Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Riyadh Metro to begin partial operations next Wednesday: Report    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Downing Street indicates Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters UK    London's Gatwick airport reopens terminal after bomb scare evacuation    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Obama's job security about job creation
BEN FELLER
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 06 - 06 - 2011

PRESIDENT Barack Obama cannot escape one giant vulnerability as he bids to keep his job: There are millions of voters who still don't have one.
Suddenly, the snapshot of the American economy is depressing again.
Job creation is down. So is consumer confidence. And homes sales, auto sales, construction spending, manufacturing expansion. The brutal month of May was a reminder of the economy's fragility and the risks for an incumbent president.
Nothing that Obama oversees, not even a success as dramatic as finding and killing Osama Bin Laden, will matter as much as his handling of the economy. It is the dominant driver of voter behavior. People hold their president accountable if they can't find work in the richest country in the world.
The weakening recovery is testing the entire foundation of Obama's optimistic economic message, that the nation is getting stronger all the time. As much as the White House says it never dwells on any single jobs report, and Obama never even mentioned the troubling one released Friday, the stakes get higher by the month.
A finally forming field of Republican presidential competitors is maneuvering into the space for the public's attention with this message: Obama has failed.
Election Day 2012 is 17 months away, and Obama's campaign knows incremental job growth won't do. The unemployment rate is 9.1 percent. If it stays anywhere near there, Obama will face re-election with a higher jobless rate than any other post-war president.
In his favor, Obama still has the loudest voice to sell his message that the longer term trends, including job growth every month, are good.
Nearly halfway through a year dominated by foreign events mostly outside his control, he plans to build his next few months around economic events.
So what comes next will be a summer when both sides select the economic facts that best suit their case. It will play against a backdrop of trying to cut a massive deficit while letting the nation borrow more so it doesn't default.
As Obama pushes his economic agenda, his re-election chances bank on more than job growth. They also depend on how well he can remind people that he inherited a recession and that compared with the early days of 2009, the country is in a better place.
“This economy took a big hit,” Obama said Friday in Ohio, a pivotal state in the 2012 election.
“You know, it's just like if you had a bad illness, if you got hit by a truck, it's going to take a while for you to mend. And that's what's happened to our economy. It's taking a while to mend.” Is progress enough to convince people that he deserves a second term? If so, he can't afford many setbacks like the new jobs report. Employers in May added just 54,000 jobs, the fewest in eight months. Almost 14 million people are jobless.
Analysts suggested the economy could improve this year, but the recovery could be weak for months.
“There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery,” Obama said.
The Republicans hoping to unseat him pounced.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: “President Obama has failed to pull us out of this economic downturn.”
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: “Obama's failure to address the tough challenges” is clear.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: “The administration's policies are failing.”
Obama's political tendency is to take the longer view. An Associated Press-GfK poll less than a month ago, for example, showed rising public optimism about the economy and his stewardship.
The election won't be just a referendum on Obama and the unemployment rate. It also will offer a choice between his economic ideas and his opponent's. Still, just as change worked for him last time, it can be used against him in 2012.
Even 8 percent unemployment, a goal once promoted by the administration, is hard to see now.
Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush all faced unemployment rates higher than 7.5 percent in the final months of their re-election campaigns. Reagan won, and an important factor for him was that the jobless rate was declining at the time. Carter and Bush lost.
Obama, for now, has no reason to engage the politicians trying to win his job. He instead presents himself as the workers' champion who risked his own capital and their money in a successful bid to help Chrysler and General Motors survive and return to profitability.
“I'll tell you what. I'm going to keep betting on you,” Obama told workers at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio.
And hope they'll do the same for him.


Clic here to read the story from its source.