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Subscribe to RSSELKO, Nev. – Mitt Romney brought his jobs and economy-focused message to a part of the country Friday that is focused on a figure separate from Friday's unemployment and jobs data.
That other number is 1,739.19 -- the price of an ounce of gold.
The town of Elko is at the very heart of Nevada's gold country, encased in a gilded bubble, where rising gold prices have helped keep unemployment low and the city's economy booming, creating a class of overworked, local entrepreneurs who dotted the audience here Friday.
“I’ve had them call me at two o’clock in the morning, to rush all the way to Wyoming -- which is 900 miles,” said Robert Brown, 36, of his list of clients in the mining industry.
Brown, who lives here in Elko, owns an equipment transport company servicing the mines.
(Friday’s labor data, showing more than 240,000 jobs added last month, drove gold prices down by a percentage point, though not enough to make people like Brown worry.)
Romney’s speech inside an airport hangar here included references to the local economy. Joined on stage by Nevada’s lieutenant governor, Brian Krolicki, the former Massachusetts governor joked about how it may be easy to assume there is “nothing” in the barren high desert surrounding this small town.
"Some of that nothing you have under the ground, that gold stuff, that's doing pretty good for you right now too," Romney said, earning the loudest cheers of any remark this afternoon.
Earlier Friday, in the city of Sparks, east of Reno, Romney struck a more sober tone, walking a tightrope between optimism about the improving economy, and blaming President Obama for the slow pace of the economy's rebound.
“This recovery has been slower than it should have been, people have been suffering for longer than they should have had to suffer. Will it get better? I think it’ll get better," he said during a business roundtable.
But in Elko, Romney found himself buoyed by a receptive crowd that also included tourists in town for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
“He has the business expertise that he needs to get this company back on track economically. I believe in the values that he espouses, and he’ll make a good president,” said Scott Anderson, a banker from Salt Lake City in for the festival.
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Isn't Ron Paul the one who invests in gold mines....wants to return to the gold standard! Guess he's been out in Nevada checking on his investments.
Well, that's OK, since at $1,700+ an ounce, Mittens is certanily worth his weight in gold!
Apparently, the RWNJ's can't start indoctrinating the next generation of hate mongers early enough;
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Well, there is good news from.... Nevada.. which is kinda like having good news from... Arizona. Look, guys. There is a lotta sand, there are a lot of rocks, there is a bunch of dry air, but NO ELECTORAL VOTES out here. Who cares? There are counties in Georgia with more voters than the entire state of Nevada.
Yeah, but in that dry air you can clearly see the Wingnutosphere.
Figures, Romney would follow the money trail and that trail leads to a gold mine. To bad the it isn't a gold mine of votes.
Follow the gold lined road...
Eventually, you will meet the man behind the curtain! lmao
Mr. Romney has a problem right about now. With the new positive numbers in, he has to find a new tack to go after President Obama. I think we shall see him struggling with his message for the few days.
I do wonder how Dr. Paul will do. His organization is supposed to be very good in caucus states.
This caucus thing is very confusing. Is it only the most active who show up, and they are picked randomly or what.
Will they use little scraps of paper to write their candidates name on......
Heck, I'd rather play the slot machines. lol
I like the video poker machines myself. Last time I was in Vegas and played, I won a couple hundred dollars and dinner on a video poker machine (I always play the quarter ones, I am cheap)
I'll play the quarters for a while....then realize I'm losing really fast. I've never won in Vegas.
Kinder, Louisiana (Coushatta Casino) is my favorite. Last year, I won $1,000 on a penny (.01) machine after I had played on $20.00 for quite some time...Blazing Pennies!....Happy, Happy me!
There is a slot (quarter) machine right outside a restaurant we always go to out there. While Mr. phinephancy is paying the bill, I always walk out, drop in one quarter, and win 50 - 85 dollars each time. Now, not to jinx ourselves, we only eat at that restaurant once while we are out there. 5 trips, 5 wins.
Problem for us going to Vegas - long flight from Orlando! If I have to sit in a plane for more than 4 hours, might as well make it 9 or 10 and go to Rome!
For the record, I am not the gambler in the family. I am there for the shopping!!!!
chilled,
I live in a caucus state. Here how the Dems do it. I think the GOP is similar but I really don't know.
You go to your precinct caucus. Usually in a school or church or large place in the city. There will be many precincts meeting in the same building. My precinct meets in a classroom in a Jr. High School. You sign in with name address and I have a post card from election bureau with my precinct #on it. You need to prove your address is in the precinct. There is a precinct chair or captain. Once the meeting begins you are told how many delegates that this precinct will send on to the district convention. Say my precinct gets to send 16 delegates. This is based on how many voted democratic in the last state wide election. Say their are 60 people in attendance, Obama is running unopposed and their are no contested seats on the state level. So they will ask for volunteers. Usually they will get 16 people to fill slots and also about 8 alternates. In 2008 , we gathered in Obama sub group, Clinton subgroup and uncommitted subgroup and then elected proportionately the 16 people as delegates.
Then there is open time for people to submit porposals and vote to send them to the district and unitmately these statements get put in the state DFL platform.
It last about 1 1/2 hours. You meet your neighbors and the local elected officials stop by and give a speech and ask for support and answer questions. That is about it.
The district convention will elect delegates to state convention and state will elect delegates to the national convention who elect the candidate for President on Democratic ticket.
It a little different on the Republican side,
They all gather by state district, vote on the candidates to find the percentage differences for the candidates, then select electors for the convention. Candidates who are smart keep their people there after the election when most voters go home, this means that when the electors are selected their people are predominately selected. Most of the Caucuses on the republican side are open as are the electors, the can vote for anyone they chose.
Beginning to understand Dr Paul's strategy? ;-0)
(PS: he picked up most of the electors from Iowa)
Egilman,
It would be "amusing" to see Dr. Paul put a spoke in former Gov. Romney's wheel, would it not? :)
phine ... I was an Executive Casino Host from 2005 - 2007 on a riverboat in SE Indiana. While all the slots must meet minimum Gaming Commission payout criteria, you're best bet is always the first row of $1 machines you see as you enter a casino. They are set well above the minimum ... always good business to have the new arrivals see and hear jackpots hitting as they walk on.
Uh .... about those positive numbers" ....
You realize that it is so bad that millions have simply given up and left the workforce .... 1.2 million last month alone. The total number stands at 4 1/2 - 5 million - bringing the actual rate to around 11%.
Even the CBO points this out ....
In other words even the low ball CBO has it 10%.
So you have about 12.7 million unemployed, another 4.7 unemployed not counted, and 10.5 million on part-time that where full-time and the rate is actually 17%.
Then count in the underemployed, chemical engineers now cleaning pools etc .......
Sorry phinephancy ... not everyone is as easily fooled as the libs here at FR.
Besides there is a ton of other stuff Romney can point out .... such as when compared to Reagans's recovery, at this point and adjusted to work force size / percentage of job growth - Reagan had already helped the equivalent creation of 10 million new jobs. He can talk about the GDP growth Reagan had at this point ....
He can talk about the widening of the wealth gap under Obama after it had remanined flat under Bush, he can talk about the extra / wasted $1,000-$1,200 a year the average American pays just for gas, the extra cost of food ....
Bottom line ..... things are worse for the poor and the middle class than they were in January 2009.
So don't worry....he has more real, significant stuff to talk about, the failures of this President to talk about - than any previous candidate since the Great Depression.
Egilman,
Thanks for the procedure of the GOP caucus.
Either way it is about the most grass root participation of voters.
Just woke up, bumped the computer, and was surprised to see comments this late (eastern time). You all are impressive. Well, going for some cocoa and back to sleep.
Youd be suprised how fast you can lose money playing the slots, especially if you play the max on every spin.
Bob+numbers @post4.9==I'm going to assure you can do simple math. Now I will type very, very slowly so as you can keep up. Is not the number 243,000 jobs added not better than Bush's last jobs number of his term, a loss of 775,000 jobs ( yes I said a minus/negative jobs number) Just agree that the +243,000 jobs is better than -/minus/negative 775,000 jobs loss for our country. BTW You probably brought the numbers from the same agency when Bush was in control. I think you are bitter because you see your Party's chance of winning the elections slipping away with the good numbers coming out.
Egilman & NorthstarDFL
Thanks for shedding some light on the caucus procedures for both parties. Both seem to be another version of the Texas Two Step (precincts close after voting, then caucus)........
...Texas is still trying to set it's primary date. It's already been moved from March to April.
What egilman left out (at least for iowa) is that the final phase of the GOP caucus is in determining the party platform.
So far Romney's tack against the new positive economic data is to just lie. When you compare the months after the stimulus interjection of money into the economy (which began in April of 2009) against the awful months leading up to it, it is very obvious that the stimulus brought down those record job loss totals and eventually led to job growth. In year 2008, we had 2.6 million lost jobs. In year 2009, we had 5 million lost jobs (with 3 million lost jobs in the first four months of Jan - Apr). By year 2010, the economy gained 940,000 jobs and in year 2011, the economy gained 1,640,000 jobs. The only objective view of such data is that Obama had a mini-depression ongoing when he took office and in about one year the picture drastically turned around and the picture is still getting better. The very month Obama took office, January of 2009, was the worst job loss month in more than 70 years ( a decline of 820,000 jobs). By May, only three and half months following the inauguration, job losses had declined to 386,000. By November, the figure was only 55,000. March, April and May of 2010 showed large job gains. Romney's strategy is to lie and hope the public won't figure out that the awful performance of the economy of 2008 and 2009 still forms the hole that we have yet to dig out of. Everything Obama has done has lessened the misery. And that certainly includes the payroll tax cut, the one tax cut the Repubs don't like (because it mostly benefits those making under $120,000).
Beyond,
I am impressed with your post. It is Friday night, my mind is mush by this point, and you can come up with all those facts. Seriously, I am impressed.
Watching C-SPAN and the arguments the republicans made was a sad sight for democracy. Their blind hate of this president is evident in every word said and action taken. BD- I agree he averted a depression something learnt from history so pay attention folks.
beyond - LMAO.... One month of good data doesn't define a trend. Even obama is downplaying it.
Smart money knows that recessions are cyclical in nature (they occur every few years) and to date no economist or politician has been able to stop them. Not bush, not obama, no one.
While the popular notion is for people to blame the administration for the recession that occurred on their watch it is rarely that simple or even true. Even recoveries can be problematic if policies are encouraged that don't address the recovery.
As for the 2009 stimulus, anyone who pumps $800 billion plus would expect the GDP to jump and by economist standards the 2007-2008 recession ended mid 2009 when growth turned positive and maintained positive growth for two consecutive quarters.
What is interesting is that the rate of GDP growth in the 1st half of 2009 was already rapidly changing from negative to towards the positive. Tie this to the simple fact that disbursement of federal funds (aka 2009 stimulus passed in mar 2009) is not like flipping a light switch. It is not hard to look at the GDP numbers or your employment numbers and realize that while the recession occurred on bushes watch, it just as easily was being ended by bush and company as well. To deny such a conclusion flies into the face of macro economics and the time line between policy and economic change.
Another interesting aspect of the 2009 stimulus was that it was oriented disproportionally toward unions and the public sector. With unions (public and private) representing only about 12% of the workforce, where was the help for the private sector? We are talking efforts for creating jobs not saving or extending unemployment benifits.
To bad obama shifted focus so soon after passage of of the stimulaus towards non-economic issues. Even FDR knew that until the economic issues were resolved you don't move unto non-economic ones.
BTW - All recessions create job losses beyond the standard base numbers.
One month of good data?!?!?! Seriously, american?!?!?! Try 22 straight months of positive job growth. Every month one of you idiots comes on here to say the same cr@p about 'only one month of good news does not make a trend'. Take your cr@p and peddle it at Faux Noise, where it will be accepted without question.
american,
THE TREND - For the last 5 months we have averaged adding over 180,000 jobs each month. We added 1.9 million jobs in the last 12 months.
The average pay increased and the average hours worked increased. The increase in average hours being worked is an indicator of future hiring.
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth
And yes, recessions tend to be cyclical, but the trend is obvious since the Reagan years. The bubbles have gotten bigger and less solid, the collapses more sudden and severe, the recoveries more slow and shallow, the damage to the middle class increasingly harsh.
That's the legacy from over 3 decades of Conservative dominance on the economic front. That's why Supply Side is a bust.
Phinephancy:
I just happened to be browsing the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. It's only 5:00 on the Left Coast. Hope Mr. Phinephancy pours you a fine cocktail this evening and distracts you from your posting.
If unemployment drops another point, Romney's going to have a very bad November. But at least he'll have all his gold and all his green to console him.
Fortunately, he can still pray for Europe to do something dumb and cause a global economic relapse. It would be bad for the country and the world, but nothing would be better for his electoral prospects.
Either that or Israel to set the whole Middle East on fire.
Yes because he represents the party of misery. Like I say when everyone is doing well everyone is doing well. And please you can be rich just don't be greedy no jealousy things work out better that way for all.
If Romney can keep his foot out of his mouth and quit showing his freudian slips, he might have some respectable numbers come November. Otherwise, landslide victory for President O. Glad we're coming back after the last republican recession. DON'T MUCK IT UP!
Gee, a banker from Salt Lake city identifies with Romney's values. Who'd have thunk it!
Romney was born with his foot in his mouth.
That's his foot? Looks more like a silver spoon to me.
While the talk in the article was about gold, for myself, I like my jewelry set in platinum. (Wonder if Mr. phinephancy will read this and get the hint. Valentine's Day is coming up)
Gold and silver I understand, but what the heck is platinum, other than very expensive. Are there platinum mines?
I don't know. But it is pretty!!!
What is up today? Everyone still sleeping?
They're waiting for the Nevada results this evening...timing will be off by hours.
For me, I'm 2 hours ahead, and maybe 3 ahead for you phine.
Platinum is mined, rarer than gold, and has many more industrial uses than gold . . . as well as being a very shiny metal, good for jewelry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum
Well, I don't know about anyone else but I had a wonderful Saturday afternoon nap. Nice breeze coming in window and patio door. Little music playing. It was great.
Stop it, phine! It is cold and raining here. I'm as native Floridian as you can get without having been born there, but have never been able to find a job there, when I was looking. I'm trying to convince the company I work for to locate an office in Jacksonville (to cover Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, etc.), and send me there. It may not be as South as I want (we called it Georgia when I was stationed there), but it would be closer than I am now!
Signed,
A Parrothead forever!
This statement is true, but not for the reasons he says. The economic recovery has been slower than any other recovery from any other recession, ever, because of the obstructionism of the Republican/TP Inc. lead House, and filibustering Republican/TP Inc. Senators (this congress has set a record!). How many private industry construction jobs could have been created if the Republican/TP Inc. idiots had not blocked the infrastructure proposal? Gee, even if there were not a lot of 'shovel ready projects' ready in 2009, if they had passed the bills to fund infrastructure projects then, think about how many more jobs there would be today.
The sad part is that there are a lot of people that the Republican/TP Inc. party's actions have hurt who still support them. They are fools, nothing but fools.