim.

Ohio, under Republican governor John Kasich, came from 48th to 4th in job creation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) listed the states that had "statistically significant employment changes from February 2011 to February 2012," and Ohio was no. 4 on that list, with 73,500 jobs added.  Texas had the largest increase, followed by California and New York.  Note that states ahead of Ohio in job creation have much larger populations.

Under Democrat governor Ted Strickland, Ohio lost 421,000 jobs in four years.

Under Obama's "leadership," Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded America's AAA credit rating to AA+.  Under Kasich, Moody's upgraded Ohio's credit rating from negative to stable.  According to a press release on March 16, 2012, "Today's announcement marks the first time since February 2007 that all three rating agencies - Moody's, Fitch, and S&P - have given Ohio an AA+ rating with a stable outlook.

For Obama to go to Ohio and try to take credit for the success Kasich and his jobs policies is outrageous at best, but we know that Obama is shameless and has no integrity.

Dr. Beatty earned a Ph.D. in quantitative management and statistics from Florida State University.  He was a (very conservative) professor of quantitative management specializing in using statistics to assist/support decision making. He has been a consultant to many small businesses and is now retired.  Dr. Beatty is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army for 22 years.  He blogs at: rwno.limewebs.com.