Obama, Democrats Losing , can this be?

 Obama must get 'really to work'

 (1) The President has one of his 'greatest' challenges ahead , first he has to deliver a plan to get the nation working again . Second he must 'convince' the Republicans , and get them working with him . There is a strong chance that he can turn things around . Time is running out Markets in the US took a dive on Friday (US time) when a government report showed no job growth last month, at a time of sagging consumer confidence. With all time low ratings of 38 % , and a disapproval rating of 54 % percent Obama faces a uphill battle to turn things around .

STILL NO GROWTH:

Economists raised new concerns about recession after the US Labour Department said private-sector employment, previously the main engine for job growth as revenue-strapped government departments shed workers, "changed little" in most major industries.

AFP reported a meagre 17,000 private-sector jobs were added in August, down from a revised 156,000 in July. But those were offset by 17,000 jobs shed by the Government.

Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms yesterday said job numbers were particularly important as they were an indication of economic growth.

"Employment growth and economic growth go hand-in-hand. If the economy is stronger, jobs will flow. Fewer jobs indicates a stopping of economic growth.

 CONSUMER DRIVEN SPECULATION.

"At the moment, people are looking for any indication of things getting better in the US."

US commentators were reported as saying the "job machine" had ground to a halt and that the US had already entered or was at least close to entering another recession.

It was the first time in 10 months the US economy had not produced net growth in non-farm payrolls.

"The stagnation in US payroll employment is an ominous sign," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics. "The broad message is that even if the US economy doesn't start to contract again, any expansion is going to be very, very modest and fall well short of what would be needed to drive the still elevated unemployment rate lower."

The Labour Department said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1% from July. It was the 28th month the jobless rate has been at 9.0% and above.

The number of unemployed people was essentially unchanged at 14 million.

The jobs data for August was the worst since September 2010, when the economy lost more than twice the number of jobs it created. The pace of job growth remains far below the expansion needed to reduce the high unemployment rate.

Yesterday, Mr Obama urged a divided congress to pass a clean extension of the transportation Bill, a measure financing road building and other infrastructure projects.

The president warned that failure of congress to act would be disastrous for the economy, costing nearly one million workers their jobs over the next year and almost $US1 billion ($NZ1.18 billion) in highway funding after the first 10 days.

His speech to a joint session of congress on Thursday (US time) will be when Mr Obama is expected to lay out a plan to create jobs and stimulate the moribund economy.

Mr Timms said New Zealand's sharemarket would take its lead from the US and he expected the NZX-50 index to fall this morning on light volume before taking a lead from Australia, when markets opened at noon NZ time, and from Asia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index plunged 2.2% on Friday, the technology-rich Nasdaq was down 2.6% and the broad-based Standard & Poor's index dropped 2.5% in Friday trade.

"We will feel the impact of those falls but I think most people are not feeling it is doom and gloom for us. I expect our market will be weak, but not dramatically," Mr Timms said.

 In the early days of the Obama administration, organized labor had grand visions of pushing through a sweeping agenda that would help boost sagging membership and help revive union strength.

Now labor faces this reality: Public employee unions are in a drawn-out fight for their very survival in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states where GOP lawmakers have curbed collective bargaining rights.

Also, many union leaders are grousing that the president they worked so hard to elect has not focused enough on job creation and other bold plans to get their members back to work.

"Obama campaigned big, but he's governing small," said Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Labor remains a core Democratic constituency and union leaders will stand with Obama in Detroit this Labor Day, where he will address thousands of rank-and-file members during the city's annual parade Monday.

But at the same time, unions have begun shifting money and resources out of Democratic congressional campaigns and back to the states in a furious effort to reverse or limit GOP measures that could wipe out union rolls.

The AFL-CIO's president, Richard Trumka, says it's part of a new strategy for labor to build an independent voice separate from the Democratic Party.

Union donations to federal candidates at the beginning of this year were down about 40 percent compared with the same period in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Last month, a dozen trade unions said they would boycott next year's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., over frustration on the economy and to protest the event's location in a right-to-work state.

"The pendulum has swung a long way," said Ross Eisenbrey, a vice president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "In the next year, I think all unions can really hope for is to keep more bad things from happening and to get as much of a jobs program enacted as possible."

Unions fell short last month in their recall campaign to wrest control of the Wisconsin Senate from Republicans. That fight was a consequence of Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public-employee unions as a part of a cost-cutting effort. Now they are spending millions more in Ohio, where they hope to pass a statewide referendum in November that would repeal a similar measure limiting union rights.

It's a far cry from the early optimism unions had after Obama came into office. Back then, unions hoped a Democratic-controlled Congress would pass legislation to make it easier for unions to organize workers. But business groups fought that proposal hard, and it never came to a vote.

Union leaders grew more (*)disappointed when the president's health care overhaul didn't include a government-run insurance option. Then Obama agreed to extend President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy.

Obama came out in favor of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that most unions say will cost American jobs.  (2)Despite campaigning in favor of raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 an hour, Obama hasn't touched the issue since taking office.

NOTES & COMMENTS:

 (*) "The Democrats try to help with healthcare as people for 8 years watched the healthcare industry price them right out." (1)Obama's job creation plan is a one word thing-----

­Stimulus--­----and I would like to see how he gets that passed in our GOP House----h­e knows it just is not so and not to mention the first stimulus failed miserably. The Nation has 14 million out of work , but what percentage is illegal aliens account for ? African - American unemployment is over 40 % nation wide.

  (2)Unions have caused their own problems over the years by demanding more, more, more, but not contributng on their end. For example, I know a worker at a Chrysler/F­iat plant in Detroit, skilled trades is his job category, making $40/hour. He only works if something breaks down. otherwise he does nothing. That's a minimum of $83,200/ye­ar with a great possibilit­y of overtime, plus holiday pay, medical benefits, etc. How many cars does Chrysler/F­iat, a company which has been bankrupted­-bailed out-bought­/sold numerous times, have to sell just to pay this one guy's salary. Multiply that by the thousands of C/F's employees, management­, administra­tive staff, physical plant upkeep, debt payment, etc. and it's no wonder their stock is worthless and pays no dividends.Obama did not keep his promise to end 'outsourcing' or off shoring' jobs