The U.S. unemployment rate increased in the same week the Dow Jones industrial average lost all upward progress from the year, according to data released last week. Unemployment went from 8.1 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May, a one-month period, driving the two main presidential candidates to manipulate the data to make differing political points.
While both candidates want to point to specific people to blame, their strategies of attacking one group or individual seem to lack understanding concerning the complexity of the situation.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was first to use the new data to criticize President Barack Obama. ‘This week has seen a cascade of one bad piece of economic news after another,’ Romney said in a statement. ‘Slowing GDP growth, plunging consumer confidence, an increase in unemployment claims, and now another dismal jobs report all stand as a harsh indictment of the president’s handling of the economy.’
But the statistics that Romney picks – namely the unemployment rate – have trended toward improvement. A tenth of a percent increase from one month to another is hardly enough to attack or blame the president. Romney reasons a slowing GDP growth and plunging consumer confidence are an ‘indictment’ of the president’s economic policies. He fails to explain which policies are responsible for these lackluster statistics.
Unfortunately, the way Obama has approached the increased unemployment statistics is not much better than the Romney’s strategy. Obama blamed Congress for not taking more action.
Speaker of the House John Boehner blamed Democrats: ‘If they had taken our advice and worked with us, the economy would be better,’ he said to reporters.
In a statement, minority leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans’ ‘only plan is to hand more tax breaks to millionaires, Big Oil, special interests and corporations that ship jobs overseas.’
To use unemployment data as a campaign tactic, data and evidence are necessary. Part of Romney’s argument depends on looking at unemployment data from only two months. It fails to capture the improving trend and misleads the public.
Moreover, the candidates want someone to blame, but it seems unreasonable and unthinkable that only one person or group could have so much control of or influence on the nation’s economy. In reality, a combination of factors is behind poor – or improved – job numbers.
If the candidates want to use unemployment statistics as a reason why they should be elected, the underlying reasons the employment rate is increasing or decreasing should be explained. Simply blaming the president or Congress is not enough. Blaming a particular policy that has a cause and effect relationship is a much stronger argument.
Limiting government regulation of businesses is one of the main points Romney and other conservatives argue for. Without evidence, they fail to make a solid argument that regulation directly affects unemployment. Indeed, they fail to realize that some regulations, like those for consumer protection, are in place for a good reason.
A Bloomberg article about the recent unemployment rate data claimed, ‘It is the direction of the economy that is most influential in shaping voter decisions in the November election.’
Hopefully, educated voters will understand the dangers of oversimplifying who’s to blame.
Harmen Rockler is a senior newspaper journalism and political science major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at horockle@syr.edu.