The Obama administration is homing in on the employment issue, a prime concern for millions of Americans and one that could have a considerable impact on this year’s midterm elections. Not like that’s what the White House is worried about or anything.

Regardless of Team Obama’s motivation or intent, the Council of Economic Advisers released a report Thursday detailing the administration’s efforts over the last year to help the U.S. economy recover from the economic catastrophe of late 2008 and the ensuing bailout and unemployment debacles. –KA

The New York Times:

Casting its first year as positive, the administration’s 462-page report served as a summary of its logic and a pitch for Obama’s future agenda.

Recognizing voters were likely to hold Obama to account for the economy, the White House team cast blame on their predecessors and unpopular Wall Street bankers.

”I think there’s just no way to understate how huge the economic challenges facing the country have been this past year,” said Christina Romer, head the Council of Economic Advisers. ”So everything obviously from the financial crisis, the terrible recession, but the longer-run problems — the stagnating middle-class incomes, soaring health care costs, the failure to invest in education, innovation, clean energy — we certainly inherited an economy with a number of economic problems.”

It’s not clear whether the it-didn’t-break-on-my-watch message would resonate with voters. Republicans were quick to describe the document as propaganda masquerading as governing.

Read more

WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...

This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.

At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.

Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.

Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.

Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.

Donate now.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG