The Politics of Credit and Blame
Recently I heard an elected official give a speech where he touted how the economy was turning around, jobs were coming back, unemployment was dropping, but there was still more work to be done.
Shortly afterwards, I heard someone who opposes that elected official say that while jobs were being created, they weren’t good paying jobs, wages were stagnant, and hard working folks were still falling behind.
Now here’s where it gets tricky. The elected officials who were touting the good economic news were Barack Obama and Mike Pence. The ones saying things weren’t all that great were Donald Trump and John Gregg.
Talk about some strange bedfellows.
I have always said that for good or bad, the President and Governor get the credit or blame when the economy does well or goes south, even though the only jobs that government creates are government jobs; that’s just the way things are.
And I have always found it fascinating when politicos try to thread the credit/blame needle of the economy being great or not as bad under the guy on their side of the aisle, however, it’s the Great Depression when it comes to that other guy they’re running against.
The truth is always in the middle. And the real data shows things are turning around for a major portion of the population, however it mostly the low-skilled and low-educated workers who are getting the short end of the stick.
This is why instead of spending a lot of time playing the credit/blame game, time might best be spent on developing policies and programs to give those folks the opportunity to get ahead and participate in the slow, but solid, recovery.
It’s also a lot easier to stay consistent, politically speaking.
I’m just saying.
