Colin Powell as quoted by usatoday.com
"It's not just me picking on the president," Powell said yesterday on NBC's Meet The Press. "It's reflected in the polling."
“The White House would no doubt disagree,” Powell said, “But a number of Americans seem to believe Obama is spending too much time on health care, environmental legislation and education, and not enough on the primary issue: jobs.”
"I think he has lost some of his ability to connect during the campaign. It's not just me picking on the president, it's reflected in the polling. Some of the anxiety and anger that you see out there, I think, comes from a belief on the part of the American people -- whether it's correct or incorrect, and the White House would say it's incorrect -- that not enough attention (is being paid to jobs) ... his singular focus should be on unemployment.
Wall Street got fixed. They're getting their bonuses back. We fixed the auto industry. It's starting to function but people are still seeing a 9.6 percent unemployment rate. They're losing their homes. They're homes are under water. Mortgages can't be paid. Short sales.
They are anxious and they are expecting more out of the president. I think he has to do more with respect to reducing the deficit and also being careful about putting more and more programs, more and more rocks into that knapsack because the American people are looking for a singular focus on the economy and unemployment.
And as part of that, he needs to focus on the business community. In my travels around the country, the business community is not that satisfied with the administration right now. So, I think the president is aware of all of this. His advisers are aware of all of this and I hope we will see him moving more vigorously in this direction."
At a glance
“The White House would no doubt disagree,” Powell said, “But a number of Americans seem to believe Obama is spending too much time on health care, environmental legislation and education, and not enough on the primary issue: jobs.”
"I think he has lost some of his ability to connect during the campaign. It's not just me picking on the president, it's reflected in the polling. Some of the anxiety and anger that you see out there, I think, comes from a belief on the part of the American people -- whether it's correct or incorrect, and the White House would say it's incorrect -- that not enough attention (is being paid to jobs) ... his singular focus should be on unemployment.
Wall Street got fixed. They're getting their bonuses back. We fixed the auto industry. It's starting to function but people are still seeing a 9.6 percent unemployment rate. They're losing their homes. They're homes are under water. Mortgages can't be paid. Short sales.
They are anxious and they are expecting more out of the president. I think he has to do more with respect to reducing the deficit and also being careful about putting more and more programs, more and more rocks into that knapsack because the American people are looking for a singular focus on the economy and unemployment.
And as part of that, he needs to focus on the business community. In my travels around the country, the business community is not that satisfied with the administration right now. So, I think the president is aware of all of this. His advisers are aware of all of this and I hope we will see him moving more vigorously in this direction."
At a glance
There are many clutch issues right now and, realistically, if it weren’t unemployment then it would be immigration. If it weren’t immigration then it would be the war on terror. If it weren’t the war on terror then it would be health care. It is always going to be something.
Presidents endure a ridiculous amount of scrutiny with every decision they make and with every comment they are quoted as saying. But that is part of the job description they signed up for. And the less one has to hide the more easily their actions tend to flow.
President Obama is currently in the process of reassessing the positions of some of his chief economic advisors. That is a commendable move you have to respect on behalf of a president but it also comes with owning up to the fact that some poor decisions may have been made. Otherwise, he would not be seeking new economic minds with alternative ideas.
Something you may not know
Presidents endure a ridiculous amount of scrutiny with every decision they make and with every comment they are quoted as saying. But that is part of the job description they signed up for. And the less one has to hide the more easily their actions tend to flow.
President Obama is currently in the process of reassessing the positions of some of his chief economic advisors. That is a commendable move you have to respect on behalf of a president but it also comes with owning up to the fact that some poor decisions may have been made. Otherwise, he would not be seeking new economic minds with alternative ideas.
Something you may not know
I have always wondered what the ratio was between republicans and democrats who served as presidents since America was conceived. Here are the results:
Between 1789 and 2008, 42 presidents have been sworn into office. There have been 18 Republican presidents and 14 Democratic presidents. From a debatable point of view, the Democratic Party claims Andrew Johnson, but he was sworn in as a member of the National Union Party. This would technically make 18 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Only two presidents of the United States of America have not been members of a specific political party. These were the first and second presidents, George Washington and John Adams. There were also a few presidents elected as Whigs and Democratic Republicans. And it is obviously important to note that what a Republican or Democrat was defined as being in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries has changed in many different ways, decade by decade, leading into the twenty-first century.
On this day in history
Famous quote
Between 1789 and 2008, 42 presidents have been sworn into office. There have been 18 Republican presidents and 14 Democratic presidents. From a debatable point of view, the Democratic Party claims Andrew Johnson, but he was sworn in as a member of the National Union Party. This would technically make 18 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Only two presidents of the United States of America have not been members of a specific political party. These were the first and second presidents, George Washington and John Adams. There were also a few presidents elected as Whigs and Democratic Republicans. And it is obviously important to note that what a Republican or Democrat was defined as being in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries has changed in many different ways, decade by decade, leading into the twenty-first century.
On this day in history
1963-U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed a joint U.S.-Soviet expedition to the moon in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
Famous quote
“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.”
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781
2,027.1 miles to go.
