Obama’s choice of shills reminds us of the original definition of the word

President Obama stands with, from left to right: Denise Gibson from Brooklyn, N.Y., Jim Chukalas from Fredon Township, N.J., and Leslie Macko from Charlottesville, Va., all unemployed. (AP)

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Shannon Lewis, of Romney, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaks in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday to urge the House to pass legislation that could help keep 160,000 educators on the job. (AP)

shill (slang) n. One who poses as a satisfied customer or an enthusiastic gambler to dupe bystanders into participating in a swindle.

Shilling in Las Vegas is a fine and upstanding tradition, less about a swindle than creating an atmosphere conducive to one parting with one’s life savings and feeling you had a good time doing it.

Obama needs to fire the guy who finds his shills. He’s not doing a very good job of making his boss’ case, instead making his Rose Garden press conferences look more like a swindle.

On July 19 the president gave a speech urging Congress to pass an extension of jobless benefits. To put a face on the plight of the homeless he was flanked by people out of work.

One was Leslie Macko from Charlottesville, Va. She is out of work.

Obama said, "We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she's eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she's doing what she never thought she'd have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She's turning to her father for financial support.”

She lost that job a month after being convicted of prescription drug fraud.

On Tuesday the president returned to the Rose Garden to urge Congress to pass a bill giving federal funds to states to save teachers' jobs. One of his human shills was Shannon Lewis of Charleston, W. Va.

"With so many Americans unemployed or struggling to get by, states have been forced to balance their budgets with fewer tax dollars, which means that they've got to cut critical services and lay off teachers and police officers and firefighters …" Obama said.

"It means that students in Illinois and West Virginia who count on Rachel and Shannon are going to be not getting the education that they deserve."

Shannon Lewis was laid off by her mother, Hampshire County Schools Superintendent Robin Lewis, not because there was not enough money to pay her, but because with declining enrollment her services were unneeded.

An editorial in today’s Investor’s Business Daily makes a rather succinct point about this:

“Which brings up a question the White House is going to wish hadn't been asked: How many other teachers are there who, like Lewis, lost their jobs not because of low tax revenues but simply because they were not needed, and will now be paid ... for what?

“There might not be many. But this question leads to another place the White House doesn't want to go:

“Public school employment, the Cato Institute reported in its @ Liberty blog, has increased 10 times faster than public school enrollment since 1970 — and the result has been stagnant test scores.”

Might I refer you back to the definition?

Go to 2:20 in the video: