Can Obama's 'Year of Action' revive his presidency?
Touting his 鈥淵ear of Action,鈥� President Obama is doing everything he can to show that he鈥檚 not a lame duck with sorry poll numbers, rendered ineffective by a Congress that may well turn even more Republican in this year鈥檚 elections 鈥� all of which is more or less the case these days.
In his Saturday, Obama ticked off examples of the 鈥渕ore than 20鈥� executive actions he鈥檚 taken this year to improve Americans鈥� economic circumstances:
鈥淚 acted to raise more workers鈥� wages by requiring that workers on new federal contracts earn a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour 鈥�. 聽I acted to encourage more pay transparency and strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws, so that more women have the tools they need to earn fair pay鈥�. I鈥檝e launched new hubs to help attract more high-tech manufacturing jobs to America 鈥� and ordered a reform of job training programs to make sure more Americans can earn the skills that employers need right now.聽 I鈥檝e brought together business leaders to help us connect more classrooms to high-speed internet, and give more of the long-term unemployed a better shot at finding a job.鈥�
As Friday鈥檚 jobs figures show, it鈥檚 those long-term unemployed who remain a persistent problem, undercutting an unemployment rate that鈥檚 inched down to 6.3 percent, the lowest it鈥檚 been since September 2008, before Obama took office.
As the Monitor鈥檚 Mark Trumbull points out, 鈥淭he decline in unemployment stemmed from adults leaving the workforce rather than finding new jobs.鈥�
A 聽海角大神 Science Monitor/TIPP poll conducted 4/26-5/1 shows 鈥� at best 鈥� mediocre results for Obama. (Sample size was 850 adults with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.)
On 鈥減residential leadership,鈥� Obama gets a favorable/unfavorable rating of 43-50 percent. Female, younger, and Black/Hispanic voters are more inclined to view Obama favorably with older, white men less so.
On how well Obama is doing his job as president, the approve/disapprove split is 42-49 percent.
On jobs, budget, and the economy, just 38 percent say Obama鈥檚 performance has been 鈥渆xcellent鈥� or 鈥済ood.鈥� Asked if they think the economy is improving or not improving, respondents are evenly divided.
Other recent polls are similarly discouraging for the White House, including a Washington Post/ABC News poll this week.
鈥淥bama鈥檚 approval rating fell to 41聽percent, down from 46聽percent through the first three months of the year and the lowest of his presidency in Post-ABC News polls,鈥� the Washington Post reported. 鈥淛ust 42聽percent approve of his handling of the economy, 37聽percent approve of how he is handling the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and 34聽percent approve of his handling of the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.鈥�
Understandably, Obama in his Saturday address takes a whack at Congress: 鈥淪o far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to create jobs and strengthen the middle class. They鈥檝e said 鈥榥o鈥� to raising the minimum wage, 鈥榥o鈥� to equal pay for equal work, and 鈥榥o鈥� to restoring the unemployment insurance they let expire for more than two million Americans looking for a new job.鈥�
鈥淲e could do a lot more if Republicans in Congress were less interested in stacking the deck in favor of those at the top, and more interested in growing the economy for everybody,鈥� Obama said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e now voted more than 50 times to take apart the Affordable Care Act 鈥� imagine if they voted 50 times on serious jobs bills.鈥�
If anything, the relationship between Obama and Congress 鈥� especially the Republican-led House 鈥� is deteriorating, particularly over the Benghazi affair with Republicans charging that the White House white-washed, if not covered up, it鈥檚 response to the killing of the US ambassador and other Americans during an attack on US facilities in Libya.
On Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a subpoena intended to force Secretary of State John Kerry to testify before the panel on Benghazi.
Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner says he'll establish a special committee to investigate the Benghazi attack.
In such an atmosphere, Obama鈥檚 only recourse to advancing his agenda may be his 鈥淵ear of Action鈥� executive orders.
