Tomorrow’s Jobs Report is a Reminder of Obama’s Failure to Fix the Economy

Tomorrow is jobs report day. With only four jobs reports left before Election Day, each one takes on added importance. Each is a reminder of exactly how President Obama has failed to fix the economy and to live up to the standard he set for himself. In early 2009, he and his economic team promised the unemployment rate would be below 5.5 percent by today due to their $831 billion stimulus. We’re nowhere near that.

Yet even before the numbers come out tomorrow, we already know that the president’s reelection prospects are shrinking. According to the latest Gallup poll, Americans think jobs should be the top priority of the next president.

That’s bad news for President Obama because he has proven unwilling to make jobs his top priority.

A “Daily Economic Briefing” has not appeared on his schedule since April of 2011. He has not convened his Jobs Council in over six months. However, he has found time since then to attend over 120 fundraisers. He’s also squeezed in 11 rounds of golf–and plenty of campaign travel.

When Air Force One landed in Mansfield, Ohio, yesterday, Ohioans were reminded that these may be the last days for the Mansfield airport. Defense cuts, which President Obama has not worked to prevent, could close the airport in a matter of months. This means middle class workers will lose their jobs.

This week Ohio also suffered the consequences of the Obama EPA’s excessive regulations. OhioAmerican Energy announced the closure of its mining operations in Brilliant, Ohio, putting even more Ohioans out of work. In a press release, a company official explicitly blamed the Obama administration for driving them out of business.

Today, the president travels to Virginia, where his war on coal also threatens workers’ livelihoods. On top of that, his offshore drilling ban is blocking job creation and energy development, which has even the state’s Democrat senators fighting the president. But before Virginia, he visits Florida, where high unemployment and an ongoing foreclosure crisis continue to plague the middle class.

Most Americans agree: We are moving in the wrong direction. The economy is not creating jobs fast enough and, according to last Friday’s GDP report, is actually slowing down. Roughly 23 million Americans are still struggling for work. Yet President Obama says, “We tried our plan, and it worked.”

While his plan may have worked out for his political cronies and donors, it’s not working for the American people. That’s why they are ready for a president who prioritizes jobs.

Today, Gov. Romney will outline his middle class jobs plan in Colorado. He has a plan to get Americans back to work and to get our economy moving again. But where is President Obama’s plan? His only proposals for a second term are more spending and higher taxes. Not satisfied with attacking job creators rhetorically, he’ll further punish them with suffocating tax increases. One nonpartisan study by the firm Ernst & Young found Obama’s tax increases could lead to over 700,000 job losses.

President Obama knows his campaign is in trouble. He made his desperation clear in announcing that former President Clinton would keynote at the Democratic National Convention. As the New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny said, “I think it means that President Obama realizes that he’s in trouble and needs help from whoever he can get it. If he was in a stronger position, he would not invite the former president to be at his campaign.”

But even Bill Clinton can’t hide the evidence of President Obama’s failed record on jobs.

As long as jobs are voters’ top priority, President Obama is in trouble–not only because of his dismal record but also because of Mitt Romney’s impressive record. Gov. Romney has a track record of proven leadership, of taking on difficult challenges and getting results. He did it in business, he did it at the Olympics, and he did in Massachusetts.

Mitt Romney has a plan for the economy, one that will unleash job creators and help middle class families. While President Obama attacks success by telling entrepreneurs and innovators, “You didn’t build that,” Governor Romney will encourage success and work to promote small businesses.

As Governor Romney says, “If you attack success, you’ll get less of it.”

In the coming weeks, undecided voters will begin looking more closely at the two candidates–and at the state of the economy. President Obama represents the unacceptable status quo. Mitt Romney stands for a new direction. We already know voters’ priorities, and that gives us a pretty good indication of the candidate they will ultimately choose.

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