Laser-Like Focus: Obama's Jobs Council Hasn't Met in Six Months

Hey, remember all those times we were told President Obama was focused like a laser (or something) on jobs? Yeah, we remember that too. Say, it must be awfully difficult to address the nation's unemployment when, you know, your jobs council hasn't met in six months.

Yes, you read that correctly: the president's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness hasn't met since January 17.

President Barack Obama meets with his Council on Jobs and

Competitiveness, Januaruy, 17.

"Coming off the worst quarter of job-creation in two years, and with the worst jobs record of any president in modern history, it's clear President Obama has failed to live up to his promises," said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

"Yet President Obama is listening more to his campaign donors and special interest groups than to his own jobs council. That makes perfect sense for a president more concerned with re-election than getting the economy back on track," she added.

With unemployment at 8.2 percent (and real unemployment much worse than that), some may think it rather odd that the president can find time to do back-to-back-to-back-to-back fundraisers and play his 100th round of golf but not find time to meet with this jobs panel.

But seriously, with the jobs situation as bad as it is, why hasn't the president met with his much-touted panel? As it turns out, according to a new POLITICO report, there may be several reasons for this:

1) Considering that many of the council members are major business executives, some of them don't want to meet during the campaign season for fear of appearing partisan.

2) A few members on the panel have declined to endorse President Obama and, in return, President Obama has declined to endorse their recommendations. What we're trying to say is that it's like a cafeteria during recess and one kid won't talk to another because their feelings are hurt (or something).

3) Some of the panel members have at some point been involved in outsourcing [you know, the thing Team Obama claims is literally the worst thing in the world].

“The thing is supposed to be bipartisan, so a lot of times they don’t want to get into things that could be used by either side in the election,” an anonymous former aide told POLITICO. “The businesspeople, for the most part, don’t want to get into the middle of political fighting.”

So, basically, what we're being told is a) members of the much-touted jobs council don't plan on coming out of hiding until after the election and b) President Obama has made little to no effort to change this.

Remember when the president said "This has not been a show council. This has been a work council”?

Yeah, we do too. Wasn't that fun?

Read the full report here.

(H/T: WT)