Monica Crowley

J-O-B-S

In the very early days of the Obama administration, Vice President Joe Biden once infamously referred to the main mission of the new White House: "it's a three letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S. Jobs."

Leaving aside his inability to count, Biden was supposedly announcing the urgent task directly ahead for Team Obama: job creation. In fact, Obama and just about everyone else in his administration talked about focusing "like a laser beam" on creating jobs.

They set about doing it through a massive expansion of government and an orgy of government spending. A trillion over here for "stimulus," a trillion over there for bailouts, a trillion more for the first stages of ObamaCare, a trillion on top of that to cover the expanding, bloated government payrolls. The combination of record-breaking debt, suffocating new regulations, and the resulting overwhelming uncertainty has created a toxic environment that's making job creation incredibly difficult.

And yet, the supposed geniuses on the Left cannot see that their policies have been an abject failure. Or they see it, they just won't acknowledge it, because to acknowledge it means to acknowledge the utter failure of their entire ideology. So they stick to the policies and ideology that are destroying job creation and the free market. Then again, for them, that is the point.

They also know, however, that they must face voters who are unemployed, facing unemployment, losing their homes or facing foreclosure, whose 401ks are depleted, whose small businesses are going under, who have little to no disposable income and must ration whatever money they've got coming in every week. This is not a formula for electoral success for the party that has controlled everything until January. Now they control everything except the House of Representatives.

They know they've had two and a half years to fix the economy and get job creation going. They know that they've gone through every play they've got in their Left-wing, Keynesian playbook. They know they've failed, so they're desperately grasping at straws.

"Democrats Eye New Jobs Agenda," is the headline in Politico.com today. "Fearing the economy may be getting worse, Democrats plan to soon unveil what they'll call a "Jobs First" agenda - and the stakes are high. A bleak economic outlook, like the May jobs report, could cost Democrats their thin Senate majority and even the White House if they can't make a strong case to an anxious electorate that their policies will create jobs."

Excuse me? They've been in power in the Congress since January 2007 and controlled the White House since January 2009, and NOW they're trying to come up with a jobs agenda? Perhaps they could have had one if they didn't spend the first year and a half doing socialized medicine which nobody wants and which we can't afford. But of course, the point of ObamaCare was not health care "reform." The point of ObamaCare was to get government literally into every nook and cranny of your life. Government controls your health care, government controls you.

Now, all of a sudden, the Democrats are noticing that 9.1% unemployment rate, the total 17% unemployment rate, and the anemic number of jobs being created as well as the pathetic GDP growth rate, and they're freaking out. Not because they regret their policies, but because they might actually get punished by the voters for them.

They had their chance. They failed. Now comes their absolute, blind panic.

Owning It

The country is going to Hades in a handbasket, and while many Democrats are trying to flee the scene of their own accident, President Obama is embracing the chaos and failures with open arms.

The new head of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, she of the angry perm, announced that the Democrats should be psyched with the economy. So psyched, in fact, that they should rush to "own" it: "We own the economy," she told Politico. "We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue the pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place."

Debbie: the Bush administration? Really?? You just couldn't help yourself, could you? In one breath, you're saying that the Dems are moving forward, owning the economy, turning the page, and in the next breath, you're invoking Bush and the shopworn "ditch" metaphor. Are your speechwriters seriously that lazy?

Also, we'd love to know about this economic "turnaround" of which you speak, Debster. 9.1% unemployment, jobs situation getting worse not better, 6 million home foreclosures and home prices collapsing, 1 million construction jobs lost, nearly a million manufacturing jobs lost, nearly $4 trillion added to the national debt, three straight record-high deficits. Interesting facts on which to base your "turnaround" comment, Deb.

When the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, was asked about her eagerness to have the Democrats "own" the dismal economy, he replied: "We all own the economy. We all work together in Washington to devise policies to improve the economic situation."

Excuse me, Jay: we all don't "own" the economy. You were never that "generous" when President Bush was in office. Then, he owned it. The Republicans owned it. In fact, until about last week, you guys were still blaming Bush and whining that the Republicans "drove the car into the ditch." Actually, Debbie over there just said that this week (see above). So don't give us the nonsense that we all "own" the economy. You own it. Obama owns it. The Democrats own it. And it sucks and you know it, which is why you're trying to "spread the blame around."

In other Obama disaster news, the U.S.-led war in Libya will be illegal come Sunday, when the president's authority to commit combat forces abroad expires under the War Powers Act. Never mind that people of both parties (including me) believe it's unconstitutional. It remains a federal statute, to which presidents on both sides have at least paid lip service. President Bush went to Congress to get authorization for the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. So much for "ravaging the Constitution." That's Obama's territory. Imagine if Bush were prosecuting a war in the Middle East without Congressional approval?! Maxine Waters would be leading impeachment proceedings.

The only gesture toward compliance with the War Powers Resolution has been a 32 page report that Obama sent to Congress, laying out in painful terms why he believes the operation doesn't qualify as a war, and therefore why he's not bound by the War Power Resolution. It's tortured logic. U.S. combat forces engaged? Check. An enemy resisting? Check. People dying and getting wounded? Check. A war is a war is a war.

When asked about the ludicrous report, Carney said, "It is his position, and he worked with the White house counsel and his team. As a constitutional law professor himself, obviously he owns this document."

He owns the war in Libya, although please don't call it a war. It's a "kinetic military action." And we thought Bill Clinton parsing the word "is" was absurd. At least life and death weren't at issue there.

What we have here is Obama attempting to look like he's taking responsibility while dodging it at the same time. He owns the economy, while simultaneously saying that we ALL own it. He owns the Libya war while saying that it's not really a war.

No matter: he owns the economy and he owns the war in Libya. He's the president, and these catastrophes are happening on his watch. As Harry Truman's famous motto went: the buck stops with him.

Roasted Weiner

New York Democrat Anthony Weiner will resign from Congress today, leaving in his wake a sordid tale of self-destruction.

In the past few weeks, we've been treated to:

1. Photos of his crotch, with all flags flying;
2. A systematic and protracted campaign of lying;
3. A series of media interviews in which he carried out the systematic campaign of lying;
4. Resistance to calls from within his own party to resign;
5. The drip-drip-drip of evermore tawdry revelations;
6. The inevitable parade of young women with whom he "corresponded," which included
7. A porn star, of course;
8. Celebrity ambulance-chaser Gloria Allred hogging the cameras as she represented said porn star;
9. The mortified wife, who happens to work for another humiliated wife, Hillary Clinton;
10. And last, but certainly not least, a full frontal shot of his full monty.

The public spectacle ends today with his resignation. But I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before he shows up on "Celebrity Rehab," pouring his heart out to Dr. Drew. After all, he can't do "Celebrity Apprentice," since he's already heard, "You're fired."

A Victory...and A Warning

Over the past few months, we have seen the epicenter of the battle for the fiscal future of America move from Washington to state capitols across the country: in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey. Republican governors and at least one major Democrat (Andrew Cuomo in New York) have moved to bring their fiscal trainwrecks under control through various means: restricting collective bargaining for government unions, capping property taxes, initiating government union pension reform. The GOP Governors have been met with outrageous protests (funny how Albany has been pretty silent, huh?). In Wisconsin, where the Left revolted the most openly, loudly, and crazily, signs were plastered around the capitol calling Governor Scott Walker "a fascist," "Hitler," a "criminal," among other slurs.

The government union bosses and their thugs on the Left then mobilized a legal challenge to Walker's groundbreaking budget law that restricted collective bargaining in the state. A lower court judge blocked it, but yesterday...big news.

The Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled by a 4-3 margin to reinstate Walker's collective bargaining reform law.

Because we moved to help ensure that a conservative majority remained on the Court, guided by the Constitution and not liberal judicial activism, we were able to see this hugely positive ruling.

But just as we celebrate this victory for fiscal responsibility, be reminded of how close that Wisconsin Supreme Court vote was: 4-3. The future of the state---as well as the future of the country---rests on these razor-slim margins. We must make sure that in 2012, we vote in true conservatives who will appoint strict constructionists to benches across the nation.

Also, remember that next month there are six RECALL campaigns that will be waged against Republican state senators in Wisconsin, organized by MoveOn.org, Barack Obama's campaign activists, and labor union bosses.

If the Leftists win just three of the RECALLs, they will take control of the legislature and be able to block Walker's efforts completely. So we must defeat ALL six recalls. If the Left manages to pull off these recalls, they will again be in a position to reverse what Walker has done.

What happened yesterday in the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a great victory for fiscal sanity and against Left-wing thuggery, but we mustn't lose sight of the way the Left rolls: what they cannot win at the ballot box they'll try to win through liberal judges and through short-circuiting recalls. It's simply a different kind of systemic abuse.

Yesterday we scored a major victory, but the battle is far from over.

He's Just Not That Into It

For two and a half years, I've been saying that as far as the presidency goes, Barack Obama could take it or leave it. Sure, he loves the perks of the job: the private plane, the red phone, the valet, the chefs willing to make him a grilled cheese on sourdough at 3am. But in terms of doing the actual job, he's just not that into it.

Obama truly considers himself a transcendent character: the first bi-racial person to be elected to the American presidency, and therefore a historic, almost celestial figure. In fact, on election night 2008, he strode on stage and delivered a victory speech that might as well have been a farewell speech. Obama looked at his winning electoral votes and thought, "My work here is done."

That's why he's avoided the heavy lifting usually required of presidential leadership. He gave the "stimulus" to Congress to write, which is why it ended up being a lard-filled political document rather than a truly stimulative economic one. He let Congress write the massive ObamaCare bill, which is why that turned out to be a 2000+ page hot mess that even the then-Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, had to admit that they needed to pass to find out what was in it. He let Congress also write the equally indecipherable Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, which is so job- and economy-killing that even the Dems who voted for it (again, without having read it), are fleeing the bill like Anthony Weiner from modesty. He is letting Congress (and the country) twist in the wind on all budgetary matters, from the actual annual budgets, to proposing spending cuts, to other ideas for deficit reduction, to what to do about the debt ceiling. He's AWOL all over the place.

Obama doesn't dig the job. Never has. He enjoys the big house and the pick-up basketball games with LeBron, and he's savored the fact that he's been able to findamentally change America toward a European socialist model. But as far as doing any real work, the dude would rather not.

This morning, he told NBC's Today show: "Michelle and the kids are wonderful in that if I said, 'You know, guys, I want to do something different,' they'd be fine. They're not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president."

Now that it's clear that his policies have wrecked the economy, with its most important indicators---unemployment, housing prices, consumer confidence, gas prices---all sliding in the wrong direction, he might want to take a powder. Go and do something "less stressful," as he said this morning. Write his memoir. Give speeches. Create a foundation to rival Bubba's. You know, cash in and check out.

Perhaps he raised the curtain on that possibility this morning.

And perhaps I've been right all along about something else: that Hillary Clinton is starting her engines.

The O'Reilly Factor---TONIGHT!

I'll be a guest with Bill O'Reilly tonight at 8pm and 11pm ET on the Fox News Channel. Please tune in.

Immediate Thoughts on the GOP Debate

The announced or nearly-announced Republican candidates for president held their first major debate tonight, broadcast on CNN. We've got a long road to go before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, but the candidates made some initial impressions on me---all good.

1. They are far more impressive as a group than anybody---including fellow conservatives---has given them credit for. Some candidates are more conservative than others, but all are supremely qualified to be president of the United States. Each is hugely accomplished, smart, thoughtful, and engaged. Some have significant records of achievement in the private sector. Some have used their platforms in government to implement dynamic free market and limited government principles. Any of them would be a far better president than the current one, and any of them would set this country back on its traditional rocket path of growth and greatness.

2. Gingrich is brilliant and gutsy. Bachmann is fearless, poised, tough. Romney has been around this track before and finessed the questions and the stage. Pawlenty is the calm guy with the solid gubernational record. Cain is the straight-talking and blessedly non-politician. Paul is no-nonsense with a sense of humor. Santorum is the professional pol who navigated each question with ease. Some have certain strengths---good records of governance or job creation. Some have weaknesses---creating the template for ObamaCare, ahem. But tonight, all showed themselves ready for primetime.

3. CNN's moderator, John King, seeped with more left-wing bias than a slime prank on Nickelodeon. He practically begged the GOP candidates to say something nice about Obama: "Can't you point to one thing he's done right on the economy?" "Um...no, which is why we're all up here, John." And what was with all of those waste-of-time "Beatles or Stones?" "tastes great or less filling?" questions. The country is going to hell in a handbasket, but King wants to know if they're on Team Angelina or Team Jen. I wished that one of the candidates had told him to stop trying to "help" them with those ridiculous "humanizing" questions. They don't need CNN's help to show voters that unlike the current White House occupant, they're actually normal.

Overall, I was quite pleased with what we saw tonight: a smart, essentially conservative, and dynamic group of GOP candidates who need a bit more fine-tuning but any one of whom will be ready to take on Obama.

And after all: remember that Obama looked like an over-his-head twirp in his early Democrat debates. Our folks stand head and shoulders above.

Crowley Interviews Kissinger on C-Span

My hour-long interview with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger airs this weekend on C-Span: on Saturday at 10pm ET, on Sunday at 9pm ET, and on Monday at midnight and 3am ET. We discuss his new book, "On China," and other foreign policy issues. It's a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion. I hope you can tune in.

The Rats Bail

When Barack Obama was first elected president, there was a long conga line of people who wanted to join his administration. They professed to believe in the man, the message, the progressive idealism, and the energy and momentum he brought to remaking the country. They believed that the Obama juggernaut was so huge, so irresistible, so deeply meaningful that to not be a part of it would mean being sidelined by history.

Now that he's a failure, the rats are quickly bailing off the sinking ship. The conga line is now moving in the opposite direction.

With the economic news going from bad to worse, top economic advisers have fled the scene of the accident: Larry Summers, Christine Romer, Jared Bernstein, and now Austen Goolsbee, who announced this week that he's leaving the White House to answer the siren call of academia. The only original member of Obama's economic team left is Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The tax cheat cheeze stands alone.

The number crunchers aren't stupid. They see the numbers. They have tried to change the numbers. Perhaps they have tried to change Obama's mind on how to change the numbers. To no avail. Trillions in "stimulus," Federal Reserve quantitative easing, bailouts, and other government programs have done nothing to stave off staggeringly high unemployment, a collapsing housing sector, declining manufacturing, and sliding consumer confidence. In fact, after unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, the economy is still sucking salt---precisely because of Obama's big government, big spending, big regulatory, big entitlement agenda.

Perhaps these folks believed in Keynesian economics: massive government spending as stimulus. And maybe some of them now realize what an epic failure it's been. And perhaps they tried to persuade Obama to get off it and try something new. And maybe he decided against that path, so they bolted. Who knows?

What we do know is that intelligent people---who helped him and his agenda in the beginning---no longer want to be associated with a loser and a catastrophic economic failure.

The disappearing economic team joins Robert Gibbs and Rahm Emanuel who also left for greener pastures.

And now comes word that Hillary Clinton is in talks to head up the World Bank. Her camp denies it, of course, but she has not been happy or satisfied in her gig as Secretary of State. Obama uses her as window dressing: she represented Democrat "unity" after their bitter primary fight and he wanted her close to keep a watchful eye on her and Bill. But she really didn't have any true influence or power. Obama only listens to Obama.

And now Obama is collapsing for that very reason. A sinking ship has no rats aboard. They save their own skins first.

Bama Potpourri

More dispatches from the Age of Obama:

1. The jobs situation continues to deteriorate. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged higher last week. Initial claims for jobless benefits increased 1,000 to 427,000, according to the Labor Department. The forecast was for claims to drop to 415,000 from 422,000. Whoops. This means that first-time claims have been above the 400,000 mark for the ninth week in a row. Analysts normally associate a level below that with steady job growth. In May, a paltry 54,000 new jobs were created, half of them by McDonald's, God love 'em. But there is literally no job creation happening anywhere else in this economy.

2. For a guy who won his party's nomination on a fiercely anti-war platform, Barack Obama sure "hearts" his wars. In addition to surging the number of troops in Afghanistan and contemplating keeping some troops in Iraq beyond the final withdrawal date at the end of the year, he has initiated a new war in Libya that is now a nightmarish collective-action stalemate. And The New York Times reports today that he has ordered an escalation of the drone attacks in Yemen. I have agreed with these policies---except for the Libyan war, which is ludicrous, counterproductive, and at this point in the War Powers Act timeline, illegal. But this much is now clear: any remaining hope on the Left that this guy is the anti-Bush should be gone with all deliberate speed. Who's the cowboy now?

3. Some national security analysts are now saying that Iran may be only two months away from having an operational nuclear weapon. The regime talks openly of conducting a nuclear test and of tripling its uranium production. A nuclear Tehran would be a horrific game-changer for the region and the world, a major source of instability and war. And yet, Obama still holds out hope for talks and the olive branch.

4. Obama's "legacy" domestic policy---socialized medicine known as ObamaCare---was subjected to yet another withering judicial assault this week, as a three judge appellate court pounded the administration's point man on it, Solicitor General Neal Katyal. They hit him repeatedly on the central question: if the government can force you to buy health insurance, is there any limit to what they can force you to buy? Katyal's response? Crickets and tumbleweeds.

5. As the debt ceiling fight looms large, along with battles over spending and taxes and growth, one of Obama's key guys in the Congress, Anthony Weiner, is embroiled in a mess which now involves the nation seeing his full monty. His party is now distracted and even more unserious about the big issues than ever.

Overall, not a good week for the Bama. This follows another horrible week last week, when nearly all economic indicators took a dive.

The Obama's annual multi-week August vacation can't come soon enough, although knowing him, he'll take some mini-vacays before then. He might think he can escape the heat of Washington, but he will find that grim reality will follow him everywhere.

Welcome to the presidency, Mr. Obama. Tougher than you thought, huh?