Main point of Obama's comment today. Public sector isn't doing fine

But the campaign gets lost in sound bytes.

Republicans are giving President Obama flack for saying that job growth in the private sector is doing fine. They are seizing a sound byte to make it look like Obama is out of touch.

Since then, Obama has admitted that the private sector isn't really doing fine. Recovery is anemic at best. While a lot of political hay is being made out of whether Obama was mistaken, or not, in saying that the private sector is fine, a more important point is being lost. The public sector is retrenching.

Well, maybe that's part of the reason why job growth in the private sector is anemic. Like it or not, the public sector is a big market for goods and services created by the private sector. Softness in the consumer market is probably the main reason why private sector growth is anemic at best. Who wants to invest in expanding production if they don't feel there's going to be a market for that production?

Some conservatives are happy that the public sector is shrinking since they feel that the public sector is not the way to stimulate the economy.

Conservatives keep asking whether the public sector is a good way to lead a recovery; especially while the public sector is so far in debt.

Maybe it is. Maybe it's not a good way to lead a recovery. If not, then one needs to ask, is there another way to stimulate the private sector, besides growth if spending in the public sector?

Increasing exports comes to mind; for instance.

Regardless of whether growth is in the public sector or the private sector, here is the big question I keep asking. Is there a way to grow the economy without destroying our natural environment? If we can answer that question, we're on our way to recovery.