President Barack Obama’s job’s deficit currently stands at 8.3 million. After losing 4 million jobs in his first year in office Barack Obama vowed in his 2010 State of the Union Address he would not rest until U.S. businesses were hiring again.

That lasted for about a week.
The economy’s continued poor performance means President Obama is falling further and further behind on his promise to create millions of new jobs. The President promised that if elected he would create 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 through new economic policies, beginning with the enactment of a massive economic stimulus package.

Yet once again President Obama has pushed job creation to the background as he continues to focus on nationalizing health care.

The AP reported:

President Barack Obama’s furious, final push to get a health care bill passed threatens to shove aside the message he promised would top his list this year: creating jobs.

Even as the White House juggles several enormous issues at once, the public takes its cues about the president’s chief concern from how he spends his time, energy and capital. As Obama himself put it on Wednesday, from now until Congress takes a final vote on a health care overhaul, “I will do everything in my power to make the case for reform.”

That kind of now-or-never campaign means America can expect a debate consumed by health care, again, for weeks.

The White House is trying mightily to focus it on real people and the human cost of inaction. But there will be no escaping the same slog that turned off so many people in 2009 — congressional process, arm-twisting and doomsday rhetoric.

So what unfolds over the next few weeks will affect millions of Americans and alter the course of Obama’s presidency. He has a shrinking window in which to find enough votes within his party to pass health care legislation so he can free himself to spend more bully pulpit time on the single issue that has stoked the public ire since he became president — disappearing jobs.

Polling shows the economy remains a bigger personal worry to people than the cost, access and coverage problems endemic to the health care system.

On Sunday, Glenn Reynolds wrote in The Washington Examiner about the dangers of a rogue government pushing radical changes without the consent of the people.

A nation whose government does not rest on the consent of the governed is a
nation whose government holds sway only by inertia, or by force.

It is a nation vulnerable to political shocks, usurpation, or perhaps even political
collapse or civil war. It is a body politic suffering from a serious illness. Those who care about America should be very worried.

From our "Quote of the Day" files we bring you the one and only Sen. Harry Reid.

On March 5, 2010, Senator Harry Reid said, "Today is a big day in America. Only 36,000 people lost their jobs today, which is really good."

Kind of makes you wonder how he would define a really bad day....

The economy’s continued poor performance means President Obama is falling further and further behind on his promise to create millions of new jobs. Obama promised that if elected he would create 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 through new economic policies, beginning with the enactment of a massive economic stimulus package. Accompanying his jobs promise, the President also emphasized accountability and measuring his presidency by results. The result of the President’s jobs promise means total employment which in February stood at 129.5 million should be at least 137.8 million by the end of 2010, leaving the Obama jobs deficit at almost 8.3 million jobs.

This morning The Sacramento Citizen's new AB32 blog reported on California's energy costs and the impact California's "Global Warming Solution Act of 2006" will have on those costs:

California has some of the highest energy costs in the nation, costs which will rise even higher under AB 32 according to the new Energy Cost Index of 2010.

California’s gasoline and electricity costs are the 7th highest among all U.S. states and Washington D.C. according to the Energy Cost Index 2010 just released by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, an advocacy group.

In 2009, California tied for 11th highest. (The council does its ranking for lowest costs to highest, so in 2010, California ranks 45th, and in 2009, it tied for 41st.)

The report states:

Energy costs are impacted by a variety of factors, including economic growth, investment in exploration and development of resources, the particular energy resources being utilized (such as coal, natural gas or renewables), political risks (for example, in terms of risks to oil production at home and around the globe), monetary policy and inflation, and government mandates, regulations, subsidies and taxes.

In fact, governmental factors explain part of the difference in energy prices from state to state. For example, what taxes are in effect in each state? What mandates are imposed by either the federal government or by the states that either directly or indirectly affect energy prices? Those mandates and regulations can include renewable portfolio mandates on electricity producers, for example, as well as state-based or regional efforts to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.

California’s gasoline tax is 18 cents a gallon, third highest behind New York and Washington State.

California’s energy costs are likely to rise substantially in the future because of AB32, the global warming law. The state government estimates AB32 will increase electricity prices alone by 14%.

The SBE Council’s report concludes, “Elected officials need to be aware of how policy impacts the costs of electricity and the cost of fuel. It matters to consumers and businesses of all types and sizes; to the competitiveness of each state and to the overall economy.”

The Health Care Nuclear Option, also known as reconciliation, is being considered by liberal politicians to insure that Obamacare makes it to the President’s desk by Easter.

Isn’t it interesting how the progressives have changed their tune, now that they are in the majority?

Mitt Romney's new book "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness" was released yesterday and you might as well get used to seeing him in the headlines again. His 19-state book tour guarantees a certain amount of media coverage.

In the wide-ranging policy book Romney says the Democrat's efforts to reconcile with foreign powers, Muslims and others angered by President George W. Bush's administration have weakened the country's stature instead of enhancing it.

Romney kicked off his book's marketing campaign Tuesday with a blitz across the TV dial, starting with NBC's "Today" show, where he gave Obama an "F" for his first year rather than the B-plus the president recently gave himself.

As HotAir notes, during his appearance this morning on “Today” he does the smart thing and standing by RomneyCare while hammering The One for trying to nationalize the problem. Flip-flopping on this issue will do him more harm than good given perceptions about his opportunism

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The book echoes some of the themes that propelled Scott Brown’s upstart U.S. Senate campaign. In the wonkish new government fix-it book Romney argues that American power—defined as a strong economy, strong defense, and a strong sense of shared values—is being whittled away by the American left, in particular by President Barack Obama. This book is his recipe for preserving American strength through freer markets, increased defense spending, and education reform.

With the dust settled on the health summit, it is clear that the president and his allies on Capitol Hill intend to plow forward with their sweeping proposal to overhaul the nation’s health sector. Today, President Obama will announce that democrats will use the nuclear option to takeover the health care industry.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this historic abuse of power, via Drudge:

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with Eugene Volokh, professor of law at the UCLA School of Law and founder of The Volokh Conspiracy, to discuss gun rights, free expression, and the Nanny State. Informative, enlightening and a must watch...



Find out what Volokh thinks the biggest threats to free expression are, and whether today's muzzlers come mostly from the left or right. Volokh also explains what the landmark Supreme Court case, DC vs. Heller, has done to gun control and whether he agrees with the "more guns, less crime" thesis.

Other topics include: media bias and gun rights, Alabama's prohibition on selling sex toys, and whether judges can be nannies.

Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Alex Manning and Hawk Jensen. Edited by Paul Detrick.

Approximately nine-and-a-half minutes.