Paul Krugman, "Phony Fear Factor": Blame the Republicans for Unemployment

In his New York Times op-ed "Phony Fear Factor" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/opinion/krugman-phony-fear-factor.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), Paul Krugman tells us that the fear of "costly regulations and higher taxes" is not responsible for the lack of hiring, as Republicans would have us believe, and that blaming the Obama administration for unemployment is unfair:

"Never mind the fact that the housing bubble, the debt explosion and the financial crisis took place on the watch of a conservative, free-market-praising president; it’s that Democrat in the White House now who gets the blame."

I'm not a Republican, and I don't blame Obama for weak job growth. I believe that we have entered a new era in which computers, robotics, automation and information technology are responsible for an efficacy which has made many jobs redundant. I do not foresee future demand for unskilled labor. For that matter, I believe that even with respect to skilled labor, mediocrity will no longer suffice in the marketplace.

Which is not to say that I don't blame Obama for the economic mess currently faced by the US. The US budget deficit will exceed $1 trillion in 2011 for the third straight year; prior to Obama, the deficit never exceeded $1 trillion. Moreover, during Obama's time in office, America has increased its debt by $4 trillion. Sorry, Paul, but with no economic recovery in sight, this is catastrophic. The sale of Plum Island and other odds and ends by the federal government for $22 billion (see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44724162/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/#.ToVKl9QjKuI) is not going to make a dent in this shortfall.

For that matter, even Vice President Biden acknowledged on a Florida radio station on Thursday that the economy is now Obama's fault and not that of Bush (see: http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/09/29/biden-economy-our-fault-not-bush.html?obref=obnetwork).

Obama promised hope and change, but didn't deliver. In 2009, Obama signed the biggest economic stimulus plan in US history, and pledging to create or save 600,000 jobs, he declared, "Now we're in a position to really accelerate." Well now, in 2011, the president and Krugman are back to blaming Bush. I suppose this is the problem inherent in being a phony messiah.