President Barack Obama visited the Alcoa Davenport Works on Tuesday to tout his economic policies. One of the largest employers in the Quad Cities area, the Alcoa plant “returned to its pre-recession employment numbers and is hiring more workers this summer,” thanks to a new supply agreement with the European firm Airbus. Obama said the economic crisis that began before he took office “demanded that we make some tough decisions — decisions that we now know have pulled our economy back from the brink and put us on a better path.” In particular, he mentioned federal aid for worker training and a federal program designed to connect engineering universities with manufacturers. The president also praised Alcoa managers for adapting to market conditions, changing an outmoded sheet metal product to a product now in high demand.

It’s fantastic that Alcoa Davenport Works is back to pre-recession employment, and the jobless rate in the Quad Cities is about 6.6 percent, well below the national average. But in most of the United States, unemployment and underemployment are still at historically high levels. The Department of Labor’s jobs report for May was “very disappointing,” prompting the Calculated Risk blog to note, “This is a better pace of payroll job creation than last year, but the economy still has 6.95 million fewer payroll jobs than at the beginning of the 2007 recession. At this pace (157 thousand jobs per month), it will take almost 4 years just to get back to the pre-recession level, or sometime in late 2014 or early 2015!”

I don’t see how photo ops will convince American voters that Obama has helped put the economy on the right track. When bringing down the unemployment rate should be the administration’s top priority, Obama has bought into austerity politics instead. Probably sometime within the next month, he will agree to another major drag on the economy (big federal spending cuts) as a price for getting Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Conservative commentator David Frum argued persuasively here that “Obama is his own worst enemy”:

With unemployment at 10% and interest rates at 1%, the president got persuaded that it was debt and interest that trumped growth and jobs as Public Issue #1.

[…] Back in 2008, Obama made two big promises: a tax cut for everybody earning less than $250,000 and an Afghan surge. […] In the very different circumstances of 2009, both promises rapidly showed themselves to be counter-productive. The “tax cut” promise caused Obama to direct almost one-third of his big stimulus into an individual tax rebate that no economist would have regarded as effective, for reasons explained by Milton Friedman more than 40 years ago. […] He proceeded with both, leading to the two biggest problems of his presidency: a stimulus that added hugely to the national debt while under-delivering on jobs and an expanded Afghanistan war that must end in a reversion to the same disappointing status quo that prevailed before the Afghan surge. Obama probably anticipated both results. And yet he staggered forward anyway. As ready as Obama is to surrender to uncongenial political pressures, he is strangely inattentive to negative real-world results.

Share any thoughts about Obama’s Iowa visit or economic policy in this thread. After the jump I’ve posted statements released by Democratic Representatives Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack. The Quad Cities area has been part of the first Congressional district (Braley’s territory), but under Iowa’s new map Scott County will be in the second district, where Loebsack is running for re-election in 2012.

Dave Loebsack statement, June 28:

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dave Loebsack today released the following statement after President Obama’s visit to Alcoa Davenport Works:

“I appreciate the President’s visit to Bettendorf to see firsthand the great work being done here.  The economic downturn has hurt far too many Iowa families for far too long, and we must come together to rebuild our economy and put Iowans back to work.   I applaud the President for his focus on workforce development and creating manufacturing jobs that will bring high quality, good paying jobs to Iowa.

“The work being done at Alcoa is a great example of what the President’s effort will do – bring together industry, universities and the federal government to invest in emerging technologies that create jobs and enhance competitiveness.

“I have worked to emphasize the need to manufacture more products in the United States and have introduced the SECTORS Act that would help retool and streamline our workforce development programs that are needed to train our workers for specialized fields by bringing together key players, just as the President’s initiative will.”

Earlier this year, Congressman Loebsack reintroduced the SECTORS Act.  This legislation provides grants that allow local partners to address the training needs of multiple employers and help educational institutions and other training providers align curricula and programs to meet industry demands in fields such as advanced manufacturing, energy or healthcare.  It also improves workers’ job quality while encouraging the creation, and obtaining of, nationally portable, industry-recognized credentials.

Loebsack has also cosponsored the Security in Energy And Manufacturing (SEAM) Act, H.R. 724, which provides Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits to companies.

Bruce Braley statement, June 28:

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement on President Obama’s visit to the Alcoa plant in his district in Bettendorf, IA:

“I’ve long called for a national manufacturing strategy so I’m very pleased that the President is turning his focus to the manufacturing crisis in this country.

“During the past decade, we’ve lost five million manufacturing jobs and 54,000 factories. All Americans should be troubled by this. Our economy, our national security and our nation’s future depend on a strong manufacturing sector that provides good-paying jobs to middle class Americans.

“The President’s leadership is crucial to help us restore the image of America as a country that builds things.”