Hello, New Mexico.\u00a0 I am back and excited to be blogging on a regular basis\u00a0for this site.\u00a0 In particular, I am looking forward to hearing your bark to my banter.<\/p>\n
Seeing that one of my last blogs was in reaction to the State of the Union<\/a> it seems fitting to pick it up exactly there and think for a minute about America\u2019s overall state. Furthermore, given that we are halfway through 2010 and America turned\u00a0one-year-wiser this 4th of July weekend, it makes sense to reflect on the state of the states.<\/p>\n So, just how are we doing? \u00a0We, America, may be another year older, but are we really another year wiser? The answer to this question is: yes, no and maybe. A few\u00a0subjective examples:<\/p>\n Back to the original question: The state of the states since The State of the Union (SOTU). Overall, it\u2019s been a pretty weak and bleak start. Allow me to refer you to the White House website<\/a> to back up my argument. There, prominently displayed on the home page, you will see a rolling list of accomplishments to date. Here, listed below, are the accomplishments achieved since the SOTU. Read it and weep.<\/p>\n 2009 Tax Breaks for Haiti Donations Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act A glance at this list gives a decent snapshot of what this White House has been focused on thus far this year.\u00a0 Health care times three, Haiti times two, an honorary act, and one measly jobs bill. Given the dire straights that our economy is in, this list \u2013 the White House\u2019s best \u2013 is just not good enough.<\/p>\n In the SOTU, President Obama himself admitted that the economy was \u2018rocked\u2019 and \u2018on the verge of collapse.\u2019\u00a0 He then was bold enough to\u00a0assert that the solution \u2018begins with the<\/strong> economy.<\/strong>\u2019<\/p>\n “One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. <\/em><\/p>\n “\u2026[T]he devastation remains. One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who’d already known poverty, life has become that much harder.<\/em><\/p>\n “\u2026So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for President. <\/em><\/p>\n “\u2026So we face big and difficult challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n “\u2026 Despite our hardships, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit… And tonight, tonight I’d like to talk about how together we can deliver on that promise.<\/em><\/p>\n “It begins with our economy.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Genius<\/em> \u2013 the solution to the economic crisis begins with the economy. Point well taken and so why<\/em> has this White House not gotten busy on this exact point? (No, the Gulf crisis is really no excuse.)<\/p>\n The result of the Administration ignoring what they themselves prioritized \u2013 again, that would be the economy \u2013 is exactly what one would expect. The latest jobs report, issued this past Friday, is a window into the ongoing disaster.\u00a0The New York Times <\/em>perhaps said it best in their op-ed<\/a> \u201cHelp needed for the Economy:\u201d<\/p>\n “If the economy were a coal mine, the job market would be an 800-pound canary, warning of a recovery that is running out of oxygen.<\/em><\/p>\n “The economy shed 125,000 jobs in June. A loss of 225,000 government Census jobs overwhelmed a gain of 83,000 jobs in the private sector. The Census layoffs were expected, but the private sector additions were lower than anticipated, and far less than needed to keep pace with new workers joining the labor force.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I agree with The New York <\/em>Times and someone (anyone) at The White House should too. Please, White House, pay attention and focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. Let\u2019s not further suck the life out of this economy by unprioritizing the priority.<\/p>\n Sarah Lenti is the blogger behind NMPolitics.net\u2019s <\/em>The Savvy<\/em><\/a>. E-mail her at <\/em>sarah@nmpolitics.net<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Please, White House, pay attention and focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. Let\u2019s not further suck the life out of this economy by unprioritizing the priority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1196,181],"tags":[118,116],"class_list":["post-19120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","category-the-savvy","tag-economy","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Friday, January 22, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Wednesday, January 27, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Thursday, March 18, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Tuesday, March 23, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Tuesday, March 30, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Friday, April 23, 2010<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/strong>Signed: Monday, May 17, 2010<\/p>\nNot good enough<\/h3>\n
Focus on jobs, jobs, jobs<\/h3>\n
\n