Right Change: First Quarter 2012 Growth Slows, Weak Business Spending

Obama says we can’t wait for Congress to create jobs. While some Americans may appreciate his passionate gesture to bypass the Constitution to implement his policies, all of that fervor is good for nothing if the policies don’t actually create jobs. The economic data for the start of 2012 proves that whatever Obama is doing may just in fact be good for nothing.

Obama and the Democrats celebrated a decline in the unemployment for the first three months of 2012, but it turns out that the U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter because businesses cut back on investment spending. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure of our economy, slowed to a growth rate of 2.2%. That is down from last quarter, which grew at a 3.0% rate. It’s also down from the pace economists’ estimated, which was 2.5%.

CNBC reports there were some signs of an improvement like the small increase in consumer spending and a rise in home construction after an unusually warm winter. Don’t get too excited, the decline in business investment is really what really slowed the economy down. The amount that business spent investing in their companies plummeted to its lowest amount since 2009 with investment in equipment and software rising at its slowest pace since the recession ended.

All of President Obama’s efforts to create jobs without Congress’s help really haven’t produced much but a negative start to 2012. His efforts to revive the economy include raising taxes, more regulations on small business, a healthcare law that is preventing businesses from hiring, and a massive stimulus bill.  He isn’t shy about his plans for the next four years should America give him the opportunity – he says there will be more taxes, more EPA regulations, and more stimulus spending.

Can you imagine what the economy would look like with four more years of Obama on steroids? It would probably look a little like Spain’s, a country currently enduring an unemployment rate of 24% because of their big government Socialist policies. Spanish voters kicked out their Socialist government Fall 2011 in response to their debt crisis. If we ever want to see a positive economic report, we should consider getting rid of our big government in Fall 2012 as well.

Back To Blog