Conservative Thinkers:

No, that is not an oxymoron as there have been a few conservative thinkers. I may have first heard of William F. Buckley in 1960 when Barry Goldwater spoke on behalf of conservatives at the Republican Convention in Chicago. Buckley was a fascinating man whose first language was Spanish, but his polysyllabic English vocabulary was second to no one. In 1964 I was one of the 39% who voted for Goldwater and would read the "National Review" and watch "Firing Line".

I recall Buckley would debate liberals on "Firing Line" and by using convoluted, pretzel-like logic, coupled with words only a spelling bee contestant could spell, Buckley would often leave his opponent speechless. His trademark was his arched eyebrow, a twinkle in his eye, and a grin that implied, "Do you understand what I just said?"

I became disenchanted with conservative thought due to their position on civil rights, their hawkish military solutions to every world problem and a variety of other issues, too many to mention.

In 2008 William Frank Buckley passed away leaving a void in conservative thought. In my opinion that vacuum has been filled by George Will. A past editor of the "National Review" (1972-1978) George Will has been described as learned, erudite, well read and studious. There have been occasions when Mr. Will has criticized Republican politicians. He condemned the corruption within the Nixon Presidency and with regard to Bush 43's optimistic positions on the Iraq war; Will described them as "rhetoric of unreality". He thought Sarah Palin was unqualified to be Vice-President and he had little positive to say about Newt Gingrich.

I generally disagree with George Will, but recently he described Donald Trump a "bloviating ignoramus". For those who would like a translation: Bloviating means to speak pompously at length in a self-aggrandizing manner. An ignoramus is an extremely ignorant person: a dimwit, dunce, fool, and an idiot.

George, I think you nailed it!

From today’s jobs report, it seems our resident FR right wingers are correct about corporations sitting on their trillions until they rid the black man from the White House!

Whatever will they do, when things don’t work out according to plan for them…?

What’s even worse is how ecstatic these very same people are at this kind of news.

Why is no one holding the Weeper of the Houses feet to the flames?

Wasn't he the one who promised if given the majority in 2010 - they would somehow magically make J-O-B-S appear?

Where are the J-O-B-S we were promied Mr. Speaker?

Instead you gave us a war on women...

If people are stupid enough to return to everything that got us into this mess in the first place, then this country deserves to fail!

Lean forward not backwards!

Another Horrid Jobs Report

Good grief, even Obama's cheerleading MSM can't spin today's numbers into a good news story. Just about every number in today's report was bad, and some of the better numbers from previous months were revised downward. So much for the rebounding economy that Obama was so skillfully nurturing back to life.

The fact is we continue to experience the worst economic recovery in our lifetimes. Much worse than the rebound from the Reagan recession in 1981-82 and much worse than the rebound from the granddaddy of all downturns, the Great Depression. Facts are pesky things and the data shows that Obama is presiding over an economic recovery that is HISTORICALLY BAD. And even though the left dismisses that data as irrelevant, as surely as I type these words the new normal of 8% unemployment and economic growth staggering along at 2% is sealing this president's political fate.

Because we're not stupid. Because most of us see right through the president's lame attempts to deflect attention from his record by attacking Bain and making up a war on women. And because most of us don't need dry statistics to tell us the economy sucks, we already know that from our daily experience. All of that is bad news for a president who is in deep trouble.

But the good news for the rest of us is he won't be president much longer.

You’re doin’ a heck of a job, Barry.

The slow-bama “recovery” is no longer limping along, it’s stumbled and is now crawling backwards on its hands and knees. It’s interesting that the article uses the word “malaise” to describe the economic growth under Barry’s admin. America is truly suffering through Jimmy Carter’s second term.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Barry and his mouthpiece network MSDNC try to spin this giant turd. C’mon FR lefty liberals: Tell me that Barry fairy tale story about “27 straight months of private sector job growth”. It’s one of my favorites.

US Creates 69,000 New Jobs, Unemployment Rate 8.2%

Posted By: Jeff Cox | CNBC.com Senior Writer

CNBC.com

| 01 Jun 2012 | 08:31 AM ET

The American jobs engine hit stall speed in May, with the economy adding just 69,000 new jobs while the unemployment rate climbed to 8.2 percent.

As another summertime swoon looms, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job creation missed economist estimates for 158,000 new positions, and said labor force participation remains near 30-year lows though incrementally better than last month.

In May, stocks suffered through their worst month in two years, and the job-creation figures only added to the gloom.

Stock market futures indicated a sharply lower open for Wall Street, while investors continued to pour into bonds, sending the 10-year Treasury note yield tumbling to near 1.50 percent.

The report comes a month after the government reported that just 115,000 new jobs were added in April, a number that helped contribute to a general malaise about economic growth.

It justs gets darker and darker for team Blue, eh?

Gonna be even darker after Wisconsin Next Tuesday.

Of course some here think that it's all about turn out.

Yeah sure, can't be about values, now can it?

Here’s a quick real world lesson in business economics in a global economy for lefty liberals. Today’s WSJ has an article on GE’s response to the economic collapse of the old Europe socialist welfare states. Businesses with global operations are not going to waste their time and their stockholder’s capital in slow/no-growth economies. They will simply find areas of the world with better growth prospects and move there.

That’s why I believe America’s best days are in the rear view mirror. As America becomes more like the old Europe socialist welfare states with the accompanying slow economic growth (like last quarter’s sub-2% GDP number), high taxes and high unemployment (like today’s jobs report), businesses with global operations will simply pick up and move to places where they have better growth prospects.

From the WSJ:

• EUROPE BUSINESS NEWS

GE: Best Approach for Continent Is to Pull Back

BY KATE LINEBAUGH

General Electric Co.'s strategy toward a shaky Europe is pretty simple: Shrink it.

The industrial and banking conglomerate is investing in markets where it expects to find double-digit growth. That isn't Europe, which instead will be the recipient of much of GE's $2 billion cost-cutting program.

Europe is "going to be a smaller part of the company going forward, and if things get worse, we will be ready for that as well," GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said last week.

Can anyone hardly say they're surprised? The Eurozone is all but falling back into recession, and China is slowing. Can people seriously think we'd be exempt?

Welcome to the global economy.

It should be fun today to watch the FR lefty liberals savage the most prominent living Dem not holding current office: Slick Willy Clinton!!!!!!

Imagine the audacity of him joining the growing chorus of prominent Dems criticizing Barry's campaign smears of Romney's time at Bain Capital, and even WORSE, calling Romney "qualified" to be president.

Yeah, it's really gonna be a turd sandwich eating day for FR lefty liberals.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But when you also have Congressionals & their supporters actively WORKING TO BLOCK economy recovery, it's even harder to make headway.

In January 2009, on the evening of the President's Inauguration, GOP/Koch party seniors met and pledged to block the President from growing the economy. They have done so by every means possible, and at our expense. Their intention was and is, to pin the blame on the President for any negative fallout from that strategy of destruction.

So exactly how/when did this occur? In the two years of total Democratic domination of the Federal Government? Are the extension of the Bush tax cuts good for the economy? What about the payroll tax cut? Lousy for the deficit but definitely helpful in increasing economic activity.

If the Republicans are such economic geniuses that they can destroy an economy from one house of the congress, then the Democrats HAVE to be responsible for the economic crisis of 2008 that ushered in the Obama Administration. After all they controlled BOTH parts of congress at that time and you cannot deny the economic crisis helped Obama win the election.

I hope your tin-foil hat is on tight today. There's a lot of negative vibes flying around.

Update from Backhouse

Chart shows robust job recovery under President Obama, and also debunks the GOP spin about "big government" under his Administration.http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/05/private_sector_jobs.html

So what is it Backhouse? Are the evil Republicans destroying the economy or not? They can't be doing too well if there is a robust jobs recovery. Either way you keep spinning this, it's as believable as being a CEO doesn't qualify you to be President.

It only took a couple of posts before feisty blames the Right for the uptick in unemployment. BLAME BLAME BLAME

Why isn't anyone taking up the issue of the obvious federal government corruption that will lead to problems with the election?

Just yesterday there was an article (not here) that noted that the DOJ and the IRS are providing seminars to a specific group of churches (with about 10 million voters in them) on how to bring in campaigning for President Obama while not violating their tax exempt status. Eric Holder is going to be at those meeting, as will high ranking IRS officials. Why isn't this "seminar" being offered to all religious groups around the country and just a select group of black parishes?

Similarly, the DOJ just announced that it's stopping states from purging their voter registration logs of the dead, etc. So it's wrong for states to cull out their files. Because it's what- racist?

Then there's the ID laws that the DOJ won't endorse/allow states to use. If you have to show an ID to buy beer, cigarettes, get into a nightclub, get on a plane, etc. why is it so difficult go show one to vote?? Felons aren't supposed to vote, the dead aren't supposed to vote, illegals aren't supposed to vote. Why not protect your valid vote from a non-valid one??

It is fricking amazing that the left on here have the audacity and lack of integrity on the one touting the creation of 4.3 million jobs in the last 27 months and then asking the question to the Republicans -- Where are the jobs???? That shows that their elevators do not go all the way to the top floor, that they are a few bricks short of a full load. Taking all the credit for the good and none of the blame for the bad. You people are lower than snake bellies -- really.

Backhouse,

Spin it all you want.

I hope they never compromise with the progressive agenda. Look how good obama's agenda is working, who would want to help him destroy the country.

Obama's economic plan is simply not working. Because it can't. Free Trade that shipped jobs overseas has been killing jobs since the first NAFTA got signed in 1994. Both parties promote it, both parties are responsible.

Obama stimulus and job creation has come at a cost of world record deficits that we cannot and will never be able to pay for. And the Republicans are no better.

I can only hope that at some piont fiscal policy will be laid down in Washington, the global economy will strengthen and real job creation will occur.

The rest of the political banter from those like Backhouse, Joe, White collar, Ron is completely useless. I can assume that you will back useless and ineffective policy simply because of what party put it forth, not because you actually believe in it.

Face it. The economy is not where Obama promised it to be, it is not where we want it and need it to be, and the programs have failed. And the Republican's in Congress are actually worse.

Exactly so, Ruken. Conservative austerity has plunged Europe right into recession. The only thing that would be worse would be for American Conservatives to prevail and impose the same disastrous policies here in the US.

There was actually an article yesterday here on MSN about how the automatic cuts in the USA was deterring growth.

I find it funny how the same people that call for immediate cuts then b*tch about slowing growth.

Exactly so, Ruken. Conservative austerity has plunged Europe right into recession. The only thing that would be worse would be for American Conservatives to prevail and impose the same disastrous policies here in the US.

So John perhaps you would detail exactly how much the UK Government has cut from it's proposed spending to implement this austerity regime?

The figures I have (in Pounds - millions) are

2012 - 696.4

2013 - 683.4

2014 - 720.0

2015 - 733.5

http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_complete.pdf (page 86)

So, if we assume that 2012 is inflated due to spending for the Olympics there doesn't seem to be huge cuts in spending. However, the government did increase taxes to close the deficit.

@cdahl Totally agree with you but the free trade genie is out of the bottle. Fiscal sanity is needed from both parties. We are simply using the credit card to pay current bills because politicians of both parties have over promised what can be provided in the future, and we are reaping the results of their promises.

The Dow is down almost 200 points right now.

You're doin' a heck of a job, Barry.

Backhouse "The jobs lost after President Obama took office are BACK! More than 4.3 million private sector jobs have been created in the last 27 months."

Per the BLS, the actual figures are as follows;

Number of jobs when Obama took office = 134,379,000 people working.
Number of jobs as of May 2012 = 133,058,000 people working - a net LOSS of 1,321,000 jobs since Obama took office.

Backhouse said:

The housing meltdown and collapse set the stage for massive job losses - about 750,000 per month when President Obama took office. When you try to change the direction of a big complex machine, there's a lot of inertia to overcome.
But when you also have Congressionals & their supporters actively WORKING TO BLOCK economy recovery, it's even harder to make headway.

In January 2009, on the evening of the President's Inauguration, GOP/Koch party seniors met and pledged to block the President from growing the economy. They have done so by every means possible, and at our expense. Their intention was and is, to pin the blame on the President for any negative fallout from that strategy of destruction.

And btw, the damage that GOP/Koch did by preventing the creation of 2 million jobs in the American Jobs Act (not even permitted it for debate) was ENORMOUS. And in no way compares to Solyndra, a worthwhile experiment in green industries for the future of America. How about BAIN, that cost thousands of jobs and the destruction of whole communities?

Backhouse this is a crock! You post this stuff without any meaning. Going into the White House, it was well established that Obama was a Marxist. In order to quell the march towards totalitarianism, Obama needed to be stopped, but for the first two years he couldn't because the democrats had the government sewed up. Shortly following the inauguration, Obama made the declaration that the republicans could sit in the back of the bus... meaning Obama wanted full control without obstruction. Well in 2010, the people stood up and bucked him. Since then, Obama's policies have been slowed way down. The only way he can get things though is by executive order... and he has done a lot of setting things up for failure by those orders. You really need to stop, take a breath, and look into the wording of those orders and then tell me if you think Obama is benevolent. He needs to go because while you fully support him, you also support the damage he's done and is willing to do to this country.

Backhouse "The jobs lost after President Obama took office are BACK! More than 4.3 million private sector jobs have been created in the last 27 months."

Let's compare Apples with Apples.

If you want to compare selected 'straight months of job growth';

Bush had 46 straight months of job growth (except one month that was essentially flat), for a net gain of 5,856,000 jobs during that period (Sept. 2003 – June 2007, after the effects of 9/11).

Obama has had 19 months of job growth for a net of 3,104,000 jobs during that period (Oct 2010 – April 2012).

If you want to compare average number of jobs;

Bush's average number of jobs over 8 years (2008 vs 2000) = 5,000,300 net jobs created.

Obama's average number of jobs over his first 3 years (2011 vs 2008) = 5,435,000 net jobs LOST.

If you want to compare beginning and ending (most current – April 2012) job growth;

Bush's total net jobs from December 2000 to December 2008 = 1,898,000 net jobs created.

Obama's total net jobs from December 2008 to April 2012 = 1,390,000 net jobs LOST.

One point in Romney's favor emerged after the political stunts yesterday. If he could work with the idiots on the Massachusetts Statehouse steps yesterday, then he can work with a Congress of any make up. Something the current incumbent can't even do when his own party is in power.

My take on the Economy. I really hope things get better for all Americans. Having said that, I have been warning all from about three month back about what was going to happen in May. I'm not an economist, however knowing that from 20 years of history the econmy always slows down at certain time of the year. we are approaching the second quater, oil prices are down, wall street is down(lags for unemployment), Obam Health Care has Corporations and business holding back. Lets not forget some other bad policies. This is all bad because the little recovery that we had was artificially induced.

Please look at all the Models that have tried what the President has been doing and you will see that it has failed. His heart is in it but his Brains is not. I said it before, hold on to your hats.

Maybe this hard knocks will put some sense on the Liberal mentality that you see in this site.

The Feisties, Bevs, Job!, Jody, Ginger Mamas of the world, take note of how negative you are.

Feisty, I don't know if you are white or black, but I do know that you are the most racist and cultural prejudice one of all.

Cali Tom...

Are you implying that if the President were caucasian, everything would be fine and the two parties would be working together? Because I don't see what his race has to do with anything. Sorry, I look at his POLICIES. I agree with some, I disagree with others. Are you saying that all people who disagree with the President's policies are racists or America haters? And since I sometimes agree with him and sometimes disagree, does that make me just part racist? And doesn't it seem odd to slam those you disagree with as expressing hatred and end with a wish that they all roast in Hades?

Beverly - How about you, for once, back up your claims about Romney destroying so many people's lives. You make this statement as if you find it to be a fact. Prove it! If you can't, how about stopping the slander.

California Tom "Any decrease in the job growth can be credited to the REPUBLICAN Party. They continue to block any legislation that would help create JOBS for the American people."

I guess those 30 odd jobs bills passed by the Republican House that Harry Reid (D) in the Senate refuses to even allow to be debated, much less amended, are what you might call 'An Inconvenient Truth'.

lol

Obama has learned a fatal and tragic lesson in big league politics -- he made enemies of his adversaries. He must go for this country to have any hope of getting off this stalemate -- or both houses of Congress must be controlled by Republicans.

Even today, the GOP House refuses to bring the Obama jobs act or even portions of it to the floor for debate and vote

Sort of like the way the Democratic Senate refuses to bring the 30 or so bills passed by the House up for a vote, eh? Good grief Jody, you can at least try and pretend to have an objective bone in that LWNJ body of yours.



Sorry Grimey,

I had quite an eye-opening experience at my BBQ last weekend when the topic of the election came up!

Not only do seniors recognize it, honest Republicans also know what's going on...

It was refreshing to hear people outside of the FR bubble admit to it!

If that was the case he would never have been elected in the first place. The people who voted against him because of his color have no reason to vote for him now and are not going to change.

His problem is that he has lost people who voted for him in 2008 because they do not think he is doing a good (enough) job. When you call everybody in this category racist you have lost your argument because history does not support you.

To Feisty:

Color has nothing to do with it. Policies and the Economy stupid. Simple people that you and the likes of you keep putting down, are realizing by experience what is going on.

Stop using racist remarks, it shows when you are at the end of the rope. I do hope that you have put me under Ignore so that your friends will tell you what you really are. You need to wise up and it is not because you are a liberal.

Stock Market takes another dump

Axelrod's first and last rally appearance, gets in shouting match with hecklers in "Obama Country"

Attack on Bain turns into Democrat circular firing squad

Economy sliding back into recession

Obama hopes the race is still close in October.

Why play the race card. Why spin the numbers.

Why can't the progressive left take any accountability.

Must be attending the Bilderberg meetings. Just a thought.

Hey Feisty...

Happy Friday!! I understand...there are certainly racists out there. I've had the misfortune of running into them.

But I am friends with quite a few African-Americans, including my brother in law. And we can all sit around and discuss politics and policies. And not a person in the group, regardless of race, discusses the President's race as the reason for their support of him or opposition.

Have a great weekend!

Alan N.J.:

If the Republicans are such economic geniuses that they can destroy an economy from one house of the congress, then the Democrats HAVE to be responsible for the economic crisis of 2008 that ushered in the Obama Administration.

Destruction takes no genius and proximity does not equal causality. The economic stagnation is in part due to the inability to get any further stimulus spending passed once the Republicans took over the House where budget resolutions must originate. But the economic slowdown is probably due more to the Republicans in state government slashing the public sector workforce (and some Democrats, too, due to state constitution requirements for a balanced budget).

As for what happened in 2008, you aren't going to trot out that tired Republican lie that it was Barney Frank's fault, are you?

John B

Conservative austerity has plunged Europe right into recession.

Wouldn't it be more correct to say "they ran out of other peoples money," THAT plunged Europe into recession? It is about the same as saying guns kill people. People kill people, using guns is the truth of it. Just as conservative austerity is the result of no longer having the money to pay out all those entitlements. I suppose you have some place where they can go borrow more money so they can continue down this slippery slope?

As for the article? No news here, we all know jobs/the economy will be a major factor in this upcoming election. We already know what Obama has done, only the those who are in it for the pain would continue to support that type of Presidency.

Yeah, ouch for Team Obama. And again our "learned" economists predicted more than double that amount of jobs. Just who are these idiot economists that think they understand the economy? But it's not hard to figure this out. Taxes, regulations, and government corruption have forced corporations to look for a better deal off-shore, and they easily found better places to be. The false promises of the Obama administration massive spending in their feeble attempt to improve the economy have been exposed as lies - there will no more "Summer of Recovery" talk from Super Joe Biden. Taxes will be increased in multiple ways at the end of the year, with the Obama tax cuts expiring, the payroll tax cuts that are killing Social Security expiring, Obamacare taxes kicking in, and Obama and the liberals continual attacks on the "millionaires" (defined as those who make more than $250,000) to pay more of their "fair share". Taking that kind of money out of the economy and giving it to the government will help the economy? Maybe we should consult with our "learned" economists on that one too? This all the while nearly half the country depends on a government check every month.

So when the "economists" make their predictions for June in 30 days, make a few bucks for yourself and bet against it.

This thread is hilarious!

4. Peaked at 10% October 2009.
5. Since then, unemployment has dropped back to 8.1%.

Isn't this about the time people started running out of unemployment benefits and began falling out of the statistics?

From today’s jobs report, it seems our resident FR right wingers are correct about corporations sitting on their trillions until they rid the black man from the White House!

Yeah, right. Business isn't parking money overseas because of liberal's threats of higher taxes and their policies that have led to economic uncertainty. It's all because of racism.

Where are the J-O-B-S we were promied Mr. Speaker?

Nice try. So let me get this straight. If unemployment decreases, that's because of Obama and liberal policies, but if it increases it's because of the Speaker of the House? ROFL

The jobs lost after President Obama took office are BACK!

Of course. That explains the shrinking job force and the rising unemployment rate.

There was actually an article yesterday here on MSN about how the automatic cuts in the USA was deterring growth.

I find it funny how the same people that call for immediate cuts then b*tch about slowing growth.

Careful, Ruken. Your sigma cumme laude honors are showing.

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

Where are the J-O-B-S we were promied Mr. Speaker?

Maybe next time you are performing a rectal exam on Harry Reid, you can check to see if there are some jobs in those bills passed by the house he has conveniently stuffed up his ass.

Why are illegal aliens more important to the President and the Democrats then america's unemployed? Why has the POTUS and the Democrats not supported legislation for mandatory E-Verify? Passage of the Legal Workforce Act (H.R.2885) would open up more than 7 million non-agricultural jobs filled by illegal aliens to unemployed Americans and legal immigrants.

Frank "Grimey" Grimes, Springfield, USA

But I am friends with quite a few African-Americans, including my brother in law. And we can all sit around and discuss politics and policies. And not a person in the group, regardless of race, discusses the President's race as the reason for their support of him or opposition.

Much of the opposition is simply due to policy differences with Obama, but it seems that Mitt Romney has decided that he cannot win without the racist vote. How else to explain his public embrace of Donald Trump, the country's main purveyor of the racist Birther crap?

It's quite clear from the pathetically weak comments herein that Obama's "supporters" realize that this news is devastating to his campaign. What amuses me is the fact that they actually do continue to support him in the face of such indefensible, miserable failure. C'mon, the guy's a complete bust; let's get somebody else in there to try something different....very different, please!

Destruction takes no genius and proximity does not equal causality. The economic stagnation is in part due to the inability to get any further stimulus spending passed once the Republicans took over the House where budget resolutions must originate. But the economic slowdown is probably due more to the Republicans in state government slashing the public sector workforce (and some Democrats, too, due to state constitution requirements for a balanced budget).

How much more stimulus do you want? 800B of spending. 400B+ in tax cuts. 3T in monetary stimulus from the fed.

As for what happened in 2008, you aren't going to trot out that tired Republican lie that it was Barney Frank's fault, are you?

No I wasn't. But if Backhouse can blame one half on Congress for the current economic mess, logically I can blame all of congress for the 2008 mess. I am simply pointing out the holes in Backhouse's logic.

My reason for the housing crisis is that the original lenders were allowed to bundle loans and obscure the risk in the bundled package. If the loan had to remain with the original lender for a number of years the lender would have done more due diligence as to the quality of the borrower and there would not have been NINJA loans.

Spin, Blame, Spin some more .... the dog ate my homework, you are all just racist .....yada, yada, yada !

It's simple, the artificial "bump" from the Stimulus (borrowing from the future for not so "shovel-ready" jobs) has fizzled. Obama wants to raise taxes, particularly on the wealthy. The onerous burden of an expensive entitlement known as Obamacare waits in the wings, unless the Supreme Court wisely knocks it down.

Then there is Obama's "energy policy" which has delayed or stalled deep well drilling, halted the Keystone Pipeline and threatens the very existence of coal-fired electricity generating facilities. Mix that in with wasted millions THROWN toward failing "green industries" that never stood a chance at making it work to begin with. And where is that wonderful high-speed rail from Los Angeles to Las Vegas ..... you know, the one where the train gets manufactured by the Chinese ?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the House of Representatives have passed a number of bills to spur economic growth. Harry Reid, as so called "leader" of the Senate, however, has his "butt-prints" all over them and will not allow them to be brought up for consideration. Obama, however, is more focused on his re-election chances and still has NO BUDGET in his 4th year as President !

Folks, the military has a term for this ...... "clu$terf_ck. It describes Obama's management of the U.S. economic situation perfectly.

Careful, Ruken. Your sigma cumme laude honors are showing.

Is that keyboard warrior-ese for "I don't have a response to that"?

Of course as apparent by your post, you clearly lack even basic understanding of economic principles.

Alan, NJ "His problem is that he has lost people who voted for him in 2008 because they do not think he is doing a good (enough) job. When you call everybody in this category racist you have lost your argument because history does not support you."

Very good point - Since people voted overwhelmingly for him in 2008, the only reasonable explanation is that people oppose his POLICIES and RESULTS, not his Race.

Hey Houston...how's it going?

You said:

How else to explain his public embrace of Donald Trump, the country's main purveyor of the racist Birther crap?

I'll be honest. I CAN'T explain his embrace of Donald Trump. I think it was a terrible move. Because by doing so it keeps Trump and his crackpot theories in the news and fairly or not, Trump can then be associated with Mr. Romney. It was a completely unnecessary distraction!

Houston said: The economic stagnation is in part due to the inability to get any further stimulus spending passed once the Republicans took over the House where budget resolutions must originate. But the economic slowdown is probably due more to the Republicans in state government slashing the public sector workforce (and some Democrats, too, due to state constitution requirements for a balanced budget).

As for what happened in 2008, you aren't going to trot out that tired Republican lie that it was Barney Frank's fault, are you?

So much to reply to these comments. First, stimulus spending doesn't amount to a hill of beans. The government has thousands of programs that can stimulate sectors of the economy but the government isn't able to orchestrate them in an effective manner. There's too much top down obstruction from the hundreds of departments and no one wants any accountability. It's totally dysfunctional and therefore unable to accomplish anything that can help the economy. In a few short words, the government can't lift the economy while standing in the bucket.

Seems you are anti-republican even if it means they want to balance the budget according to the state laws. Think about your premise for a moment. What would you have the republicans do, go around the laws of their states? What sort of a convoluted thought process is that? On one hand you say the republicans are doing bad... and on the other hand you are saying the republicans are doing bad... how balanced is your mindset?

Alan N.J.

How much more stimulus do you want? 800B of spending. 400B+ in tax cuts. 3T in monetary stimulus from the fed.

I'm not an economist, so I have no precise dollar figure to give you. However, Paul Krugman and other economists said at the outset that the stimulus spending was too small. Krugman even said he was filled with "despair."

But if Backhouse can blame one half on Congress for the current economic mess, logically I can blame all of congress for the 2008 mess. I am simply pointing out the holes in Backhouse's logic.

I haven't followed that thread, but there are specific actions the Republicans have taken that can be cited as having hurt the economic recovery. Unless Backhouse was simply saying it's the Republicans' fault because they are there, your response to him pointing out that Dems controlled Congress in 2008 doesn't really make a lot of sense.

My reason for the housing crisis is that the original lenders were allowed to bundle loans and obscure the risk in the bundled package. If the loan had to remain with the original lender for a number of years the lender would have done more due diligence as to the quality of the borrower and there would not have been NINJA loans. 

On that, I agree 100%.

Jesus, is it June 1, 2008 or June 1, 2012?

Maybe you folks didn't hear the groups yelling at Axlerod yesterday. "It ain't 2008 anymore!!!"

Give up the tired Racist crap.

Nobody is falling for it again.

Or on second thought, maybe you all should keep it up. You will surely sink the Obama ship trying the same old tired stuff.

Why don't you blame Bush while you are at it.

One negative report and both sides go crazy...

It is awful newsfor America that jobs are slowing. The stagnation in jobs will be under Obama's record but I do not understand how he can be placed at fault. He did come up with a job act which contained many portions that would foster bipartisan agreement and it was struck down. The Republicans have openly stated they do not wish to compromise. Then blame the president for being divisive. I cannot make sense of it.

We are simply in a state that I cannot understand. Both sides are so busy playing political games that they are leaving the majority of citizens out to dry. Right here on this site the same thing happens.

The problem is not President Obama, the issue is the government (politicians as a whole on both sides). To those on the right calling for President Obama's removal I ask what can Mitt do to end this? Yes, he is a moderate but as for now he is appealing to the far right. What will he do to end this divide? I do not see it. Cutting programs and "tax reform" that emphasises the burden on the middle class will not garner support from the left.

In the end you may point your finger at the President but do not forget the good old saying about glass houses. I can never understand how you can all ignore any of the obvious accoutability the right has attributed to the current situation that we are in.

A) Romney showing up at Solyndra is no more of a stunt than Axelrod showing up at the Mass. State House, so put it back in your pants buddy.

B) Since when is Arkansas in the Acela Corridor???

C) Nice to know your ignoring recent polling in your "Electoral Map".

Wouldn't it be more correct to say "they ran out of other peoples money," THAT plunged Europe into recession?

Why no, that wouldn't even be close to correct.

What if Europe and the US converged on a set of economic policies that brought out the worst in both – European fiscal austerity combined with a declining share of total income going to workers? Given political realities on both sides of the Atlantic, it is entirely possible.

So far, the US has avoided the kind of budget cuts that have pushed much of Europe into recession. Growth on this side of the pond is expected to be around 2.4 per cent this year. And jobs are recovering, albeit painfully slowly.

But a tough bout of fiscal austerity could be coming in six months. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warned last week that if the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule at the start of 2013, just as $100bn of budget cuts automatically take effect under the deal to raise the debt ceiling that Democrats and Republicans agreed to last August, the US will fall into recession in the first half of next year.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2012/0531/US-wages-and-Europe-s-austerity-the-perfect-storm

The austerity measures so dear to the hearts of US Conservatives are the cause of the European recession. There isn't even cause to debate that question.

As long as their is a socialist in the WH just waiting to redistribute all those trillions that are being sat on, they will continue to sit on it, once Obama is gone, those trillions will be invested, but not before then, they can wait Obama out.

mamma -- What exactly qualifies you to characterize my reactions? We have never met, never visited. You simply make this statement, I can only guess, because I tend to disagree with your political views.

Of course there is racism in America. I doubt anyone would deny that.

What I take exception to is why many on the left will not accept a critique of President Obama as being genuine disagreement. Many of us could care less about the color, gender, sexual orientation or any other identity into which you want to put the President. Many of us simply disagree with the direction he is taking this country (nearly 6 in 10 according to RCP) so would you contend that these people are simply racists that want the black man to fail?

Challenged in what way? Are you suggesting that Mr. Obama is the first to be criticized as President? Have you seen the nasty things said about President Bush, President Clinton, President Reagan, President Carter, President Lincoln...? No, he is not being treated any differently and if this site is representative then as President, Governor Romney will be treated just as badly (but they will all be religious bigots I suppose).

I do not share your opinion regarding what a black (or any other color) person must do to be successful. Everyone must work hard for success. You seem to adhere to the premise that a person of any color is incapable of success without assistance? That would be very racist in my opinion.

Sort of like the way the Democratic Senate refuses to bring the 30 or so bills passed by the House up for a vote, eh? Good grief Jody, you can at least try and pretend to have an objective bone in that LWNJ body of yours

Bill, None of those bills you are referring to are jobs bills, they are deregulation bills wrapped in jobs PR.

I am mostly conservative with friends from all spectrums. All the arguments i have heard from all sides have nothing at all to do with race. Never heard one thing about race in the direction we are going as a country, it has all been about ideology. The only real racist person i know is a 78 year old retired auto worker that is a democrat and haven't heard anyhting about Obama from him. Not sure exactly what Fiesty is blaming on race but i don't see anything at all there. It's all about policy and ideology.

The Dow is now down 230 on Barry's sh!tty jobs report.

You're doin' a heck of a job, Barry.

Bev, if you blame Reps for obstructionism, do you also Blame Reid for basically bringing up nothing the Reps send over? No debate, no ammendmants, no countering bills, no votes ....nothing. And Reid has obstructed a budget for the past 3 years by not submitting one from the senate, as REQUIRED BY LAW! Any blame there Bev?

@ Fiesty.

I'm a little dissapointed that you put the race card out today, it seems that our left leaning friends seem to now be the ones that throw that out in order to make it an issue, when in fact those that argue for and against Obama based on policy, and often times economic conditions that may or may not be tied to Obama.

That being said, we still have to read and review, shall I say "Naive uneducated people" (in order to try to stay within Tyler's rules of respecting others on this site) like Damage123 and Fool's gold.

Damage 123, stay away from Obama's middle name. It is a pathetic attempt to paint Obama as a muslim and weakens your argument.

Fool's gold. I'd change your Avatar. Same reason, it dilutes your argument, and honestly it's offensive.

James just to countered what you said,

First, Would you agree that stereotypes have influences on our interaction with people?

Second, would you agree that a majority of stereotypes against blacks are negative?

Those to ideas togther do make it tougher on a person who faces that. It does not have to be a black person but any minority. Race relations is a very complicated thing. Some one of color has a GREATER chance of running in to someone in power who greatly believe in stereotypes.

Not everyone is racist who disagrees with the President but there is a larger amount than you porbably think. There are those who trully disagree with him as with an president the problem is they are trying to hide in with this crowd. They make comments that cross the line and then when accused fall back with those on the far right and say exactly what you said: "Just because I disagree with the president doesnt make me a racist". In no way am I implying you are one I am just explaining my stand point.

It is very hard to differentiate. If you are not a racist the comment should not apply to you.

do you also Blame Reid for basically bringing up nothing the Reps send over?

When they send crap over like the Ryan Plan, I sure as hell don't.

The Ryan Plan isn't fit to wipe my ass with, much less vote on.

@ Beverly. 1.72

At what cost? As an employer and someone who has been increasing both professinal staff and factory workers over the last 6 years (increased staff during the last recessions). I can tell you nothing that Obama has put forth will push us to add jobs. It does reduce our costs of hiring and lowers our corporate tax rates, however we would have hired the same quatity of people without the incentives. The rest of the "jobs creation bills" seem way overpriced, and they actually don't create long lasting jobs.

I'd like to see Washington do something free, like start to enact tariffs that keep jobs here, and promotes US domesting manufacturing.

Obama's non-stop end zone dances at every unemployment rate decline has come back and bit him in his skinny butt.

his skinny butt.

Well now I know where your interests lie.

cdahl,

You have no problem with fiesty's avatar. It make's her more creditable?

The captain of the shp is responsible, don't like it, resign.

Not when the crew stages a mutiny.

Beverly said: As panic sets in after this morning’s brutal jobs report, take a moment to consider a hypothetical: what would the economy look like today if Congress had followed Obama’s lead, responded to public-opinion polls, and passed the American Jobs Act? In 2012, do you think the nation could use those 1.3 million jobs or not?

That's the problem Beverly... you want to discuss hypothetical scenarios that aren't reality. If congress had followed Obama's lead we'd be deeper in the mire. The house stopped him from more spending and growing our debt deeper. Public opinion polls are never to be followed because the public is very short sighted and reactionary. Have you ever read the American Jobs Act? When you have, you'll see exactly why it's a travesty... well maybe you won't because I don't think you'd even understand the words contained in it.

I'm a little dissapointed that you put the race card out today,

Cdahl,

Sorry to disappoint! I'm not sure how closely you've been following the FR threads lately. But, as the race heats up the racists are shedding their white sheets. Talk about brazen!

The newest buzz words are, Buckwheat - Watermelon One & NIC!

And until I see one of my right wing friends call them out on this - they will continue to be accomplices in the promotion of this kind of rhetoric!

Not only do they not say anything - they vote this kind of crap UP!

Unfortunately, it is going to get a whole lot worse... I have been on FR for over 4 years now & have NEVER seen anything like this!

Can't comment on Brain-Damaged, his constant stream of misogyny & racism, earned him a spot on my ignore list months ago!

Hope you have a great weekend!

PS: How do you feel about reading all of these comments rooting for the failure of this country?

Here is one confirmed what I said in my collapsed post above!

As long as their is a socialist in the WH just waiting to redistribute all those trillions that are being sat on, they will continue to sit on it, once Obama is gone, those trillions will be invested, but not before then, they can wait Obama out.

John B contrary to what the Liberals believe, the tail does not "wag" the dog. This mentality is what got Europe in the mess they are in.

And to all the Liberals, once again, (sigh) calling the race card. Step out of your fantasy world and see this for what it is, the failed policies of a unqualified President. Even mainstream media brought this up yesterday. Stop it, you are only fooling yourselves, not the rest of us. Argue with FACTS.

Backhouse: "In January 2009, on the evening of the President's Inauguration, GOP/Koch party seniors met and pledged to block the President from growing the economy."

Right, and GOP black helicopters landed in your back yard and ate your cat.

"Their intention was and is, to pin the blame on the President for any negative fallout from that strategy of destruction."

Of course the President and all of his minions have never blamed anything on the previous administration.

"And btw, the damage that GOP/Koch did by preventing the creation of 2 million jobs in the American Jobs Act (not even permitted it for debate) was ENORMOUS."

You are talking about the bill that would spend even more billions of dollars on the President's "shovel ready" jobs which were non existent.

"And in no way compares to Solyndra, a worthwhile experiment in green industries for the future of America."

I think your so pro Obama that you would say anything he proposes is a "worthwhile experiment." I believe that in electing President Obama we have fulfilled our worthwhile experiment and that since he and his policies have failed that it is time to terminate the experiment.

"How about BAIN, that cost thousands of jobs and the destruction of whole communities?"

President Clinton about Bain: "I don't think that we ought to get into the position where we say 'This is bad work.' This is good work.” Just read the article on which you are commenting.

The news keeps getting worse on the jobs front

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-usa-economy-jobs-idUSBRE8500OW20120601

March and April- already weak job growth- revised down by 49,000.

Hope the wife is gathering boxes. Moving is a pain.

cdahl said: I'd like to see Washington do something free, like start to enact tariffs that keep jobs here, and promotes US domesting manufacturing.

While I have a great tendency to agree with you on this, consider who's in Washington first. What have they gotten right lately? Knowing how they operate, they would screw up the tariff system to such a great extent, it would do more harm to our economy than not. We need to get people in office that actually understand how things work. All we have now is politicians making false promises that don't understand the first thing about the economy. I say we place a life long ban on electing attorneys to public office.

Bev, my guess to why the Presidents job bill wasn't brought up in the House is because it LOST, as in didn't pass, a cloture vote in the Senate. The Dems didn't get it passed in the Senate, so that makes Republicans in the House obstructionists? LOL Now that is interesting logic.

James, you are as usual being disingenuous. You know perfectly well and if you don't you should, the many challenges made against this President, starting with, he wasn't born here.

Maybe I missed it, can you point me to another President who has had his citizenship questioned? Your posts have an arrogant tone I find off putting and they're not worth my time. When you post an opinion as you did earlier, you can expect to hear a disagreement. It has nothing to do with whether I know you or not and I wouldn't, but it is your words and the tone I find bothersome and less than truthful.

Have a nice day.

Feisty @ 1.86: "Sorry to disappoint! I'm not sure how closely you've been following the FR threads lately. But, as the race heats up the racists are shedding their white sheets."

You are referring to yourself, right.

Wow. The conservatives think they smell blood in the water and are converging like sharks.

What is sad is that they are willing to rip this government apart and the country along with it. They seem to want to leave nothing. And to beat all, they are gleeful about it.

We could all work together, compromising in the areas where there is disagreement, each group getting some of what they want. But no one wants anything less than everything they want.

And we call ourselves a free country.

How sad.

Feisty @ 1.51: "It's the party of male, pale & stale who started plotting to take him down the night of his inauguration!"

Of course your speaking of the DNC upon the inauguration of President Bush.

John B contrary to what the Liberals believe, the tail does not "wag" the dog. This mentality is what got Europe in the mess they are in.

What does that even mean? Show me something that says taking money out of a weak economy fixes it, then we'll talk. Until then you're just spreading talking points. All the economies with strong government austerity programs are weak. Weak enough to drag the rest of the Eurozone into recession right along with them. If you have anything that says the countries that went strong on austerity have prospered lay it on the table.

Ruken ....specifics on what you don't like in the Ryan plan? Not a general "it'll throw people off a cliff". What SPECIFIC part or parts do you not like?

3Thirty3: Backhouse: "In January 2009, on the evening of the President's Inauguration, GOP/Koch party seniors met and pledged to block the President from growing the economy."

Right, and GOP black helicopters landed in your back yard and ate your cat.

Google Robert Draper "Do Not Ask What Good We Do" or go to: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/25/9-revelations-from-robert-draper-s-do-not-ask-what-good-we-do.html

Feisty...

You said:

The newest buzz words are, Buckwheat - Watermelon One & NIC!

And until I see one of my right wing friends call them out on this - they will continue to be accomplices in the promotion of this kind of rhetoric!

I haven't seen those said, but admittedly, I only get on the First Read boards occasionally and usually only do a quick scan of the posts, so I will take your word for it. If I see words like that, I will call them out immediately. That kinda talk has no place here and only diminishes from the argument that the person might be trying to make. Decisions involving support of and opposition to a politician should always be made on that person's policies and NEVER their race (or religion).

reich wing republicon morons ......Joe in Albany........... it is simply amazing what middle class trailer trash believe to be true.........Joe in Albany..........anything from FOX of course

@ Fiesty,

I can easily side with you against any person that uses derogatory terms, specific to race directed at Obama. What those people don't clearly understand is that it simply kills their argument and reduces themselves to worthless drabble. And like you, I completely ingore them.

MRWSR. I don't have an issue with Fiesty's avatar. Although I am a fiscal conservative and lean right I can freely admit that Fox News is anything but Fair and Balanced as they claim. Just like I can admit that many newspapers lean left.

Brianb. I agree. I guess my argument is more philosophy vs. actual since it assumes those in Washington are cabable and looking out for our best interests.

I sit here wondering if Greece, Spain, Italy and others 15 years ago were sitting where the US is right now thinking that their economy is doing well, they have nothing to worry about and were paying no attention to national budgets and deficit spendng.

Ok Conservatives should be estatic about negative Job news and by the posts I think they are. Its not so much that Romney with a Republican congress could control a GLOBAL economy any better.

But with republicans in the White House and Controlling congress. We can finally get that last nail in the coffin. I mean with everything so bad right now. And no jobs. It would pave the way for the final fleecing of the middle class. Cause we all know That a Job means.

Just

Over

Broke

Forget that we could be spending on infrastructure and jobs here at home. We don't want none of that Solar or wind. Good ol ARAB oil suits us fine. We don't need no new bridges and Dams for electricity cause that Diesel generator runs all the power for that 5th wheel. And I can sit back with the 6 pack of Bud and blame BARRY.

Forget that Romney is a leader in the LDS (a Cult by my standards). That marry's off little girls to 50 something year old men. AKA elders in the church.

John, You can't put money in you don't have, that's what I mean. It is natural for the economy to slow until the spending is balanced against the tax revenue. You have offered no alternative that will fix this problem. The President's failed stimulus policy is a prime example. The White House reported the average cost per job "created" from the stimulus was over $278,000! The reports from others is much higher. No business owner could do that and stay in business. Yet the govt. did, plunging us deeper in debt, and not solving the problem. They "wagged the dog" and the problem remains.

This job data shows there is even less reason to vote for Romney to go back to the same GOP policies that have caused such irreversible damages.

For Obama, fortunately, it's still early - it's June, there is enough time to see better future data which will in the end convince enough people that Obama's policies have worked.

Obama/Biden 2012

Pigotry,

I agree with you that there is time to look at future data before the election. The problem I have is believing the data. I have yet to see a jobs report that is adjusted upward (good for employment). How do we know that the reported numbers aren't "cooked" to look good for a news article just before the election. Unfortunately, the adjustments aren't headline news and largely go unreported.

Ruken ....specifics on what you don't like in the Ryan plan? Not a general "it'll throw people off a cliff". What SPECIFIC part or parts do you not like?

The Defense Dept. increase is the main stickler.

The economy cannot grow unless people have money to spend. That is exactly how the Republicans set out and have worked at squashing growth. They have fired people and hoarded their money at the expense of this country going under, people jobless, killing the middle class and everything they stand for.

Why would anyone want to elect any of these people when they are willing to kill our economy because they want to make slaves out of the middle class and become richer than ever in the history of the country. Do not vote for the very people who are ruining this country.

Felden said: What is sad is that they are willing to rip this government apart and the country along with it.

You got that totally wrong Felden. What conservatives want is for the Marxist in the White House to be gone. I don't give two craps how we do it, just as long as he and his totalitarian policies are evicted. Don't believe me about him being a Marxist, research his executive orders since that's the ONLY way he can get his agenda in place.

John, You can't put money in you don't have, that's what I mean. It is natural for the economy to slow until the spending is balanced against the tax revenue.

That's the kind of thinking that allowed the Great Depression to continue for 3 long years until FDR was elected. It didn't work in the 1930s, it isn't working in Europe now...it just doesn't work.

You have offered no alternative that will fix this problem. The President's failed stimulus policy is a prime example.

Only in the rhetoric of Conservativeland did it not make things better. Even John McCain's economic advisor during his presidential campaign acknowledges that it kept a severe recession from becoming a second Great Depression. http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/documents/End-of-Great-Recession.pdf

The White House reported the average cost per job "created" from the stimulus was over $278,000!

Still beating that drum even though I answered you YESTERDAY I see. First of all, we didn't just pay people's salaries with that money...we BOUGHT THINGS...things like roads, bridges, civic improvements, new and refurbished buildings. If you spend $200,000 on a house does that mean the workers were paid $200,000 and you got nothing out of it? Of course not, it's just absurd. Secondly, 1/3 of that total was in tax cuts at the insistence of Republicans. It's money that was predicted to make the stimulus less effective...and it did.

No business owner could do that and stay in business.

Businesses don't borrow money? Of course they do, and borrowing is an important tool of proper business management. Same is true of government. The management of that borrowing is different in some fundamental ways, but it's real, it's legitimate, and it's important.

nwnative said: That is exactly how the Republicans set out and have worked at squashing growth. They have fired people and hoarded their money at the expense of this country going under, people jobless, killing the middle class and everything they stand for.

Are you reporting from Lunar Base 7? Tell me about all the democrat businessmen that have added jobs to their companies. By your statement you are telling everyone that the only problem in our economy lies with those companies that are strictly owned by republicans. In the real world, you would be called insane... in the liberal world you are called smart. I'd rather live in the real world but commend you on your place of residence.

Joe in Albany

The Dow is down almost 200 points right now.

You're doin' a heck of a job, Barry.

Your right Jo Jo, the down went from 6700 in march of 09 to a high of almost 13k this year. your right jo jo heck of a job PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Au contraire.

Since President Obama came into office, the DOW increased by 60%.

Is the sky blue, or ALWAYS cloudy with you?

To the republitards everything bad is Obamas fault, the good, coincidence. Ok morons, Obama is presiding over a weak recovery and its all his fault, fine but then admit Obama got Bin Laden, all by himself. Logic sucks when you're a republican.

MSNBC is the offficial propogana arm of Obama's reelection effort. If they can only sugar coat this to ouch it must be absolutely devastating for Obama!

Reading the commentary from the rightwingers on this blog would make one think that Obama, by his little lonesome self has brought down the U.S. all by himself, that he's the reason for so much of the economic misery that our countrymen are suffering, but we know that's not true, don't we ? when the Bush administration took over from Clinton, there was a surplus and the deficit was on schedule to be eliminated by 2010 and would have been if Gore had gained the presidency, but that didn't happen, instead Bush was handed the election by bother Jeb who rigged the elections down in Florida and then the republican dominated Supreme Court gave the election to Bush. He took over with a republican controlled Senate, Congress, and Supreme Court. What he left us with was the largest financial disaster in history, a 50 billion a year Department of Homeland Security (why is it they always talk about smaller government just before they add billions to the deficit?)unfunded Medicare-D, and two unfunded wars, plus the real kicker a tax cut in time of war, never before done by any administration, and finally the economy falling apart just as he is leaving. All of his policies rubber stamped during his first 6 years by an all republican congress. Now they are upset that Obama hasn't been able to clean up their colossal mess in 3 years that they created in 6. Here's a final thought, their insistance on their way or the highway is extrotion in its most basic form, if we follow their plans on cuts then there is over 100 trillion in bad mortgage derivatives ready to colapse their house of cards andwhen Americans continue to default on their home loans. 55 trillion of it insured by the FDIC, so go ahead, give the republicans the presidency and the congress and see what happens next.

Have to hand it to the FR libbies....you have that empty, meaningless rhetoric to a tee.

Obama is a failure at leadership, at improving the economy and the joblessness....and what is the response?

• Post 1....it's the Koch Brothers fault
• Post 1.1....it's Bush's fault
• Post 1.2....it's because people are racist.

Excuses excuses...the man has done nothing but make the economic situation worse and that's all you can come up with?

Pathetic really

November can't get here soon enough.

Joe...

You forgot about Bain Capital.

John, we didn't post yesterday......(unless you are also AL.....)

Bottom line, it will be a great day in this world when Liberals master basic math skills.....

(Maybe then the Democrats will be able to create a budget, one where the columns match at the bottom with out adding the line "funds borrowed from China.")

I am not saying the economy and the stock market crash are Obama's fault, however Obama is not the leader that I voted for. When everyone was blaming Bush when he was in office he took it like a leader, he did not sit there in his office complaining about the Democrat controled Senate and Congress. He came up with TARP (whether or not you agree with it) and called in Obama to figure out what to do with the Auto industry (because Obama was the next president).

I personally think Bush was one of the worst presidents our nation as seen, but he was a leader (misguided but a leader). I think Obama is one of the worst presidents I have ever seen and he is a follower. If I could go back in time I would have fought harder for Hillary, and now our country is stuck choosing between Obama and Romney, we are f'd either way.

You DID miss it, Gingerbread Mamma. Google Chester A. Arthur. Good chance he WAS ineligible. Seems to have changed his birthdate by a year- which would have had him born here, rather than in Canada.

Don't blame yourself for your ignorance on the subject- blame the media. They should have made this an issue when the original birther claims were made during the democratic primaries.

Should have put this to bed then, as well. Had they done their jobs, we would not even be discussing this now.

By election time, unemployment will have gone back down. And hopefully concerns about the EU will calm down as well, with austerity tossed aside and stimulus started. The price of gas and other economic issues are harder to predict, but the stock market and company profits are likely to remain in good standing.

What we need is to pass a Jobs Bill, and the president may do well to push this again if for no other reason than to highlight the failure of the Teapublican House. If Boehner makes the mistake of repeating the debt ceiling debacle, or allowing taxes to be raised on struggling middle class and working poor to protect tax cuts for the rich (Bush tax cuts to expire), they will not help Romney the plutocrat with his personal obsession to rule the world.

Romney -- He's not in it for you.

One fourth of one twelfth of one seventy eighth (on average) of life examined:

(then you can savor Jody"s greatness)

Well, the bad news or the not so good news, depending on which direction your spin machine is rotating; jobs only increased by an estimated 69,000, while unemployment increases to 8.2%. Jobs being created, rather than lost, is a good thing and the increase in unemployment is due to more people coming back into the workforce, hopeful of finding work. Of course, the President will get the blame for THIS month, but no credit for ALL the other months of more robust job creation, which happened in spite of him. Yeah, right. Retailers report better than average sales in May, so that should reduce inventory and take some slack out of the economy. The trend line continues to be upward on the growth side, so that cannot be bad for the folks getting those jobs. Interestingly, nobody mentions the retirement rate of 220,000 workers per month. This means that during this President's tenure over 5.7 million people have retired from the workforce. Is corporate America replacing those folks? Or are they squeezing the remaining workers that much harder? The latter, me thinks. Thanks again Teapublicans, for that laser-like focus on job creation, or whatever it is you do to get that 13% approval rating.

Meanwhile, Teapublican tater-tot and erstwhile candidate Willardistic Mittronic Rombot engages in the "Stealth Strike on Solyndra" (phrase copyrighted by me, right now, in perpetuity, throughout the universe) decrying the use of government funds to pick winners and losers. Well, take a long look in the loser mirror, Mittronic, because irony Force Factor Twelve, with Acusphere and Spherics Inc. in Massachusetts, the taxpayers there got stuck for over four million dollars with those failed enterprises. Who approved those brilliant expenditures? Just two Rombot appointees and three Rombot contributors. Hypocrisy much? I guess you won't be taking too much of "a lot of credit".

Continuing to delve into the murky cesspool of American politics, John Edwards is acquitted of one charge and had a mistrial declared on five others. Like a submarine well blasted by depth charges, Edwards emerged scathed and contritious, proclaiming he's not guilty of crime but certainly of sin. The government mounted what was considered a strong case, but lost to the defense that "everybody's doing it, 501c style". If Edwards could corral Ensign and Vitter into his stage of remorse, that would be quite a support group. Icky and ignoble, but supportive none the less, like a pack of dogs patiently waiting in line to hump the designated leg. Maybe Trojan will toss some work Edwards way, if nothing else, he might take a lesson.

Speaking of support groups, former President and saxophonic reed wetter, Bill Clinton travels up to Wisconsin to fire up some voters there. As Barrett seems stuck against Walker in the recall race, it's hoped the "Arkansas Ace" can put some fire in the belly of the undecided and get Barrett over the top. With the outside money advantage going to Walker, it looks like Barrett will probably fall short again. But, hey, Wisconsinites could come to their senses over the next four days.

Another cautionary tale, Bashar Assad, keeps on killing his citizens left, right and center. One would think he could see Lebanon and all the "benefits" their decades of civil war brought. But I suppose ruler of the rubble is still ruler, so he'll always have that. Maybe Assad sees reconstruction as an economic benefit for all both of the citizens he'll have left. And for everybody toe tapping, waiting for the U.S. to jump in, I say, go ahead and "grow a sac" Europe. Except for you Merkel, it getting harder to tell with you everyday.

Finally, proving heroes are where you find them, Lawrence Adams saves fellow patrons at a Seattle bar by throwing bar stools. Adams hurled the stools at crazed gunman Ian Stawicki as Stawicki aimed his firearm at him. Adams said that he was compelled to do something because of his brother's death on Sept. 11. Because of that, Adams said, "I would never hide under a table." Let's all hope we could follow that example and find that courage.

Pencils down. Exam over.

Lots of comments here - obviously a touchy subject.

The Liberals are out in force saying "Yeah, but look at the bright side".

Unfortunately, there is no 'bright side'. Obama's policies have been a huge FAILURE.

Read obama's 1991 book, he says he was born in Kenya...and it would make him a British subject. That's where all the hoopla about his birth is from. He wrote the forward. Is he lying now or then?

Link to source required, MAW...it just didn't happen.

Willowbrook, you still haven't explained how taking money out of a soft economy makes it stronger...

...good luck with that.

Recently 20,000 applicants turned out to apply for 835 jobs at a Hyundai automotive plant. Nuff said.

The dismal jobs figures could fan fears that the economy is sputtering.

lmao fan fears? the econaomy never started to recover, and is still working its way to rock bottom. whats the excuse going to be this time, when we dont have the money to pay our bills? what kind of finger pointing is going to go on when people start seeing again, America is in dire need of actual real changes... and for the better?

i have been in the skilled trades for over 27 yrs. i am a welder fitter fabricator. i LIVE in the job market, and have not long after i started. you want to keep food in your mouth you play it smart, and choose a carreer that will keep you going. this is one of them.... not sure for how long, but its one. when it gets hard for me to find a job... i know its tuff. when i go in a door to door job search, until 2009 i never walked away without a job in a week, usually almost always in 1 day more than not. i was laid off for 3 1/2 yrs in 08, outside of a sidejob a few hrs a week for a little cash. UEB's do not pay bills for most people, then add in rent/house payment/car insurance/food/utilities/gas... the list goes on. you NEED a roof over your head, and 1 outlet for an alarm clock to get up for work. thats minimum if you want to keep a job, not to mention LOOK for 1. some people can find a live cheap place, that they dont have to worry about being robbed... some cant.

we have groups, and not small groups, of homeless all across this nation. i still remember people in masses hoarding in national parks in groups.... the government made them dispurse. thats IF i remember correctly, AND under your king truely. our true unemployment rate one could only dream of being even close to 11%. last i heard, grand total in figure, would put us over the 25% mark, and closer to 30%. in 2011, Oshkosh Truck Wi held a job hireing "emporium". it was an 87 mile trip 1 way. on a sunday, and monday. it was to start at 9am, i was there just before 10. they held it at a hotel/confrence place in town. the line went from inside where they had the gated walks to pack as many people as possible, thru the lobby, same walkways, over the skybridge more walkways, into that lobby, out the door, around the corner, and exstended about a good 100' onto the bridge... i was looking for strike signs, or some protest when i first pulled up, but all i saw was people holding folders, and portfolios. they had a lot of openings, but not even CLOSE to that many. the entire headcount for applicants just inside the building was just over 3,000. they saw in the area of that many, and when it was all done, tha day, the line wasnt any shorter. i went back on monday, got there 1.5 hrs early, and wasnt seen until almost 5pm. when i walked out, the line STILL went out the front doors.

Marinette Marine. was/is looking to hire a lot of people. they crashed the servers twice from all the online applicants. up in that neck of the woods.... do you know just how crazy many people are looking for skilled trades, or ANY work?

i worked for a temp agency for a short time. out of the blue, i applied at a place, in a town called oconto falls. actually i dropped off my resume, and they called 3 weeks later. when i had my interview, he exsplained it took so long to get back to me, the day after i dropped off my resume, they posted an ad for a week. just sorting thru the applicants with skilled exsperance, he had a stack no less than 7" high to go thru.

jobs, just before i landed this one, were an ez... EASY 500 for each opening. that would be skilled people. 5 people for any 1 opening as this same news agency reported not long ago, is full of it. when you have no home, phone, anything you are next to impossible on finding a stable job. i know, i been there. man... have i been there....

we need a more honest with the numbers government. these people deserve at least that much.

Bill, Fairfax VA

The fact is we continue to experience the worst economic recovery in our lifetimes. Much worse than the rebound from the Reagan recession in 1981-82 and much worse than the rebound from the granddaddy of all downturns, the Great Depression. Facts are pesky things and the data shows that Obama is presiding over an economic recovery that is HISTORICALLY BAD. And even though the left dismisses that data as irrelevant, as surely as I type these words the new normal of 8% unemployment and economic growth staggering along at 2% is sealing this president's political fate.

We are in the worst economic recovery for decades because of the REAGAN ECONOMIC POLICIES. Reagan's economy was boosted by military spending increases; our government spending is buckling thanks to the states. And to be exact, we were in the Great Depression for roughly 10 years. We've only been in a recession and anemic growth for about 4 years. That's better than during the Great Depression. Because of the income inequality caused by the past quarter-decade of Reaganomics and the obstruction of an extremist party, our economy is sputtering. Face it America; the party that you held confidence in during the 2010 elections has failed you, and has betrayed you.

Because we're not stupid. Because most of us see right through the president's lame attempts to deflect attention from his record by attacking Bain and making up a war on women.

Technically, there is a war of women. Take a look at the proposals and bills sent by the GOP in states and in Congress that are about contraception, Planned Parenthood, and abortion...

And because most of us don't need dry statistics to tell us the economy sucks, we already know that from our daily experience. All of that is bad news for a president who is in deep trouble.But the good news for the rest of us is he won't be president much longer.

Do you want to know why the economy sucks??? WE ARE NOT SPENDING ENOUGH MONEY!!!!!!!!! Government spending in the states is going down, and people are being laid off, lowering demand and thus job creation. We need to spend MORE money to fix this economy. It is as simple as that. But the GOP has said no to Obama's jobs act; they abandoned the possible creation of 2 million jobs and repairing our crumbling infrastructure. What the @!$%#???

And by the way, the president will leave the White House-in January of 2017...

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

Alan, NJ

But when you also have Congressionals & their supporters actively WORKING TO BLOCK economy recovery, it's even harder to make headway.

In January 2009, on the evening of the President's Inauguration, GOP/Koch party seniors met and pledged to block the President from growing the economy. They have done so by every means possible, and at our expense. Their intention was and is, to pin the blame on the President for any negative fallout from that strategy of destruction.

So exactly how/when did this occur? In the two years of total Democratic domination of the Federal Government? Are the extension of the Bush tax cuts good for the economy? What about the payroll tax cut? Lousy for the deficit but definitely helpful in increasing economic activity.

You ought to take a look at the book Do Not Ask What Good We Do. And personally, using tax cuts on regressive taxes (like the payroll tax) are much better at boosting economic growth and consumer spending than cutting progressive systems because progressive tax cuts tend to benefit the lower and middle class, and as they are the real job-creators that will enable them to spend more money to jump-start the economy.

If the Republicans are such economic geniuses that they can destroy an economy from one house of the congress, then the Democrats HAVE to be responsible for the economic crisis of 2008 that ushered in the Obama Administration. After all they controlled BOTH parts of congress at that time and you cannot deny the economic crisis helped Obama win the election.

Well, the Democrats don't have to be responsible for the 2008 recession (at least not completely), as the causes for the recession were proven to have been growing for decades. And by the way, the Democrats did not control the Senate for the first half of the Obama administration, as the GOP used the filibuster to obstruct votes. And Democrats only had a filibuster-proof majority for a few months, and they thought that healthcare was the best thing to pass in that small amount of time.

Backhouse this is a crock! You post this stuff without any meaning. Going into the White House, it was well established that Obama was a Marxist. In order to quell the march towards totalitarianism, Obama needed to be stopped, but for the first two years he couldn't because the democrats had the government sewed up.

Are you @!$%#ing kidding me??? Are you @!$%#ing kidding me??? How the hell can you justify obstruction??? The GOP SABOTAGED Obama before he even became President!!!! Where the @!$%# is the bloody proof that Obama is a @!$%#ing Marxist??? HE IS NOT A MARXIST. YOU @!$%#ING REPUBLICANS HAVE MOVED SO FAR TO THE DAMN RIGHT!!!!!!! THAT is why Obama is a Marxist, not because of his only ideology but because you bastards on the right have become fascists. You bastards SABOTAGED our democracy and instituted YOUR OWN type of TOTALITARIANISM.!!! Since when did the American people ask for the president to be stopped??? Not in 2009. In 2010, they bought your crap about the debt and that you knew how to create jobs. And you failed them. You conservatives failed them, betrayed them, sold them out for every penny they had!!! You idiots HAVE ALMOST STALLED OUR ECONOMY!!!!!!!! How the hell can you justify such anti-democratic actions???

Well in 2010, the people stood up and bucked him. Since then, Obama's policies have been slowed way down.

The American people DID NOT buck the president. They saw that the economic recovery was slow, and decided that they wanted a fresh party to fix the economy. But all that party did was obstruct and obstruct and obstruct. You will be overthrown in 2012, just you wait.

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

JoAnnaSmith1

Yeah, ouch for Team Obama. And again our "learned" economists predicted more than double that amount of jobs. Just who are these idiot economists that think they understand the economy? But it's not hard to figure this out. Taxes, regulations, and government corruption have forced corporations to look for a better deal off-shore, and they easily found better places to be.

Joanna, you really need to take an econ class. Corporations aren't going overseas because of the 35% tax rate (most pay roughly 22%). Nor are they going because of government corruption or regulations (regulations are the lowest in decades, thanks to supply-side economics). They are going because of demand and because of lower wages. But they are coming back. It is estimated that 3.5 million jobs will come back to the US from China alone over the next decade. Essentially, companies are moving closer to the markets that they feed off of, mostly due to large transportation costs via high gas prices.

The false promises of the Obama administration massive spending in their feeble attempt to improve the economy have been exposed as lies - there will no more "Summer of Recovery" talk from Super Joe Biden.

Not really. Obama's stimulus spending lifted the economy out of the recession; check the 27 months of private sector growth

Taxes will be increased in multiple ways at the end of the year, with the Obama tax cuts expiring, the payroll tax cuts that are killing Social Security expiring, Obamacare taxes kicking in, and Obama and the liberals continual attacks on the "millionaires" (defined as those who make more than $250,000) to pay more of their "fair share".

Why are you so against the payroll tax cut yet are adamantly opposed to repealing the Bush tax cuts, which add $3.8 trillion to our debt every decade???

Taking that kind of money out of the economy and giving it to the government will help the economy? Maybe we should consult with our "learned" economists on that one too? This all the while nearly half the country depends on a government check every month.

Well, it could help the economy in the long-term, because then we can turn our focus away from austerity and start spending money to fix our economy. The reason why half of the country relies on government checks is because the recession kicked the crap out of the country and sent many people scrambling. These programs are, in many cases, the only thing keeping these people from hitting rock bottom. Enough with your anti-welfare stance, Joanna. Many of these people feel ashamed for having to rely on others for survival. Have you no sense of dignity??? At long last, have you no sense of decency?????

And by the way, EVERYONE gets a government check. It's called a tax return.

Oh, and 35,000 millionaires in the US don't pay income taxes. Where's the anger towards them?????

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

My goodness, three posts all full of democrat talking points. Good job. Now, riddle me this, where is all that 'spending' money going to come from? Go on. You can come up with an answer. Tax return is now a government check? So the money taken in taxes from the worker is now a government check? Hmmmm. So, guess when a thief takes all your stuff and returns a box of, oh say, junk drawer stuff, you should manifest gratitude, right?

Now, riddle me this, where is all that 'spending' money going to come from? Go on. You can come up with an answer.

Well, it could come from a surtax on millionaires, or we could simply borrow it at super-low interest rates. That's where money for programs like WPA and New Deal and the military production of World War II came from, not to mention higher tax rates. You may be adverse to borrowing more money, but it's our only hope for getting out of this anemic recovery.

Tax return is now a government check? So the money taken in taxes from the worker is now a government check? Hmmmm. So, guess when a thief takes all your stuff and returns a box of, oh say, junk drawer stuff, you should manifest gratitude, right?

Well, it is a check from the government with the money that you paid them. Besides, most government checks are your money, right??? They are your tax-dollars going back to you in the forms of food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc. Not to mention that we all use government products, like the Internet (made by the military), roads and highways, airports, and even the microwave. In business, the moment you give money to a cashier or a salesperson or to a business, it become's the business' money, not yours. Shouldn't that apply to the government, as the government is supposed to balance it's budget like a business, right??

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

Obama has created throughout his administration, a War On: capitalism, the poor, the women, the church, the creaters of wealth, the 1%, Bush caused it, Romney is a capitalist, pick one.

Hmm, so asking to go back to Clinton tax rates (during a time when we had the largest economic expansion in US history) and instituting regulations to check the uncontrolled power of the unregulated "free market" is anti-capitalist??? Well, since many Americans support raising taxes, aren't they soldiers fighting against capitalism???

So, supporting the poor by extending unemployment benefits, offering programs to create jobs, and keeping rates low for them is a war??? Hmm, so what about when Paul Ryan said at a conservative press conference that he wanted to change the morality of the poor and planned to decimate the American safety net??? Isn't that a bit anti-poor???

War on women, you say??? So, has Obama threatened to shut down the federal government over what used to be bipartisan support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood??? Or deny women the right to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion or restrict their ability to do so??? Or invade women's privacy by supporting a mandatory trans-vaginal probe??? Stop the presses!!!!

What war on the church??? The Catholic Church??? Don't you know that a majority of Americans, and a slighter larger majority of Catholics (like myself), agree with the contraception mandate in Obama's healthcare law??? Man, apparently most of America is waging a war on religion!!! Where do I sign up???

Creators of wealth. I don't believe that you realize who are the creators of wealth. Labor creates wealth. Investment helps extract it. So Obama has declared war on the middle class??? Well, I'm pretty sure that offering a plan to create 2 million middle class jobs and keeping taxes low for them is more like giving aid to the wealth creators, don't ya think???

Ah the 1%, the same guys who control a vast amount of wealth and income in this country. I highly doubt that asking for them to pay slightly higher tax rates like they did during Clinton administration counts as a war. Plus under his administration he wealthy have had their income increase dramatically, not to mention record corporate profits. It seems like he is actually a godsend to the 1%.

Seems like your accusations against Obama are as stale as 6 year-old bread.

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

Oh God, Just get it over with eliminate money!!!!

Freshieee, The war on women is a myth when they are not trying to eliminate a womans right to choose, they are eliminating the force of others to pay for her choices. Texas is not trying to close abortion clinics, they are trying to close the taxpayer funds that go into clinics which offer abortions and can manipulate the books to effectively use taxpayer funds to fund abortions. When you go into a clinic that calls itself low-income, you are going into a clinic which is funded in some fashion by taxpayer funds. There is no REAL cost reduction only an increase in taxes to fund a PORTION of the cost. Good heavens, have you taken accounting yet in college and then taken govt and NOT seen the correlation between what is and is not meant vs what is and is not used!!???? I am all for paying taxes to keep women healthy but I am also all for not making ME pay for your mistakes!! Once you have seen a couple desperate to adopt a child at any cost, you too will hate the abortions and you will hate that there are couples paying taxes wishing for a baby and knowing some of their taxes are used to fund abortion clinics. Ending a life they could provide for, would love to provide for, are desperate to provide for!!

Do you know how easy it is to bill an account for 'Clinical services unspecified'? Go talk to an accountant and they will tell you how easy it is for a govt funded clinic to manipulate their books to fund abortions under an "emergency clinical services" accounting code!!! And do you really think a govt that allows illegal immigrants to claim children that are not even theirs or for that matter children not even living in the U.S with no plans to live here, to be claimed on tax returns, would care about a little cooking of the books? NO

And that is not even an Obama problem!! But you can not advocate that a little old clinic is obeying the law just bc the govt says so, when it has been proven that fraud is happening in our own Tax system and WITH the govts knowledge!! They are not stupid, they know its happening!!! But they chose this abortion funding thing to be an issue, not the millions/billions stolen outright by fraudulent tax returns. The funding for abortion issue is so pathetic when compared to a PROVEN problem is ridiculous.

So don't get so ticked off about abortion clinics and planned parenthood bc this might not have been an issue if the govt would stop an even larger problem which steals funds from programs such as planned parenthood, S.S, etc. There is a leak of funds and NO ONE IS talking about it!! People do not care when the funds are there for those clinics, but people do care when there are not funds for S.S, Medicare, Medicaid,etc. The inability to plug the leaks and their ability to make you concentrate on this one issue and make you ignore the why it happened is astonishing!

Tell Obama to plug the leaks and balance the budget so services like planned parenthood have funding and states like Texas are not preparing for a tax crunch by cutting services. You can not ask people to pay more in taxes when you refuse to deal with a loophole in our tax system causing massive loss of money. Its illogical!!!

If I have a high electric bill each month, I do not ask my customers to pay more money, I make strides to conserve energy first, if that does not work THEN I raise my rates. But I must first ATTEMPT to plug the leaks, letting my money flow out due to bad construction is not the customers fault, it is mine. Letting funds be taken due to a loophole in the tax system is not the fault of the 1%, it is the govts fault. Would you drive a truck everyday with a leaky gas tank and blame the gas station that sold it to you for YOUR lose of gas? No

P.S you are on a rant today!! Bet you are going nuts now thats its summer!!! All my students, I would swear, are on red-bull or Monster drinks. They are freakin crazy right now and I am giving serious consideration to using duct tape with air holes over their mouths!! Course they would giggle the whole time, thus defeating the purpose!!! Oh well, extra strength training it is!!!

Read the rest of Clinton's remarks, he backhanded Romney's version of venture capitalism while complementing his business ability.

Jody,

They want to forget BAIN because Romney's record there is merciless, and stinks to high Heaven.

1. Romney has potentially $Billions stashed in the Caymans that he will not account for, as a result of his vulture dealings at Bain.

2. Romney still receives $57,000 (yes, fifty-seven thousand dollars) PER DAY from BAIN.

3. And for decades, he has refused to submit his tax filings.

These points are just for starters. No wonder Shmitt and his billionaire buddies want to sweep Bain under the carpet.

I the "libs" are in trouble, then the rest of the country is in for a real surprise if Mittens and his magic underwear are elected in Nov.

1st to go will be min. wage, next will be child labor laws, next will be a womans right to choose, next enviromental laws, next will be s.s. medicare , and health care. Thank god I live in Romney care Ma. We will still have free health care here. Funny thing some of the people who left when mittens was governor have started to return. Our unemployment rate has gone down since he left. Next will be education, then all services for the poor and elderly, but hey, its what the righties want I guess....good luck all

@ Backhouse tell all this to Mayor Corey Booker, Gov. Ed Rendel, Gov. Patrick Duvall, Bill Clinton, Obama bundler and car czar Steve Ratner, Bain VP and Obama bundler Steve Levine, Rep. Harold Ford (D) Obama surragate. Why are they staunch defenders of Bain and Romney's record there?Clinton just yesterday proclaimed Ramney's business record as "sterling".

Maybe you didn't get the memo. Bain is a losing argument.

@#2.4, You are correct, there is "Nothing to see here folks". As soon as you begin blathering about what will happen in the future, you lose ALL credibility.

Romney's record with Bain Capital is fairly clear with a success rate of 78% to 80%. You can, however, put ALL your precious focus on the other 20% to 22% but it will not change the fact that Obama is incompetent. For some time now, the employment figures have been fudged, but Obama can only hide the truth for so long.

Romney's record with Bain Capital is fairly clear with a success rate of 78% to 80%. You can, however, put ALL your precious focus on the other 20% to 22% but it will not change the fact that Obama is incompetent. For some time now, the employment figures have been fudged, but Obama can only hide the truth for so long.

And tell me how that's different than dwelling on Solyndra.

This should be good.

Hey Dr. Ruken, why don't you and your fake College degree explain to us why it isn't?

Hey Dr. Ruken, why don't you and your fake College degree explain to us why it isn't?

Aw, Blue Collar Auto is jealous that he cannot even attain a college degree.

So I ask you Detroit Slumlord, how is dwelling on the ~22% Bain failures any different than dwelling on the single Obama failure?

I'm waiting.

Nah Ruken, I got me a real College Degree. From a Real University. It has Buildings and Everything.

Guess what, You can get a degree there and Graduate Summa Cum Laude, even.

Not like the cool SIGMA Cum Laude degree you claim to have gotten gotten off the Internet.

Obama's Single failure?

SINGLE????

You.Have.Got.To.Be.Kidding.

Try Google, Ruken. You used it to find a college, now use it to find the truth.

Ruken

single Obama failure?

Single Obama failure, how about total Obama failure.

Obama's Single failure?

SINGLE????

You.Have.Got.To.Be.Kidding.

Try Google, Ruken. You used it to find a college, now use it to find the truth.

Zzzzz.... In other words: "I'm going to dwell on Obama's failures", but Romney's failures don't mean anything.

Not like the cool SIGMA Cum Laude degree you claim to have gotten gotten off the Internet.

Really? Link me the post where I said that.

You have nothing. This is why you're my cute little Blue Collar Auto.

Single Obama failure, how about total Obama failure.

More deflection. Is that all you have today?

Sure I am Ruken, yet you haven't been able to prove a single statement you have made on this site, since I started asking you to back your nonsense up.

BTW, forgot the word probably between the 2 gottens. Figures that someone with a SIGMA Cum Laude degree would have figured that out.

Your a small little person Ruken, trying to look big on the Internet.

And now, I am through with you, it has gotten boring.

Hell, even your Lib friends won't come to your defense anymore.

Sure I am Ruken

Then link it.

I'm waiting.

Your a small little person Ruken, trying to look big on the Internet.

Your? Or you're?

You mad? Is that like...your position or something? Am I encroaching on the big bad Detroit slumdweller's domain?

Ruken, One major difference between Romney and Obama is when Romney was at Bain he used private capital and Obama is using TAXPAYERS money. Further, there are more than one Obama failure in the alternative energy policies.

As for the liberals who like to throw around government figures and quote all these so called economic experts, maybe you should get out and look around and go in and talk to small business people and talk to people who haven't been able to find a job.

sfcret -- The energy loan guarantee program was written by Congress and they set aside 10 billion for losses under the program. Now why do you suppose they did that? THEY anticipated losses. So why are they or you surprised all of sudden?

Backhouse, how do you know Romney POTENTIALLY has billions stashed? I also POTENTIALLY have billions stashed.

And if you missed it, Romney did release his 2010 return showing just under 15%. Which all his returns will show as he gets capital gains.

Ruken 22% failure also means 78% success, which is above average for Venture capital. Do you not like private money being invested in business in this country? Do you wish it to stop?

The bottom line may be this: If any of us spent our first three-and-a-half years on a private sector job blaming the guy we replaced for our own dismal performance, we'd be fired (unless we were working for Dad). In politics, we'd run for re-election.

If Obama gets a second term, we deserve it for willingly staying a failed course. It's sort of like driving headlong towards a cliff and thinking you don't need to turn the steering wheel because the car will eventually correct itself.

It has to be remembered that three years ago, when Bush left office, America was losing 800,000 jobs a month...

Come on now, let's give president Obama some credit...

The surprise is Obama was told to the month when Solyndra would go bankrupt and he approved the deal anyway. All his failures have one thing in common, he's laundering taxpayer dollars through these companies so his donors can fill his campaign coffers.

Someone yesterday made a list of about two dozen, this is not an isolated incident.

Backhouse - don't let the small minded right wingers get to you. We all know Bain is not even close to dead and will be one of the reasons Romney goes back home in November. One - not all of the reasons since there are so many reasons he won't win.

He has no plans, cannot speak effectively about any programs; he is useless.

Obama/Biden 2012

Ruken, One major difference between Romney and Obama is when Romney was at Bain he used private capital and Obama is using TAXPAYERS money.

You act like this is something new; it's not.

Massive entrepreneurial undertakings cannot be funded privately. Some entrepreneurs fail, some succeed.

If Obama had a record to run on, he would. Yes we can has been replaced by why we couldn't. Obama has given us 3.5 years of record deficits, hatred, division, and blame. This country has endured enough under Obama, he simply cannot lead. Obama had a catchy campaign slogan and an ability to read a speech, but no amount of excuses will change the fact that he has failed this nation.

Backhouse, and everybody does their own taxes and understands blind trusts, so forth and so on. Nice to know that you still embrace foolishness.

Maybe you better tell the IRS about the caymans, I understand that the "whistleblower" rewards can pay off quite well. Then again with your head up your ass you probably can't read the phone number for the IRS.

Rick - if the GOP was running anyone who could prove better leadership you might have a point. But, Romney still can't get the GOP behind him. He's a non-starter and is far behind Obama in leadership skills as well as intelligence. His arrogance and lack of ability to even discuss issues will do him in.

Obama/Biden 2012

Now we know why Mr. Obama wants the November election to be about Bain Capital instead of being about the economy.

Ruken....

LMAO at your ignorance, Solyndra had numerous investors, if they had a viable business plan and product the private sector would have piled in, especially for green energy. Apparently you have never heard of investment banks, private venture capitalists or even angel investing.

No Solyndra didn't want to commit any more of their own money, they couldn't find anyone else in the private sector so they turned to funding by taxpayers. Interesting that bush didn't pull the trigger after 32 years of study but obama did within 3 months.

Sounds like obamas nickname for this years election campaign should be "hair trigger" obama.... lol!

Seeking...

What "leadership skills" ??? If a boat sank and 500 people made it safely onto a deserted island, do you really think they'd be lining up to follow Mr. Obama ???

tony- if the other choices for leadership were what the GOP has run hell yes! I love how the GOP attacks a man who is working hard and improving this country. They have to because you've got nothing to tout with Romney - the least unattractive of a highly disfunctional party!

SeekingSanity, might have a point? Obama remains the most unqualified president ever. The Obama failures are only outdone by all the excuses. True leaders overcome the obstacles, they do not make excuses for why they couldn't get past them. Obama is one excuse after another, and even his speech at the Bush portrait unveiling proved what a partisan small man we have in the oval office as he began it with blame. This nation simply cannot do worse then Obama, except to give him four more years. Obama was obviously the wrong person for the job four years ago. The hatred, blame, division, and excuses has to end with the next election.

WE MUST SEE Romney's tax records for the FIFTEEN years he was CEO for BAIN Capital:

When he stole the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans, and destroyed entire communities to put millions of dollars in his own pocket and in the pockets of his share holders.

He created ZERO jobs and hurt a lot of people due to his greed.

Folks affected by Romney are on tape and on record, and they are not going away. We know Romney has refused to show his tax records for decades.

Quit trying to pull the wool on the OBVIOUS. Thank you.

Boring...so very boring. And I know, I know....the only human being ever born on this planet who can possibly lead the nation just so happens to already have the job. After all, his inauguration did "mark the day when the seas would rise and the Earth would heal"...your hero's words, not mine. I wish he had snuck in a line about the economy when we was at the podium praying to himself.

Back...

Sometimes what is "obvious" to one person is nonsense to other persons.

Rick - President Obama has gotten the economy on an upward swing - back from the abyss Bush left us in. Are we going to have bad months? Yes, and clearly the past month was one. That is not an excuse - just common sense. I don't have to make excuses for our very good President. You however have to continue to attack him because you have NOTHING running on the Republican side. What a pity you don't have the integrity to admit your guy is outsmarted; outclassed; and out of his stupid mind. You've got a loser and you can't admit that the GOP could not come up with a viable candidate so they have to do everything they can to denigrate our President.

But, in the end, it just makes you and the rest of the GOP pathetic. Your candidate is dishonest; unintelligent; unwavering in his being owned by the Koch Bros; unelectable. But, you continue to bow to him because you are too ignorant to see he doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself.

Obama/Biden 2012

Our national economy isn't much. Hasn't been for years now. One can begin with Reagan and come forward through GW Bush and see why. These Republicans, and to a great extent, Bill Clinton, indulged themselves in "financial bubble building" through the rules, tools, and short sighted fools of wall street. To accomplish this, these administrations sacrificed tangible production enterprises that historically maintained the bulk of American consumerism. Sent most of these out of the country. Then along comes GW Bush, who cuts taxes to the bone and goes to war. By the way, many democrats helped in the construction of all these illogical, and out and out stupid progressive economic junk heaps. The formation of the EU was, and is, a perfect example of pure financial stupidity. US Federal Reserve acting for wall street carries the greatest responsibility for that ongoing mess. Since Bush and Company announced the housing and financial meltdown, which revealed our house of cards, and totally collapsed what little real economy we had, no one from either party has come forward with any plan of relief, let alone correction. I do give our President much credit for blocking here, and pushing there, enough to keep us from a calamitous depression. Until the Congress, and the President become serious, and in the case of Congress, cognizant of our upside down, and ass backward, institutionalized financial, pigeon-toed traipsing, we will remain in varying states of both, recession and depression.

Backhouse - Again nothing but a left wing talking point. Who cares about Romney's taxes from 15 years ago. Get a life, where does it say in any law, any directive or anywhere else that a candidate has to release their tax records. The only requirement is a federal financial disclosure, which Romney has submitted. I really don't care if any candidate submits their tax records, as it really doesn't mean a damn thing.

SeekingSanity, it was the Democrats that screwed the nation in the last election. Instead of nominating someone worthy of being president, you gave us Obama. A catchy campaign slogan and the ability to read a speech was all it took for the Democratic Party to be duped. Nothing Obama has done as made a positive difference, and the anemic economy would probably be better off if he had done nothing. So keep up with the excuses, they are after all the only thing that has worked for Obama. We know you can fool and Obama supporter all of the time, but luckily the rest of the nation is not as gullible.

Yep, Mr. Obama and supporters, keep pointing to Bain and make that the "primary" issue for this next Presidential election and forget about Mr. Obama's FAILED "Go Green", and other, agenda and continuously deflecting from issues:

• Stimulus #1
• Omnibus
• HAMP #1/#2/#3/#4
• Cash for Clunkers
• Cash for Appliances
• Weatherization Program (part of Stimulus)
• Black Farmer Fraud
• Solar Panel Company (Solyndra, Abound, Beacon, First Solar)
• Electric Vehicle Companies (Hisker, Finland)
• Ener1 Battery Company
• Geothermal Plant in Nevada
• et al.

Lest we not forget his Department of Labor going after Boeing in South Carolina, his DOJ going after States concerning the Mandated Universal Health Care Reform, his DOE putting restrictions on energy extraction, his DOJ involvement in Fast and Furious, his administration going after women's rights, his DOJ terminating the Black Panthers investigation, his DHS going back door to provide about 1,000,000 Illegal Aliens (Immigrants) permanent residency, et al, et al, et al. And that is ONLY domestic issues.

And, just keep up the "slandering" the opposition and twisting the numbers on every issue. Gotta love the Democrat's FAILED strategy.

Quote of the Day (or something close to that): "I have never been more proud of the United States than I am today".

Welcome to summer recovery part three. Where nothing recovers, debt increases, UE increases and America continues to go down the drain.

Obama Must Go!

Why is this presidential race close?

Good question, it should not be close. BO is an epic failure.

And why might it get closer?

There is a lot of stupid kool-aid drunk fools that will vote for BO anyway.

Ido...

Deep in your heart of hearts you know that only important thing to know about today's bad economic news...is "where's the 15 years of Romney's tax records"...if we had those, the jobs news would have been better today.

@Ruken

So I ask you Detroit Slumlord, how is dwelling on the ~22% Bain failures any different than dwelling on the single Obama failure?

As it has already been stated to you, the difference of Bain and Solyndra is Obama is place bets with taxpayers money. But Solyndra isn't a single failure of Obama's bets, below are a list of them totaling $755.9 BILLION dollars.

@SeekingSanity your nickname is an oxymoron. How is it sane to keep believing in someone who is a complete and utter failure as a President? As an Independant, I truely hoped that he would deliver as a President, but he has done nothing more than lie and distort the truth to the American people.

@ all the other Romney supporters the conservative news media has done you an injustice by selecting him as it's candidate by manipulating the coverage of all the GOP candidates. 2 to 3 years from now we will all look back and ask ourselves why we didn't support RON PAUL...

From Marc Theissen writing in yesterday's Washington Post:

"Since taking office, Obama has invested billions of taxpayer dollars in private businesses, including as part of his stimulus spending bill. Many of those investments have turned out to be unmitigated disasters — leaving in their wake bankruptcies, layoffs, criminal investigations and taxpayers on the hook for billions. Consider just a few examples of Obama's public equity failures:

● Raser Technologies. In 2010, the Obama administration gave Raser a $33 million taxpayer-funded grant to build a power plant in Beaver Creek, Utah. After burning through our tax dollars, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012. The plant now has fewer than 10 employees, and Raser owes $1.5 million in back taxes.

● ECOtality. The Obama administration gave ECOtality $126.2 million in taxpayer money in 2009 for, among other things, the installation of 14,000 electric car chargers in five states. Obama even hosted the company's president, Don Karner, in the first lady's box during the 2010 State of the Union address as an example of a stimulus success story. The company has since incurred more than $45 million in losses and has told the federal government, "We may not achieve or sustain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future." Worse, the company is now under investigation for insider trading.

● Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP). The Obama administration gave NGP a $98.5 million taxpayer loan guarantee in 2010. The New York Times reported last October that the company is in "financial turmoil" and that "[a]fter a series of technical missteps that are draining Nevada Geothermal's cash reserves, its own auditor concluded in a filing released last week that there was 'significant doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.' "

● First Solar. The Obama administration provided First Solar with more than $3 billion in loan guarantees for power plants in Arizona and California. According to a Bloomberg Businessweek report last week, the company "fell to a record low in Nasdaq Stock Market trading May 4 after reporting $401 million in restructuring costs tied to firing 30 percent of its workforce."

● Abound Solar, Inc. The Obama administration gave Abound Solar a $400 million loan guarantee to build photovoltaic panel factories. In February the company halted production and laid off 180 employees.

● Beacon Power. The Obama administration gave Beacon — a green-energy storage company — a $43 million loan guarantee. At the time of the loan, "Standard and Poor's had confidentially given the project a dismal outlook of 'CCC-plus.' " In the fall of 2011, Beacon received a delisting notice from Nasdaq and filed for bankruptcy.

● This is just the tip of the iceberg. A company called SunPower got a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the Obama administration, and as of January, the company owed more than it was worth. Brightsource got a $1.6 billion loan guarantee and posted a string of net losses totaling $177 million.

● And, of course, let's not forget Solyndra — the solar panel manufacturer that received $535 million in taxpayer-funded loan guarantees and went bankrupt, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

If Obama wants to attack Romney's alleged private equity failures as chief executive of Bain, he'd better be ready to defend his own massive public equity failures as chief executive of the United States."

Regarding the "stimulus":

According to the CBO, the stimulus has created 3.3 million jobs.

According to Recovery.gov, $755.9 billion dollars have been spent in the stimulus.

If we take these numbers at face value, that works out to about $235,212 per job.

If we just assume the money that was designated for "Contracts, Grants, Loans", then the number is around $70,575 per job (and, to make that assumption, we need to assume that $523.0 billion was essentially wasted).

No private corporation in the world creates jobs at that price tag. In fact, private corporations create jobs at an average cost of $44,389 (median wage, incl. benefits), 81% (or 37.1% with our other assumption) cheaper than the government did.

Even if we believe that the stimulus created this many jobs, can we really call such a price tag a success? Especially when the private sector can do it so much cheaper?

Amazing how the regular left wingers have skipped first read roday. Poor Ruken is doing his best to cover Obama's butt here today. Unfortunately, there are many citizens like myself that voted for Obama in '08 hoping he would bring this country together and now realize that he split us down lines of race and class like no other President I can recall. As for leadership, he couldn't even get one Democrat in the Senate to vote in support of his budget proposal. Obama is a one term President, as it should be. He has failed miserably.

slick mitt, "devastating to the american middle class" job numbers. this is rich coming from a corporate raider who dissolved jobs by the 10's of thousands. he couldn't create jobs as governor of massachusetts, yet, now, he's going to come in and save the middle class and create jobs for 49 more states besides?

i predict the world will end of romney gets elected. any guy who puts his dog on the roof of a car because he likes the breeze, has no business overseeing our defense decision making. seriously.

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) said his plan was to "divide and rule" in Wisconsin. He is forwarding the GOP/Koch strategy.

And he said that right on tape.

While the President has tried everything to get GOP congressionals to compromise and getg something done for the American people, all they have done is hold the government hostage to more tax cuts for the wealthy.

As well as hostage to unemployment benefits, while refusing to bring the 2 million jobs in the American Jobs Act up for DEBATE.

GOP demanded 60 votes, and refused even to DEBATE two million jobs for teachers, construction workers, and police.

That is what you call DIVISIVENESS.

Feathering their own nest, while cutting foodstamps (RyanRomney) and (Romney yesterday) talking about PRIVATIZING unemployment benefits for the vulnerable --- in a country recovering from a dire recession:

Is what you call DIVISIVENESS.

What you are doing -- misinforming and skewing the facts --- is what you call DIVISIVENESS.

reeblite, instead of trying to predict what Romney would do to this country, how about telling us what Obama has done for it? As an owner of a small business, I can tell you that my business and those employed by it are worse off now than we were when Obama became President.

Backhouse, Obama and his handlers have used the old divide and conquer playbook like pros. If your going to provide an analogy to support Obama, pick one that isn't so blatantly hypocritical.

This Administration has provided 18 different tax cuts for small businesses.

President Obama has to go around GOP congressionals to get anything done for ordinary Americans.

GOP only has the interests of the top income earners and big corporations on their list. GOP congressionals say they are interested in small businesses, but they have shown no interest at all.

GOP has consistently voted NO to any incentives that create jobs, over the last 3.5 years. GOP leaders are proud of it and have bragged about it to the Press.

Right now, the President is asking Congress to pass new tax breaks for small businesses to hire and expand.

Go on www.whitehouse.gov and look up the Small Business Administration. Karen Mills was appointed Director in the first week of President Obama's term.

No. You are just mouthing words or you are lying.

President Obama has tried relentlessly to get Congress to act and GOP to do something either than protect tax breaks for the wealthy. Everyone knows who has followed the GOP shenanigans, knows they want to control everything to serve their benefactors.

Btw - When did you last beat your neighbor?

How will you answer?

Go to a different news source and get some real facts.

It's amazing how many unintelligent and totally clueless Republicans chose to post today. And with every post they look even more unintelligent.

I love how one of you said, let's not talk about Mitt, let's discuss Obama. I don't blame you - you have NOTHING to talk about with Romney - no plans, no ideas, no platform - no nothing.

They know they have nothing to offer the country in Romney but instead of admitting the party is just totally lost, they continue to denigrate our very good President. What a pathetic group of right wingers. You prove more and more each day you are totally lacking in morals, judgement, intelligent and integrity. And, yes, there is no sanity to be found in the GOP. Just haters and small minded losers!

Obama/Biden 2012

Well you can read it for yourself in the latest SeekingSanity rendition, the truth about Obama hurts. Look it was the Democrats that failed this nation when you nominated Obama instead of someone that might actually have been up to the job of president. Duped by a catchy campaign slogan and the ability to read. But no amount of endless excuses can cover the fact that Obama has failed. The fact that liberals have yet to face up to reality comes as no surprise.

Seeking...

While labeling every living being on this planet who does not agree with you completely as "pathetic"...did you ever consider that there's not a lot of folks out there that would nominate you to be the ultimate authority on who is "intelligent" and who is not.

And by the way...there are a lot of voters who will vote the same way you will...and more who, if they can scrape up some kind of identification from and actually register...aren't exactly classified as the most "intelligent" people on the planet. In supporting your hero, Mr. Obama...be fully aware that there will barrels full of voters pulling the lever for the candidate you prefer, who are quite lucky to simply be pulling a lever instead of having to correctly write the man's name on a ballot.

Back...

So if we the people want 100% accurate information on exactly what is going on in this country, we should go to the "whitehouse.gov" website.

Now THAT'S funny !!!! I'm going to have to write that one down !

FYI Ladies, the obama white house pays women less than their male counterparts. There is a word in the muslim religion for lying to infidels and it is encouraged. Read obama's books--if the tide turns, he will side with islam. He lies to us everyday.

Try someone besides Faux Entertainment and Rush, for starters. They are in bed with the guys who will run you into the ******* ground, if elected.

Forget minimum wage, forget healthcare, forget Education, forget unemployment benefits, forget Medicaid, forget job training, for starters.

Because YOU AIN'T GOT THE MONEY (right?) AND THEY DON'T CARE.

.................................................

As for MAW Islam above, how are those undisclosed, unlimited foreign corporations that are pouring cash like tomorrow into the US Presidential elections going for ya?

Fisting Redhead...you get collapsed because of your racist comments (love the one where you talked about him and shining shoes). "Gosh", you would do better if you could suppress those thoughts.

Hey, how did you like this interview with Wild Bill (don't worry, you are safe..he likes them young, thin and attractive now)...looks like the rats see the water rising. Make sure you have your life vest on in November Fisty! Hats off to Corey and Patrick for having the guts to speak objectively. Your kool-aid is getting more diluted by the day.

From Politico today:

President Bill Clinton veered sharply off message Thursday, telling CNNthat Mitt Romney's business record at Bain Capital was "sterling."

"I don't think that we ought to get into the position where we say 'This is bad work. This is good work,'" Clinton said. "The man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold."

Clinton also went on to say that Romney's time at Bain Capital represented a "good business career."

The Obama campaign is in the third week of an all-out assault on Romney's time as a corporate buyout specialist — accusing the GOP nominee of bankrupting companies and laying off workers all while pocketing a profit for himself and investors. But the negative tenor of their attacks on an influential segment of Wall Street have made some Democrats uncomfortable. Clinton is the highest profile Obama surrogate so far to show discomfort with the attacks on Bain, with the former president even praising the company and Romney's record. Newark mayor Cory Booker and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick also both declined to press the attack against Bain.

You think the news was bad today? Elect Romney and we'll all be competing with the bears for a parcel to sh^t upon, where the woods used to be.

sfcret

Backhouse - Again nothing but a left wing talking point. Who cares about Romney's taxes from 15 years ago. Get a life, where does it say in any law, any directive or anywhere else that a candidate has to release their tax records. The only requirement is a federal financial disclosure, which Romney has submitted. I really don't care if any candidate submits their tax records, as it really doesn't mean a damn thing.

Who cares about Obama's college records or his birth certificate????

Guess you forget how many pro-Obama people are demanding all kinds of background from Romney, they demand EVERYTHING from Obama's opponent, from Obama...well, he gets a pass. Double standard of galactic proportions. But then, we are discussing Obama supporters, they are blinded by his light. Too bad they are incapable of facing facts, like how sh!tty the economy is, 20,000 people applying for 835 jobs is not a good thing, one can only hope that even Obama supporters understand that.

Freshieee,

I don't care about his BC or his college records. He is the President right now, so its not debate worthy anymore!!!

So I see you are picking fights again!!! LOL, thats the southern spirit, duke it out!!!

RP 2012

This is just a setup by the GOP TeaReTarded Baggers to get the Key's back to the White House !!!

They will destroy this Country for their 1% mega Rich greedy buddies !!!

Yeah, unlike wealth redistribution via the government. Nothing like taking from the producers to give to the welfare drones. Looked at Europe lately? Socialism in action. Guess you want that here. Ummm, so the teaparty is composed of rich people wanting to destroy the country. Hyperbole much?

If Obama wants to attack Romney's alleged private equity failures as chief executive of Bain, he'd better be ready to defend his own massive public equity failures as chief executive of the United States."

Regarding the "stimulus":

According to the CBO, the stimulus has created 3.3 million jobs.

According to Recovery.gov, $755.9 billion dollars have been spent in the stimulus.

If we take these numbers at face value, that works out to about $235,212 per job.

If we just assume the money that was designated for "Contracts, Grants, Loans", then the number is around $70,575 per job (and, to make that assumption, we need to assume that $523.0 billion was essentially wasted).

No private corporation in the world creates jobs at that price tag. In fact, private corporations create jobs at an average cost of $44,389 (median wage, incl. benefits), 81% (or 37.1% with our other assumption) cheaper than the government did.

Even if we believe that the stimulus created this many jobs, can we really call such a price tag a success? Especially when the private sector can do it so much cheaper?

Well, the problem with your argument is that first of all, the private sector couldn't have emulated the stimulus. Around the time it was put into effect, private investment was low due to the flagging state of the financial market. Since private investors couldn't foot such a massive project, the government had to step in and do it. Sure, it may have been a bit pricey, but it managed to lift our economy out of the recession and start 27 months of private sector job growth and several years of economic growth.

Secondly, not all of the stimulus was spending. Let's say that about 40% of the stimulus was in tax credits for the middle class and for small businesses, that would lead to only $472.2 billion being spent. Now, if you divide that by 3.3 million, you get a price tag of roughly $143,091 per job created. Now, that is still larger than what the private sector would produce, but compared to the fact that the private sector was stuck in the mud after the collapse of the financial market, it was a fair deal. Not to mention that that project lifted our economy out of the recession much like the New Deal and World War II did during the Great Depression.

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

Nothing like taking from the producers to give to the welfare drones.

Pretty well sums up one of the core beliefs of modern Conservatism...a belief in an aristocratic society which would be run by and for our "betters", with the rest of us grateful that they deem to give us jobs and allow us to bask in their greatness.

This devotion to the very wealthy is exactly the thing that has slowly starved the middle class for 30 years now, leading to the very weakness we now see in our fundamental economy. Conservatives are fond of saying "there aren't enough rich to support the entire government." Well, if that's the case how can there be enough to support an entire economy?

@backhouse. If you have specific info about Romney hiding money ,please provide, otherwise fire fire pants on fire. Obama has failed. I voted for him so it is very disappointing

@seekingsanity. You have it wrong .Obama needs to run on his record. It is not positive. He has failed to bring hope and change. I voted for him previously but now realize he has no experience to be the President. A community organizer and senator fora couple of years just does not givebhim the experience he needed. If he had more, maybe things would be different.

@backhouse. You are completely wrong about just about everything. And as to Walker, some one has to stop the outrageous benefits and pensions for public employees. Why should they get so much more than those of us who pay for it?

@JohnB. Ok so puzzle me this....why do I have to give up my hard earned money to people who never made an effort? I am not talking about people with illnesses or temporary issues. What about the people who are on welfare and food stamps for generations. What about the people who commit fraud. What about the people who get hover rounds at Medicare because they refuse to exercise? What about those that dropped out of high school? Those who drop babies every year without an established family? Those who use abortion a a birth control? Those who reuse to be responsible about their debts? I am tired of my money going to those who COULD help themselves. That would leave tons for those who really need our help.

GOP Scotus said " Corporation is People" The idea is to Screw-up the Middle Class to bears all the Private Corporation debt.

GOP BIGGEST 16 TRILLION SECRET THEY DON'T WANT TO REVEAL

The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows Bailouts..

Socialism in America at it's Best !

Citigroup: $2.5 trillion ($2,500,000,000,000)

Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)

Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)

Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)

Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion ($868,000,000,000)

Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)

Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)

Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)

JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)

Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)

UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)

Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)

Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)

Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)

BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)

and many many more including banks in Belgium of all places

View the 266-page GAO audit of the Federal Reserve(July 21st, 2011): http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation">http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation">http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation">http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-InvestigationHYPERLINKhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation">http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696">http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696">http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696">http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696HYPERLINKhttp://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696">http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696

FULL PDF on GAO server: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf">http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf">http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf">http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdfHYPERLINKhttp://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf">http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf

What are we doing here lulu, playing 20 questions? OK, my turn. What about people who legitimately need help. Why do we deny them help just because the odd person here and there figures out how to game the system. How do you know who "made an effort" and who didn't? Why don't we use fraud as an excuse to cut off corporate welfare, or to permanently bar defense contractors? How many people "use abortion as birth control"? What about businesses who routinely file bankruptcy as a business practice...like Donald Trump for example? I'm tired of my taxes going to corporate welfare, defense spending that's far more than necessary to keep us safe, and giving the vast majority and each and every "tax reform" to people who don't need more money while middle class incomes fall further and further behind.

Solyndra -- The symbol of failure.

.

Absolutely Joe!!!!! The left have been eating a lot of "Hilly" pie and loving it but now it's start to taste like sh#t.

It's amazing that so many people on the right are rooting for the failure of America in order to see one man have a bad day.

Actually, it's pretty sick. Oh well, this is the one group of a low class of people!

If Liberals Hated America we’d VOTE Republican.

Obama-Biden 2012!

No one on the right are "rooting for failure" genius ! If we were, we would vote for OBAMA !!!

We want our country to recover, to grow and to prosper and for manufacturing to revive within our borders. We want private enterprise to have real opportunity instead of being constantly choked by the ever-growing and sometimes ridiculous mandates of the EPA. We do not want the federal government controlling healthcare when the have proven irresponsible in facing the long-term issues of Medicare and Social Security.

Growing government is NOT the answer ! It is, however, Obama's philosophy as President !!

Job1

It's amazing that so many people on the right are rooting for the failure of America in order to see one man have a bad day.

Actually, it's pretty sick. Oh well, this is the one group of a low class of people!

Obama has bad days all by himself. He needs no help from external influences. His campaign is a complete train wreck. (See Clinton defending Romney and Axelrod shouted down, just yesterday)

So your answer to fix everything Is Romney. Wow, now that is the joke of the day.

God help you people!

God help all you moochers when the gravy train comes to a creeching halt.

Job1

It sure hasnt been Obama.

jim-

No one on the right are "rooting for failure" genius !

I disagree. Rush said it right after the election, and Republican leaders got together at inauguration to work on a plan. The Republicans in Congress said their NUMBER ONE PRIORITY was to make Obama a one-term President. And you can see from the gleeful posts above how many posters on here would be happy to see things get worse if it menat Obama would not be re-elected.

The economy sucks. No way to sugar-coat it, spin it or try to argue who is responsible. If someone came along with a new plan, a better way to make things better, I would be all for it. If a candidate was pushing to adop the Simpson-Boles plan, I would be in favor.

What I can never support is a Republican candidate whose grand plan to fix the economy is to return to the "tax-cut and spend", deregulate everything, failed policies of the Bush administration. If Romney is such a brilliant businessman, why is he surrounding himself with the same Washington insiders that advised GW Bush? Where are the bold new ideas?

Things may be bad, and I don't agree with everything Obama has done, but I can guarantee you I do not want a return to the economic death spiral of 2008. Anyone who wants to go back to the Bush years has selective amnesia.

John -

To call someone who disagrees with your political views a "moocher" is ridiculous. And if you think being on Welfare or Unemployment is a "gravy train" then you should go try it for awhile. It sucks.

Even you have to admit that the only ones in this country on a "gravy train" are those who under Republican polices have seen their effective tax rates shrink to historic lows while their wealth (both in real numbers and as a percentage of the nation's wealth) has grown to unprecedented levels.

Yet who are the ones complining the loudest? Those who have the most.

You mean back to the Bush years, the majority of which had an unemployment rate around 5% or lower? Yeah, who wants to go back to THAT?

Oh yeah, like the worst financial disaster that occurred in 2008. Let's see, who was President then?

I think President Bush - but who controlled Congress in leading us to that financial ruin - OH Yes, Democrats like Pelosi, Reid and Obama

When it was obvious from the start Obama would be a disaster, who in his right mind would want him to succeed in destroying this country!

The left wing nuts want it both ways, when Bush was President and the economy started to go down it was ALL BUSH'S FAULT, no blame for the worthless democrat congress that was in control during 2007 to 2011. Now Obama is President and it's THE REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED HOUSE that is at fault, not Obama or the do nothing Democrat controlled Senate.

I saw an interview with one of the founders of Home Depot, he indicated that Obama had no business sense, thinks he is the smartest one in the room, and was egotistical. Sounds about right to me.

TNSEVOL
John -

To call someone who disagrees with your political views a "moocher" is ridiculous. And if you think being on Welfare or Unemployment is a "gravy train" then you should go try it for awhile. It sucks.

Even you have to admit that the only ones in this country on a "gravy train" are those who under Republican polices have seen their effective tax rates shrink to historic lows while their wealth (both in real numbers and as a percentage of the nation's wealth) has grown to unprecedented levels.

Yet who are the ones complining the loudest? Those who have the most.

I said nothing about welfare or unemployment compensation, obvious stop gap social requirements. You did.

The moochers I'm concerned about are the federally generated education bubble sucking on the breast of college students with 15% inflating tuition. Obama wants to double down on stupid.

I'm concerned about the crony capitalism and socialist planned economy of the Obama administration pissing away billions on phony baloney "green jobs". Again more doubling down.

I'm concerned that 50% of the adult population pays zero income taxes and I'm not talking about social security or medicare taxes. If you are not paying in then you are not paying your fair freaking share, as Obama calls it.

Maybe the President will try blaming Bain Capital for today's bad economic report.

Tnsevol - The right found out that they didn't need to try undermining obama. Obama and company did it quite well in 2009-2010. I still recall obama telling us how he and the democrats took a "shellacking" in the 2010 midterms. Hell, he even ignored both his debt reduction and job commisions by presenting his own. Heck if he couldn't understand what they were saying why should the American people let him have a second term? He didn't earn it.

sfcret, Home Depot has regularly given approximately 73% of donations to the GOP, and he is Bush's friend, so that interview is biased at best. Bush had total control of Congress from 2002-2007, coincidently when the housing bubble burst. Americans lost $12 trillion in investments, retirement and home values under Bush's lack of oversight and regulations. Unemployment was going up at the end of Bush's term, given the fact that almost 2 million lost jobs just in 2008 and CBO predicted in Dec of that year jobless rates going as high as 10% by the end of 2009. Add that to TWO unfunded wars and an unfunded medicare package. Add to that the WORLD market of unemployment being at least 3%-10% higher than even the U.S. To have all that going on at the same time and then saying this is President Obama's fault is fallacious and specious, since the GOP are want for nothing but the total collapse of America just to say 'I told you so,' and then put back in place the same policies that drove the U.S. to the brink of a depression under Bush, with Romney being dragged along by ex-Bush staff. smh

but who controlled Congress in leading us to that financial ruin - OH Yes, Democrats like Pelosi, Reid and Obama

Remind me again which Democratic changes were signed by President Bush to implode the economy...I can never remember that for some reason.

Tony, bet his FR minions would give a thumbs up on that! However if you listened to his recent attacks on bain and romney, he has already implied that bain capital was as much to blame for the 2007/2008 recession as bush2.

I wonder where the democrats went between 2001 and 2008?

Oh be careful. You know how republicans don't like facts.

jim-1455434

We want our country to recover, to grow and to prosper and for manufacturing to revive within our borders.

I believe everyone -- not just the right -- desires manufacturing jobs to return. Unfortunately, it's too late. I'm currently on business in India which (at least where I'm at) is experiencing full employment. Everyone who wants a job has one including many young children. I doubt you would like to be working here; despite full employment, the level of poverty is staggering.

The "holy-grail" for the Romney class is the elimination of the minimum wage.

Fantom dog...So frank and dodds had no influence on oversight commitees during this time? Bet they sure did after 2006.

Blame the bush2 administration for the recession if you want but the poor recovery is ALL obamas.

-----------------------------

Likewise JohnB for bush2 as well, without democrat support. It would be interesting to read where bush2 said this bill "will really wreck the economy". Even the right shut down bush2's attempt at doing away with SS.

Job1
Oh yeah, like the worst financial disaster that occurred in 2008. Let's see, who was President then?

What Republican legislation was signed by President Bush in 2008 that caused financial disaster?

Mike, while you are enjoying india lets not forget that minimum wages can also be implimented at the state level. Here in iowa the state requires a higher minimum wage than what the as FEDs mandate. This probably means that other states can do so as well.

As for manufacturing jobs ever coming back to the states, some will based on if productivity and increased quality can be had in the states vs overseas. But yes, the majority of manufacturing jobs will likely stay overseas as that is where the new and growing customer base will be.

"Republicans don't like facts"...yup...then I bet those rascally Republicans REALLY didn't "like" the facts about the nation's economy that hit the news today.

valhalla, and nhshellback..it's what bush didn't sign, his resignation. are you seriously going to stand up for that spoiled waspy rich kid and defend his legacy?

reeblite - Just looking for those facts. Guess you got nothing.

american-2051576

Mike, while you are enjoying india lets not forget that minimum wages can also be implimented at the state level. Here in iowa the state requires a higher minimum wage than what the as FEDs mandate. This probably means that other states can do so as well.

American, agreed... and, I find it hard to believe that when the Federal Government eliminates (or greatly reduces) the minimum wage many states will not follow suit. This will put pressure on other state to do the same.

As the unemployment rate increases -- which I feel is all but certain -- eliminating the minimum wage will be promoted as the solution. Each day I'm here I see first hand what a lack of government intervention looks like.

Mike in California-3140149
jim-1455434

We want our country to recover, to grow and to prosper and for manufacturing to revive within our borders.

The "holy-grail" for the Romney class is the elimination of the minimum wage.

Source? Do you have one shred of evidence to back that up?

Source? Do you have one shred of evidence to back that up?

http://www.infoplease.com/us/government/presidential-campaign-2012-mitt-romney-issues.html

There you go champ.

Nice job, Ruken.

Meanwhile I don't see anyone volunteering what the Democratic Congress did to poor, put-upon President Bush that caused the economy to collapse on his watch.

Job 1

The Utah Olympics were Bankrupt.

Romney came in with one condition. He couldn't remove a certain person from the Olympic management or the IOC would pull the plug on Arizona. Romney not only was able to work around that issue, but made the Olympics the most profitable in history.

Now, Our Country is headed toward bankruptcy. Romney to come in has one condition, he must meet. He must succeed with whatever congress is installed in 2012 because Congress is really the one that holds the purse strings.

The Biggest failure of the Bush administration was the "new tone" where he supported democrat bills, and gave things like "no child left behind" to be written be the democrats. The democrats thanked him by calling him the dumbest president, the worst president etc.

Romney is uniquely qualified for this job.

If you profess that a Norquist pledger is "uniquely qualified" then your post holds some truth DB.

How about it... Do you go on record here and now that you advocate we elect someone who has already made a solemn oath that he will put the desires of Norquist, the Kochs, & the 1% wealthy above the needs of this nation?

Norquist said his group plans to spend about $8 million in the campaign season preceding the Nov. 6 elections, highlighting candidates who have signed the pledge and those who have not.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has signed the pledge. So did nine of the 10 initial Republican presidential candidates.

Norquist's pledge, which started in 1986, has become Republican dogma for many federal or local party candidates.

Only six Republicans in the House of Representatives have not signed the pledge. Seven Republican senators have not signed.

© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

Choice is clear: Mantain a President who advocates for fairness, equity and the American people, even in the face of strangling obstructionism, or switch to a Norquist pledger.

Will be pretty simple for the voters this November!

Mitt the looter is out flip flopping his Chickens !!!!!!!!

Not as stupid

Really?

It was the wealthy that revolted against England and the farmers and small businessmen joined in.

In today's dollars George Washington still is the Riches president, even IF Romney wins in 2012.

Realistically, business people only hold 5% of the votes in the US. That means their opinion can be easily overruled by people who don't know a lick about business.

in 2000 and 2004 Business put most of their campaign dollars on Bush. In 2008, it was Obama. In 2012 the shift is toward Romney. This is because just like the country, the rich are split between Democrat, Republican and Independent. You have some like the Koch's and Norquist that are sold out to Republicans and others like Soros, the founders of Google, the GE Chairman (and many others) who are sold out to democrats.

Those signing the Norquist pledge already have a track record of what his pledge supports. They are meerly making tougher to cave on those issues.

John B.

Meanwhile I don't see anyone volunteering what the Democratic Congress did to poor, put-upon President Bush that caused the economy to collapse on his watch.

John B.

A president cannot change congressional laws. Congress has to do it. The president is not supposed to be responsible for Regulations - CONGRESS is Responsible. That is 101 US Constitution.

What Congressional law caused all the problems? Finance Reform in 1999 aka Graham-Leachy-Billings. Yes, popular with democrats that it blew away Glas-Steagall de-regulating banking. Actually the only part of Glas-Steagall removed was the part Separating Finance, Insurance, Banking, and Investment sevice to individual companies. Granted this made Super finance companies that brought about the myth of companies being too big to fail, but, that was it. What failed in the mortgage business was an everyday occurance being corrupted. Grouping mortgages into blocks and selling them as a safe security has been normal occurance for decades. No regulation was ever written to cover this activity and the GLB act did nothing in this area.

What happened was the CRA strengthening. Although Congress was controlled at the time by Republicans, they had passed different versions of Finance Reform and did not agree on how to resolve the differences. On the last day, the democrats offered every vote they needed to pass one of the reforms provided an already failed strenghtening of the CRA Bill was attached. The Stupid Republicans agreed.

What the CRA did was give the federal reserve more teeth to force loans per federal terms (lower than what banks like to use) to be given to people who really could not afford them or just didn't have any reliable record of ability or practice to pay the loans back. Just for the appearance (some dreamed up) or accusation of a financial institution discriminating, any federal agency could investigate any accused financial institute. Instead of just being an assistant to new people desiring to own a home, it became a battering ram that banks who then "creatively" qualified people for loans they did not deserve. There are plenty of ex mortgage executives and owners who will tell you this, if you would only listen, you would learn.

Bush asked the Republican and Democratic held Congresses 20 times that the growing number of defaults needed investigated including following where the new loans were coming from and going to. CONGRESS DID NOTHING! At least the Republicans had bills in congress to expand regulators authority, all shouted down by Democrats and Rino's. Why didn't we hear more complaints from regulators after 2003. Well, when hi ranking members in congress threaten regulators with being investigated by congress, they kind of shut up, don't they. There were plenty of You Tube videos on this for some time.

Congress was never going to act until there is a collapse. The same was true for the crash in 1929. Every finacial person with a brain new that market was overvalued, but none were willing to act because the profits were sooooooo gooooood! Besides acting on the issue would probably kill the profitability.

The same was true of Mortages. Politicians love to look like they are helping those who need help. Poor people are glad to vote for someone who will give them something, and psuedo humanitarians who think we should give things away are plenty glad to vote for a politician who supports such policies.

You get the government and the economy you deserve, not the one you want.

Ruken
Source? Do you have one shred of evidence to back that up?

http://www.infoplease.com/us/government/presidential-campaign-2012-mitt-romney-issues.html

There you go champ.

That is a lie. Not one shred of truth. I found dozens of links to stories about his endorsement of automatic hikes in minimum wages tied to inflation.

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his support Wednesday for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position sharply at odds with traditional GOP business allies, conservatives and the party's senior lawmakers.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/02/1061033/-Romney-supports-automatic-increases-in-minimum-wage-tied-to-inflation-exploding-winger-heads

Those signing the Norquist pledge already have a track record of what his pledge supports. They are meerly making tougher to cave on those issues

Come on DB;

Let us spell out the truth instead of RNC/TEA spin.

Those taking the vow promise to put the interests of Norquist, Rove, the Kochs, the 1% wealthy, etc. ahead of the interests of the United States of America and her citizens.

Plain and simple.

And remember that Willard already said he has no concern for the poor in this country; obviously this is why. He signed the Norquist pledge and has no concern for the working poor...

Still think he will be President? America had better pray he isn't. Better yet, American citizens had better show up at the polls in November and insure that he isn't, and that the Kochs and Rove and their ilk don't buy the White House!

So YOU are advocating a pledger should become President?

Really?

REALLY????

What Congressional law caused all the problems? Finance Reform in 1999 aka Graham-Leachy-Billings.

So the Democratic Congress elected in 2006 MADE NO CHANGES TO BRING DOWN THE ECONOMY. It was actually a failure of the deregulation championed by Republicans Phil Gramm, Jim Leach, and Tom Bliley.

Thanks for pointing out that the deregulatory ideology of Conservatives is the root cause of our economic problems.

Good morning Jody,

Another wonderful wrap-up for the week.

Thanks

Ahhh Jody!

You have NO idea how much you were missed last week!

*STANDING O*

I see Snookie-Joe has left a steaming pile on your porch again! lol

What's ironic, is you write about a wide array of politicians, poor Snooks demonstrates her limited little world & can only spew her usual hateful rhetoric about her President!

Not even close when it comes to quality!

Well said No Joe! I will on the edge of my seat today waiting for Art "uh uh uh" Carney to explain why we added only 69000 jobs and the unemployment rate creeped up.

Nice job, no joe. Adds some balance to the twisted garbage Jody is so fond of spewing.

Great job Jody, the quality of your work is excellent as always. Thank you for your hard work and time invested in this weekly wrap up, it shows.

Have a great weekend!

Jody -- Terrific wrap-up as always! Hope you don't mind, I'm adding this from an article on FR this morning:

Romney also said he wanted to partially privatize unemployment benefits. “I think it would be a much better system to have folks have a personal account, if you will, where they’d build up over time an unemployment account. They’re able to draw from that, perhaps as being matched by the government, they’d draw from that.” He added, “So they’d have an incentive to get back to work. At the same time, they have the resources they need during difficult times of unemployment.”

Thanks, it was nice to take the week off.

Fantastic wrap up, Jody--thanks for all the hard work.

I see No Joe is still afraid to post her odd version on its own. I guess she figures she wouldn't get an audience if she didn't hang on to you.

We may have to make Mitt Romney ineligible for the Chitspa award----so unfair to the other deserving candidates and I expect Mitt will demonstrate his "chitspa" on a daily basis until the election. Shame on the media for not calling him out on his lies.

Jody, well done! Really missed your cryptic words last week, I can tell you.

It is incredible what GOP/Koch expects to get away with. Like, knocking thousands of Americans citizens off the voter rolls. And brushing us off like FLIES.

Their big vision for the future of America is ...What Constitution? Their Big Plan is to re-write the Constitution for the corporations - foreign and domestic - that are trying like hell to buy up the United States Presidential election and our government.

Cryptic is right. From the mouths of morons...

Wow Jody, a couple of dozen MSNBC Talking points on what Romney did last week.

A whole week and Obama didn't do anything?

Guess that about sums up the Left.

Nice shutting down Noe Joe's response.

Liberal my ass.

David Maraniss has a new book out about Obama. That book documents Obama's drug use as a young man, drug use that was EXTENSIVE by any reasonable standard. Maraniss is on staff at the WaPo, but the WaPo chose to run the story about Obama's drug use in a short piece on page six. Yet a few weeks ago, they ran a 5000 word front page piece about the teenage Romney's involvement in an alleged bullying incident.

Question: what is the editorial standard that elevates the Romney episode to major front page news while burying a story about the president's drug use inside the paper?

Answer: it's the standard that shows obvious favortism to the political candidate of their liking.

Extra Credit Question: what is the difference between those editorial standards and Jody's weekly synopsis of the "news"?

Answer: There is no difference.

Jody and the WaPo, two peas in a biased left wing pod. Who knew?

Gee, WCA, somebody steal your cheerios this morning--oh, I did, that's why you're so ticked off. If you don't like what I post, then don't read it. That goes for you, too, Bill Fairfax. Incidentally, it seems obvious to me that my posting the absurdity that the GOP and Romney have become really bugs you--too bad, so sad.

Gee, WCA, somebody steal your cheerios this morning

Sorry that was me. I got sick of eating Damage123's dogs.

That's the best you can do, Jody? At a loss for words? Pleasant change.

Bill -- Go smoke a joint. It might clear your mind but I doubt it.

Jody dearest, nothing you say "bugs" me. Because nothing you say can be taken seriously by anyone outside this LWNJ echo chamber. Have a nice day.

I just re-read Jody's wrap-up, trying to find any Democratic "talking points" in it, which would account for the Republican posters here insulting her, but all I found were facts.

Romney does object to government subsidies for green technology, although he is fine with oil and gas subsidies, and no doubt, (when he is in Iowa,) the government subsidizing corn.

Romney did embrace Donald Trump, even as Trump is most associated with the claim that President Obama was not born in Hawaii.

Everything Jody wrote in her wrap-up is a fact, if Republicans object to it, perhaps what they are really saying is they regret choosing Mitt Romney as their nominee.

At a time when this nation was desperate for a leader, we got duped by Obama. The Obama campaign slogan of yes we can is now the excuse laden why we couldn't. Obama has done nothing but shred this country through division, partisanship, hatred, and blame. We have amassed a staggering 6 trillion in debt under Obama, all in just one term. If Obama had a record to run on, he would. The once great nation has endured more then enough of Obama.

Wow. If some of you don't like what Jody has to say. Don't read it! You DO know how to scroll past it, don't you?!

If you feel the need to post rebuttals, start your own thread. Or can you not do that either?

The way you complain, Jody must have hit a few sore spots.

Rick, fortunately for this great nation, we do not all think like you. Otherwise we would have had McCain and Palin at the head of government for the past four years. There's a scary thought.

The state of our economy is a "scary thought".

Wrong fielden, it was the Democrats that laid the egg the last election. After all the Democrats could have nominated someone worthy of being president. Instead you gave us Obama, and it has been more then just scary, it has been a nightmare.

fielden, I don't believe they could have done any worse than Obama has. A scary thought is seeing Obama get another 4 years as President. Hopefully, if Obama gets reelected, the voters will at least elect a Republican controlled Congress.

I too went back and double checked Jody's post. In fact I googled several parts of it and they all came back as "no reference found".

No Jo had a great response but for some strange reason it got collapsed.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK NO JO. DON'T LET THESE LIBERAL HYPOCRITES DISCOURAGE YOU.

Jody - as usual a great wrap up. I see njnb tried her best to follow your post but, as usual, stupidity is all she's got.

We really missed your intelligence last week! As you can see from the posters on this site - the little right wingers hate being outdone - week after week!

Obama/Biden 2012

fielden

Wow. If some of you don't like what Jody has to say. Don't read it! You DO know how to scroll past it, don't you?!

If you feel the need to post rebuttals, start your own thread. Or can you not do that either?

The way you complain, Jody must have hit a few sore spots.

Someone DID post a rebuttal but you hypocrites collapsed it. If Jody hit a few sore spots then NO JO apparently completely discredited Jody.

Oh SeekingSanity what a delightful sumation, and me without my harmonica to be able to lead you all in a hand holding round of Kumbaya. Actually a hand holding round of Kumbaya might be what this country needs after enduring the past 3.5 years of hatred, division, partisanship, and blame from Obama.

Seeking...

"Outdone" by what ??? A bunch of folks who have a tough time coming up with a reason to re-elect the greatest president of all time, finest human being, most intelligent man ever born, and someone who should simply be proclaimed "King".

The greatest reasons why Mr. Obama should be re-elected ??? Simple...Bain Capital, George Bush, repukes, repuglicans, Faux News, Glen Beck, teabagging teabaggers, Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, "little right wingers", the Supreme Court stealing two elections, ehhhhh...do I need to say any more.

And let's never forget that when he was a teenager, Mr. Romney helped bully a classmate.

All those reasons are almost as important as the fact that since Mr. Obama was elected "the seas began to rise and the Earth began to heal"...just as the man himself told us it would. And all this happened while those rotten Reublicans had one goal in their sites...completely wrecking the American economy.

All this is absolutely "fact" ...at least as reported by the visionaries on this website.

Thanks so much Jody. While it's good to be reminded of how much I've forgotten during the week, as well as getting new information, what keeps coming up again, and again, and again is that Republicans seem incapable of experiencing shame.

While I think Romney's proposed solutions are little more than snake oil, there really are people who think they work. Maybe even Romney. However, when you have built a candidacy on one lie after another, people who have alternative points of view are not going to listen. You earn credibility and Romney has destroyed his own.

Couple that with the fact that he doesn't have the balls to denounce a vacuous liar like Donald Trump and you have a candidate who is a national embarrassment. That he has supporters has to rank with mysteries like magic golden tablets, salamander interpreters, and super spectacles.

David...

The biggest mystery to me is how folks like you endlessly proclaim that Mr. Romney is completely unqualified to serve as President, while also stating that Mr. Obama was completely qualified for the same job. He wasn't...and it shows. Sorry if some people notice this.

But folks like you and seeking and backofthe bus have done a good job of avoiding the topic in the lead story, which reported that the American economy took a crap in it's pants last month. Nice job on that !

@David Walker #4.32: I would add to your last line. Fools do not have to understand the particulars of foolishness to love and nurture it. A good weekend to you. Regards

tony, That was a great and humorous post @ 4.31 !

It doesn't matter how badly Obama screws thing up, they will still be licking his boots ... even when he "steps in it" as he frequently does. Obama is financially incompetent, does not understand the need for a budget but wants to raise taxes, distribute the wealth and grow government at every opportunity !

tony lotsanumbers:

When I read a post such as yours, I can't be sure whether you are engaging in satire, deflection, or you're just plain stupid.

What I wrote was that Romney is a liar, frankly, the most blatant in all my years of watching politics. What you have written comes straight from the echo chamber inside your head. As far as I can recall, I have not addressed the qualifications of either man at any time.

Lying tony, lying! When you look at a man and KNOW that he is a proven liar, that it seems to be his fallback position, that's more than enough to keep him from getting my vote. Romney is a liar.

AP - May 31, 2012
WASHINGTON • The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a five-week high, evidence that the job market remains sluggish.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first three months of the year, slower than first estimated.

The Labor Department said today that weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased for the first time in a month to 374,000.

Dang the bad luck :(

David...

And I'm sure Mr. Obama is the most honest man you've ever seen in your life.

Yeah...I'm just plain "stupid" David...thanks for the reminder. I must have just slipped and fell into everything I own and have accomplished in my life, since you're so certain that I'm a blithering idiot. You should join the Seeking Sanity club and get the word "pathetic" in there too.

By the way, your hero Mr. Obama is a fairly accomplished liar in his own right and he surely has provided far more examples than anyone could possibly compare with anything Mitt Romney has said.

And please...don't ask me for the ridiculous "links"...I'm far too stupid to be able to find any.

Backhouse, yes we know the recession started under Bush (after 7 years of incredibly low unemployment and job growth), the problem is how miserable and ineffective Obama's big govt policies have been in response to it.

You forgot to mention that the Bureau of Labor Stats shows that we still have less jobs today than when Obama took office: total non-farm employment today 133.009 million. In January 2009, 133.561 million.

The economy under President Obama has made 0 net progress on jobs.

You forgot to mention that the Bureau of Labor Statistics illustrates how dismal Obama's recovery record from the peak of unemployment is in comparison to Ronald Reagan's, who faced higher unemployment in his first 2 years:

Drop in Unemployment under Reagan: from 10.8% Dec 1982 to 7.4% May 1984, a drop of 3.4% in 17 months.

Drop in Unemployment under Obama: from 10.0% Oct 2009 to 8.2% May 2012, a drop of only 1.8% in 32 months.

About half the drop in unemployment in about twice the time. Pathetic.

A repost from NJNBNJ:

Here is what else happened last week-

Obama's "ignorance and incompetence" were on display at a Medal of Honor ceremony. First, he claimed to have stolen "yes, we can" from the Honorary Chair of the Democratic Socialists, Dolores Huerta,

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/29/obama_honors_socialist_leader_at_wh_says_he_stole_her_yes_we_can_slogan.html

Then, he insulted the Poles by referring to "Polish Death Camps",

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-obama-misspoke-polish-death-camp-medal-freedom-ceremony-white-house-article-1.1086465

Add this to the list of ignorant, incompetent international insults perpetrated by the man who supposedly is the "smartest guy in the room"- not the least of which was not knowing that, when giving a toast in the U.K., when one says "to the Queen", the toast is over. He compounded that faux pas by speaking THROUGH the British national anthem, then compounded THAT by claiming he thought the band was playing background music for his speech.

The man is an oaf. I suppose that explains the lack of coverage of the Iran nuclear talks. The only thing substantive to come from that exercise so far is that our negotiators were reminded that Iran could hit any or all of our Middle East bases any time they chose. Funny how no one in the press thought that was newsworthy.

Evidence that Obama is quite the fabulist was on display again, as twice in the last week he referred to his " sons". You may not like the commentary in the link below, but one of the first links in it is to YouTube video of Obama talking about his "sons"-and his daughters,

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/obamas_sons_they_are_real_for_him.html

Providing more proof that members of the Obama cult live in an alternate reality, Jay Carney insists that Obama is, indeed, quite the responsible steward of the economy

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/30/carney_obama_has_strong_case_of_responsible_stewardship_of_our_budget_and_our_fiscal_issues.html

This gets more bizarre every day. Hey, Jay? When you get some writer to spin things around, and that article is greeted by universal guffaws- it's time to let it die. Reminding people of it daily is not, exactly, the best way to proceed. It makes you look, well, stoopid. With three o's.

It is unfortunate that administration flunkies operate within the echo chamber of the White House press corps. They might actually appear less delusional if they were ever forced to actually give a coherent defense of some of their failed policies

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/30/obama_deputy_campaign_manager_solyndra_a_strategic_investment.html

Hey, Chuck? You'd have been doing her a favor if you had reminded her that there is ample evidence that this did NOT go through regular channels, that the law itself was changed to protect the interests of George Kaiser, who, in fact, is a big dollar Obama donor. When you let them spew nonsense unchallenged, they wind up in situations like this

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/29/carney_attempts_to_tell_difference_between_bain_and_obamas_green_energy_program.html

The negative press the Labor Department received for removing hundreds of thousands of people from the Civilian Labor Force in order to drop the unemployment rate seems to have had an impact- this month, they actually discovered that over four hundred thousand had decided that getting a job was a necessary evil. Since the economy only added 69,000 jobs, unemployment ticked up to 8.2%. It's actually over 11%, but at least they slowed down the chicanery for a month. See, guys- there really is the "power of the press"- and it can be used to force the truth sometimes.

In other, related, news, Democrats and the media are running around in circles trying desperately to figure out how it can possibly be that Obama and Romney are tied in the polls. Telling people all that spending did not happen did not work. Telling people it's Bush's fault does not work. (hint, guys: Obama was hired to FIX it, not keep blaming as an excuse for not fixing things.). So, you wind up with this

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76843.html

Ah, of course! It's the "negativity"! No. It's not. It's the stupidity.

See, most people have heard of Staples and Sports Authority. And most people have, as children, run lemonade stands. That means most people have a better understanding of the economy than does, oh, say, Obama- who seems to have just learned this lesson, and does not like it one little bit. Yes, businesses exist for the sake of making profit. If they do, they can expand, and hire more people. It's a simple, fundamental fact of a capitalist economy. The fact that Obama has only lately come to this knowledge, and denounces it as "unfair", is all the explanation you need for why he has failed.

Having someone with such a complete lack of understanding of the economy at the helm during these times is an invitation to economic disaster, and that is exactly what we face

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/30/investing/world-markets/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

I learned, last year, during an EU conference, that this day was coming-in fact, I posted on this last April. When Spain was threatened with being closed off from bond markets- which is what a seven per cent rate on bonds effectuates- and it was stated that not only was Spain not too big to fail, neither was the United States, it was time to get real. Obama seems incapable of understanding what "real" means in these circumstances.

It means cutting spending, reforming entitlements, and putting someone who understands how things work in charge of the country. In fact, it means

Obama shelved in 2012.

Now that we know Romney was a looter, now we find out he's a Anchor baby - What's next with this Flip Flop ???

It's a good day to be a real American. Let's face it, while it's always good to be an American it isn't always a good day for America. Yesterday was, for a variety of reasons that sent me to bed with a big smile last night, one that continues this morning.

For starters, a federal appeals court, in a decision written by an appointee of President George W Bush agreed that the Obama Administration was correct. DOMA is unconstitutional. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/us/appeals-court-rules-against-federal-marriage-act.html

Meanwhile the Department of Justice was busy proving that both parties AREN'T the same. While Florida Republicans have been determining that your ineligibility to vote is at least partly indicated by a name that ends in a vowel the Obama Administration DOJ believes otherwise. They're right about that as well. Conservatives will be on the attack against radical Marxist groups like the League of Women Voters on this. That only shows that their concept of what's both radical and Marxist is deeply warped. http://brennan.3cdn.net/27b7dc85758f8a5fdd_a1m6b5aiy.pdf

Of course the last time the Governor of Florida was working a large-scale voter suppression scam one of the tactics used by the Right was the famous Brooks Brothers Riot http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brooks_Brothers_riot In which Republican congressional staffers and others with Conservative ties were bused in to simulate outrage at the concept that electoral workers might try very hard to make sure the outcome is accurate and legitimate. Yesterday the Romney campaign demonstrated their own faith in thuggish behavior as a political tool with similar behavior. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/05/31/supporters-of-obama-romney-clash-at-axelrod-appearance-in-boston/

David Axelrod's view of the moment was accurate enough there's no reason to say more. “You can shout down speakers my friends, but it’s hard to Etch-a-Sketch the truth away.”

As in so many of the travesties popping up in American politics ALEC was one of the primary drivers. http://alecexposed.org/w/images/d/d9/7G16-VOTER_ID_ACT_Exposed.pdf That's why another important piece of news to note is that WalMart has joined the lengthening list of companies to leave that corrupt organization. http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-walmart-alec-20120531,0,4387473.story

Yes indeed, it was a good day for America.

Since this Justice Dept. has shown total incompetence -- can't even get a conviction on John Edwards -- don't tout the DOMA decision because it's going to the SCOTUS and the letter to FL means nothing since the JD is totally incompetent. And David Axelrod -- it was a great day because where he was yesterday and what he was trying to say was not a wise political strategy. This administration is becoming unhinged.

John B, great points.

John, love it, thanks.

1. Mr. Phony-Balony Governor Rick Scott has pledged to double-down on voter purging in Florida even though - if they got their threat letters in time before - folks are disproving the claims that they are not citizens. A top election official got a letter throwing her off the rolls on the grounds she is a felon -- she is not. She said she still has not had a reply back from the geniuses send the letters out.
2. The orginal 182,000 names were gleaned from old motor vehicle licensing records. Maybe the new round will be copied from graffiti in the public bathrooms at Disney Land.

As for #5.2, where the Justice Dept is accused of doing their job:

I will never forget Paul Ryan running down the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on the air at the health care roundtable, because he coudn't get his finaigled numbers to agree with theirs.

The above was enlarged for some reason...cool... and why not?

Imaginative interpretation, John B. You're a real talent. Starting to look like a phyrric victory, though. People appear to be waking up after 4 years of lethargy. Even Slick Willy is sitting up and looking around.

SCREW OBAMA 2012

Imaginative? Did I imagine this comment right into the minds of judges who were appointed by Ronald Reagan and GW Bush?

The statute and rule impose a harsh and

impractical 48-hour deadline for an organization to deliver applications to a voterregistration

office and effectively prohibit an organization from mailing