Economy

Republicans reminded Vice President Biden of the prediction he made that the stimulus would fix the economy in 18 months.

Bank repossessions of homes hit a record high during the second quarter, with over 260,000 properties returning to lenders, according to Foreclosure-Support.com, which analyzes home foreclosures.

The figure is up 5 percent from the previous quarter and up 38 percent from the second quarter last year.

Bank repossessions occur after a home has been in foreclosure for quite some time.

National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch on Monday warned that Mexico imposing additional tariffs on the United States will only add to the job woes facing this country. 

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation on Monday kicked off a $4.1 million TV ad campaign blasting President Obama for what it claims is wasteful spending of taxpayers' dollars. 

More than half of the respondents (56 percent) in a new CNN poll say the economy will be an extremely important factor in deciding who they support in the upcoming midterm election. 

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows 81 percent of surveyed adults know someone who is out of work and looking for a job. 

The finding varied little across demographic, partisan or income groups. 

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, the director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, on Sunday slammed the Obama administration’s approach to combating the recession.

Sachs took particular issue with the multi-billion dollar stimulus package Obama signed into law shortly after taking office that added to the deficit when the country was already drowning in red ink.

“They added to [the deficit] and thought that that would work both politically and economically,” he told CNN’s "Fareed Zakaria GPS," adding, “What’s happened is the stimulus substituted for thinking; the stimulus substituted for planning.”

Sachs argues the stimulus included tax and spending measures that were aimed at propping up market sectors that had already imploded because of vanishing demand.

“[What] I found surprising about the Obama approach was that it basically was trying to get people to start spending again where they were saying, ‘We’re tired, we’re tired, we need to save a little bit,’” he said. “And once one realizes that consumption is going to be down, we’d need a different approach from simply ‘stimulus,’ from cutting taxes for households to spend more.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Sunday said, "The best thing we can do is calm down."

Republican congressional candidate Ben Quayle (Ariz.) on Friday said he favors increasing the retirement age and shifting Social Security payments into private accounts to keep the fund from bankrupting the government.

“We would protect those who are in or near retirement today, but for people of my generation and younger, we would actually have to reform it which would be to start to gradually increase the retirement age up to 70 and allow a portion of the people to take … their Social Security and actually invest into private accounts,” the 33-year-old told CNN's John King.

Quayle’s take on the entitlement program dovetails with congressional Republican leaders who have recently reiterated calls that hearken back to 2005 to privatize Social Security before it absorbs nearly all of the revenue collected by the government.

Republicans in June of 2005 controlled both chambers of Congress and announced a plan to create individual accounts from the Social Security’s surplus. Privatizing the fund was a campaign pledge of President Bush’s first term that never materialized.

However, shortly after the plan was announced Hurricane Katrina hit and swept privatization off Republicans’ priority list.

If conservative leaders had been successful back in 2005 in privatizing the program it is unclear if retirement accounts would be in better shape today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,717 on Dec. 30, 2005. The index on Friday closed at 10,303, meaning retirement accounts performing on par with the Dow would have a negative return.

Still, a recent report from the trustee of Social Security states the program will pay full benefits through 2037, at which point recipients will only receive 75 percent of full assistance.

President Obama on Saturday noted the 75th anniversary of Social Security by vowing to protect the program from Republican attempts to privatize it.

“I’ll fight with everything I’ve got to stop those who would gamble your Social Security on Wall Street,” he said. “Because you shouldn’t be worried that a sudden downturn in the stock market will pull all you’ve worked do hard for, all you’ve earned, at risk.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, however, said continuing the Bush tax cuts will also help to explode the deficit.