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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the latest round of employment data what it means for the presidential race.
Edited by NBC's James Rankin
VIDEO: First Read Minute: Economic stagnation, and Congress, we salute you!
Explore related topics: barack-obama, video, featured, decision-2012, mitt-romney, first-read-minute
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Typical Libbys, can't take any kind of responsibility for anything.
Face it, Obama is a FAILURE. He has FAILED as a leader since he couldn't bring people together. He only knows how to divide people and pit them against each other. Real leaders find common ground and build on that.
Obama is such an amateur he is like a little kid that if they don't get their way they just spoil it for everyone. Well he is spoiling this country now.
Stop blaming everyone else and be a man for a change. Take some responsibility.
red: Are you saying Congress is not responsible for anything? You know the Congress that has to create and pass bills so a president can sign. You know Congress who has to create a budget for the president to sign.
You sound like you would perfer a dicatorship where the president can do whatever, whenever he wants and be responsible for everything.
The President hasn't failed. He said it would take work and the numbers are slowly improving and we are gaining back everything lost under the previous administration. Question for you RedSox, how is your little presumptive nominee going to back up his claim of creating 12 million jobs in 4 years??? Does he have a plan for that? His cutting of taxes for his buddies is going to magically open some JOB door? Would love to see some actual information on that. That's right ... that's what he said TODAY ... next week ... who knows maybe it will be 25 million and everybody gets a new car to boot!
They sure weren't in 2008 when the economy collapsed. The Left still blames Bush while both houses of Congress had Democrats in the majority.
Or do you just like to pick and choose things when you're trying to make a point?
June 2012 unemployment - 8.2%
July 2012 unemployment - 8.3% (or 8.254% if you use the White House numbers)
Explain the improvement.
Do you???? 163,000 new jobs were added which was a LOT better than the forecast of 95,000. That might be a wee bit difficult for you, so I've given you a little link as well. It has graphs and everything to make it easy ...
http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/03/news/economy/jobs-report-unemployment/index.htm
Obama -- according to sources -- has started paying off economists to underestimate the forecasts to make him look better.
I heard a great description of Obama today: He is a man in a dark room looking for the light switch to leadership.
What sources Ben?
Layton-3733410
Question for you Layton: What happen to the promise that our President made on what the unemployment figure would be by the end of his reign? What happened to that magical 6% that he promised? Is 8.3% the new norm?
We gave President Obama a chance to make good on his promises, and all we got was 3,000 pages of Health care where only 4 things make some sense.
I'm voting to give someone else a chance this November and that person is Romney. You on the other hand will vote for Obama because you are a liberal and you only vote for Liberals. How many people do you know that have lost there jobs?
I on the other hand voted for Obama in 2008 and will vote for Romney 2012 because Obama did not delivered.
Layton -- Glad you asked. Since the bar was set to the lowest level possible a few days ago by the worst Senate leader in history -- Harry Reid -- it's not up to me to provide the sources. Suffice it to say I received a phone call from an anonymous source in the White House. I believe the ball is in Obama's court to prove the accusation false.
So you won't explain the "improvement".
You see Layton, it's like this. Coming up with the employment numbers is an inexact science. The margin of error for any one data point, say a month, is quite large, especially when you take the time to understand how the government comes up with their numbers. But as you collect more data points, you start to see the bigger picture. The numbers over time start to tell the story. Unemployment has been extremely high for a long period of time. The number of people out of work, who have stopped looking for work, is on a constant growth curve. The number of people on government assistance is also on a constant growth curve.
So again. Explain the "improvement". And, while you're at it, do you think the private sector is doing just fine?
Concern there you go claiming you live in everyone's head
No wonder you'd prefer to live in someone else's as there's a lot of empty space rolling around in yours.
JoAnna, I gave you a link and now CNN is wrong because you say so????
Why don't you two little girls tell me all about your candidate's oh so agressive 250,000 jobs a month plan and how he's going to sustain that for 48 months in a row????
And Ben . . . looks like you listened to sweet little Ann Coulter this morning. Wasn't funny then and it certainly has no bite coming from you.
LOL to anyone that doesn't know that the economy is in the sh!tter. Be real guys, I'm hoping that someone somewhere can get this economy going!
8.3% unemployment, plus the 10 or so that have lost eligibility, where are the jobs?? A booming economy can really hide alot of government faults, just sayin.....
I'm just trying to educate you Layton. If you prefer to remain ignorant, that's your prerogative.
Did you know CNN's Ali Valskhi, their lead economic anchor, has a degree not in economics, or business, but he does have a degree in religious studies. Don't you find that odd, that here is a man that tries to explain economics to CNN viewers on a daily basis, but he doesn't have a clue about what he's talking about?
Kind of like you.
JoAnnaSmith1
Let's compare presidents:
June 2008 (Bush) - 198,000 jobs lost
July 2008 (Bush) - 210,000 jobs lost
June 2012 (Obama) - 64,000 jobs gained
July 2012 (Obama)- 163,000 jobs gained
so JAS1, does that explain improvement?
BTW, while government jobs were growing under President Bush (which affected his unemployment #'s in a positive way), the gov. jobs under President Obama have been decreasing (which affect his unemployment #'s in negative way).
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth
let's take it further:
Jan of 2009 (Bush) - 818,000 jobs lost while Jan of 2012 (Obama) - 275,000 jobs gained.
Holy crap, JAS1, how do you explain that!
Hey JAS1 ... I don't need an education from the likes of people who post garbage like this ...
I need to wash my hands after copying that disgusting post of yours.
Layton-3733410
we are both arguing with a person who claims that President Obama is anti-rich because he wants to end Bush tax cuts - the very tax cuts that we've had for 11 years now; the very tax cuts that failed MISERABLY at creating jobs. Bush tax cuts are a failed experiment that needs to be ended but the Republicans want to hold on to them at any price. Romney's proposal is even worse - while he and couple of his friends will benefit from the Romney tax cuts, the rest of us will dish out $2000 a year more so that Ann Romney can get another dancing horse.
Layton-3733410
It's not even worth it to discuss this post with her. 1st, she compared child abuse - the sickest thing in the world - to Harry Reid's accusation that Romney has paid no taxes in the past. There is something wrong with someone usung that analogy. 2nd, the fact that Romney has $20,000,000+ in an IRA account that should have no more than $65,000 is not a red flag for her?
I would never vote for Romney - I didn't vote for him when he was running for Governor of Mass. The guy gave me the creeps then and he is much worse now.
Thanks, bayllie! Have a great weekend!
Layton-3733410
you as well!
Concerned citizen - the study you are refercing can be found at http / /otrans.3cdn.net/ee40602f9a7d8172b8_ozm6bt5oi.pdf.
One of the key things to look at here is the date of the study, January 2009. The Stimulus package being discussed in the study is NOT the package that was finally passed, nor was it used by the states in the manner in which the idea was presented.
Specifically, several states to include Texas and Virginia, used the stimulus money to balance their own budget rather than drop it into infrastructure projects and get the job multiplier effect.
Check it out for yourself - http ://www recovery.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Bay, Its $102,000,000 in a personal IRA, how did he do that, he's not telling. Tax Returns please. JoA, tell the people that got those 163,000 jobs that they shouldn't have them because its a no never mind stats.
Ignorant fox howler.
Obama 2012
Unemployment rose.
That is sucky, especially after all that money spent in "Stimulus"
How desperate Obama has become.
Obama 2012 - "I will, in my next first one hundred days in office, sign an EO that says we shall not round up"
At least that national nightmare will finally come to an end.
spankster If the "Stimulus" never happened. You would have blamed the President for not doing anything. Its easy to be a armchair quaterback only to complain.
Smitty - the typical right wingers would complain if everyone had jobs and the economy was golden. They LOVE to complain - it's all they have. They have no lives and no conscious. They are dismal failures in every aspect of their lives.
Obama/Biden 2012
Speaking of 'taking responsibility'......
The Tea People, in Congress, should be proud, crowing about how they followed McConnell's instructions "Top Priority is to make President Obama a one term President"!
TeaPeople, Obstruction is thy name, the US Economy will just have to be collateral damage! Be Proud!
Continue on with naming post offices (that you want to close), voting over and over to repeal the ACA, and of course voting over and over to restrict, outlaw a womans right to choose!
Way to go 112th Congress.......Be Proud as you go on yet another vacation until sometime in September!
Be sure to take responsibility for the stagnant economy!.....Yeah!
SeekingSanity So true indeed.
OBAMA-BIDEN 2012
Anybody who thinks that the private sector is doing fine ... that businesses didn't build their businesses.... that threatens tax hikes everyday (how can business plan) ... that is less friendly to American business than communist countries .... has a community organizer's understanding of economics ... has in short - no clue and no chance to improve the economy. Obama has proved it for 3 1/2 years.
When you have only one house of government , there is only so much you can do.
Stagnation ... stopping things from getting worse .... stopping greater debt will have to do until we can get rid of this ridiculous idiot in chief.
Clever post, bob####,
Ya managed to get in all the talking points....'community organizer', 'communist countries', and of course your untimate display of disrespectful name calling of The President of the United States!
You should go for using more talking points, laced with lies and name calling......maybe you can set a record!
Where have you been Bob for the past 8 years? Blame the people who started this. Bush and his tea party Republicans who control the House[s]- [there are 2 houses Bob] go back to school for a history course.
deweslefty,
The Tea Party did not exist 8 years ago. So now who would you like to blame?
chilled -
Community oganizer is not a slam as much as an accurate and legitimate description of his experience, knowledge base and talent.
Is there any evidence he posseses anything more than a community organizers understanding of economics.
What talent does he posses above community organizer ... the talent to emotionally effect the victimized by society, to marginalize the opposition to, to divide the sides ...
Communist countries is accurate.
China is much friendlier to American business than Obama.
Where is a lie in my comment?
Disrespect for Obama?
You got me there ... he deserves no respect due to disdain for the Constitution, his contempt for the will of the people, his disregard for law ....
Whaz-a-matter ... can't handle the truth?
bob####
Graduate of the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies, are you?...Because in the TeaPeople world, you use community organizer as derisive.
You are on this blog, so evidently you seek belonging to a 'community' which is organized. Perhaps you even belong to something locally like homeowers organization, parent teacher organizations, religious organizations and of course GOP/TP, NRA, etc.......so.
I will leave you without addressing your other silliness...but ask that you just think about your lies of omission.
Have a good evening.
chilled
I think I need to tell you also because your misinformed like other liberal posters here. The dumbest post does not get a prize. Generally its job1 who wants to win that but the dribble you posted above is rich in manure.
What "chilled" said @2.4, 2.7 and 2.11.
Obama/Biden 2012
So That whole "Stimulus" thing-y was kinda like the whole shovel ready deal, eh?
Gosh, I can't wait to hear O's next super great idea on economic issues.
Why it's almost like the guy never had an actual job in the private sector. Thank got the private sector is 'doing just fine.'
Of course at a certain point you have made enough money.
BUt at least we have all these great roads and bridges for the hard workers and smart people. Of course there are plenty of people who are smart, and who work hard. ANd of course they did not build the roads.
Hey, maybe that's why the unemployment rate keeps going up?
On a side note, the results are in. The loser in the debate about Chick-Fil-A...?
THE CHICKENS!
Too bad the electoral college on ALL websites has President Obama leading double digits. How is Mitt going to overcome that??? Win all the battleground states without losing any other states.....ya right...and I am going to win the lottery!
Rather than investing in America, and creating jobs, corporations are spending billions on attack ads, claiming Obama isn't creating jobs (?) - clearly, they're paying to keep the tax rate for the wealthiest low - they've already squeezed bank and auto bailouts from the President, now peserving their Bush tax cuts is their top priority.
We don't need a new President. We need new American business "leaders." (Hopefully ones that aren't scum.)
What "corporations" might that be who are spending billions? Are these good corporations?
You mean like the head of Obama's Job Council (the one he never meets with) GE CEO Mr. Jeffrey Immelt? Mr Immelt has recently eliminated about 25,000 jobs in this country and created more than that in foreign countries. Big Obama supporter too. That the scum you want to get rid of Amy? Or how about the Chik-Fil-A CEO, he employs thousands, offers $1,000 college scholarships to many of his employees and has awarded more than $30 million in total scholarships. Seems we need more Chick-Fil-A types, right Amy?
I think what Amy is saying is that we need corporate leaders more inclined to pay decent wages and hire permanent workers as opposed to milking the last drop of blood out of the minimum wage temp associates. Because that's what some of those heroic "job creators" do - milk them 'till they cry - in all Christian Charity. As for the Chik-Fil-A CEO, he can let the Lord run his business if he wants. But he better stick to the South if he wants to discriminate against gay people in the hiring process. Because in all Christian Charity, he will be deservedly sued out of business if he comes with his ignorant theological crap in those "more secular" areas where they assume the grease cooks the french fries without the Lord's help.
Here's a little cold reality for the Teabaggers. The BEST economic year under the 8 years of George Bush was 2005. His administration created a little over two million jobs that year - slightly under 200,000 jobs per month. That was his BEST year. He had three years in which the economy LOST jobs. That was the magic created by all those tax cuts - COMBINED WITH TWO WARS IN FULL BLOOM!! Over the last thirty months, the Obama Administration has been very close to the BEST year of job creation under Bush. And, of course, never forget the bikini curve. If the Democratic operatives have brains, the bikini curve will be aired on commercials in the Fall.
At 4% plus unemployment what jobs needed to be created? You libs kill me. You compare a great economic time when jobs were plentiful and those not working had no intention of it, to the present where we lost millions of jobs and supposedly have brought back 4.5 million. Apples and oranges. If the participation rate (those looking for work for you liberals) was the same today as it was on inauguration day for Obama, The unemployment rate would be at 11% today.
Talk:
Corporate profits are quite good now. Without more public investment and aid to housing and highway construction, the private sector is NOT going to create more jobs just because taxes are lowered more. We already have THE LOWEST INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAXES AND THE LOWEST CAPITAL GAINS TAXES IN YOUR LIFETIME. And Obama has offered to cut corporate taxes. And Obama has promulgated less regulation than Bush. Republicans just don't like banking regulation - even after the collapse. And they don't like environmental regulation - even when the environment has never appeared more fragile (in damn near collapse).
And another thing, just because some economist from the Heritage Foundation tells you that steps A, B, and C will get you a four percent unemployment rate doesn't really mean that you can trumpet such a formula as guaranteed success. Most of what the GOP is trumpeting now has been tried before. And with the exception of the last five years under Reagan, the GOP economic model has been abysmal when it comes to job creation. The only 4% unemployment rates the GOP knows about are the unemployment rates LBJ and Clinton handed them before they --CKED it up.
RED SOX is a LUNATIC, this person is on HALLUCINOGENICS. Or bad MEDS of BRAINWASH.
A ZIG HEIST right wing radical !!!
Good come back Alain! Recess is over when the bell rings.
What the hell does it matter to you ignorant conservatives??? Rummey the Two-Faced Dummy will never be President of anything! Get over it!!!!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 MOVING AMERICA FOREWARD!!!
One of the problems with listening to Wall Street and the business community is that the qualities most admired by these people is the ability to cheat. There was a time when business gave back to the country. There was a time when they felt some sense of responsibility to their employees. There was a time when an honest day's work was rewarded with a living wage. Today, the financial markets want to be free to gamble with your money, defraud you by touting crap investments as a "wise retirement strategy" and run out and asset strip viable businesses so they can destroy the business and put money in their pockets. (This was a classic Bain strategy.) Then they either outsource the business and the jobs or just shut everything down and run away with the money they've stolen. But they can be trusted to self-regulate? Yeah, the same way a child molester can be trusted to self-regulate while supervising children. These people are intrinsically dishonest. They lie, cheat, steal, rob and destroy the US economy with impugnity, and they don't even see anything wrong with it!!
Once, an executive would have been ashamed of such behavior. Now they brag about it. Does Jamie Dimon look embarassed or ashamed, or just self-satisfied? These are the people we think should be running the country "like a business"? What business is that? Exploitation and outsourcing? When Romney was Governor of Massachusetts he laid off state workers and shipped their jobs to China. What kind of patriotism is that? What kind of state leader is that? What kind of human being is that?
The Republican Congress has done everything in their power to make sure Obama could do nothing positive for the economy while doing their best to roll the clock back to 1910. They want to create a society where only good, born-again Christians will have their opinions respected. They want to disenfranchise the atheists, the muslims, and any other religion or non-religion that does not match up with their belief system. They want to practice Christian charity by eliminating welfare and food stamps and medical care for the poor. They want to force their belief system on everyone, regardless of the belief system of those individuals. They want to pass laws against Sharia law while requiring all of us to live under "christian" law. They want to give carte blanche to the banks and financial institutions that created the economic disaster under Bush. I guess because they want a repeat of the crash so they can achieve a full-blown depression. Keep on using the failed policies of George Bush and expect a different result? Why would we get a different result? Two minus two equals zero no matter how many times you do the math. Trickle down doesn't work. The "job creators" are not creating any jobs. They are outsourcing them to China. This is the Republican Congress's achievement. They have done nothing except spout hateful rhetoric and block every constructive piece of legislation they possible could. We need another Republican Congress the way a rape victim needs a vaginal probe. Get rid of them. So long as the Tea Party is in charge, they will never accomplish one single constructive act or piece of legislation. All they know how to do is hate and obstruct. Get rid of them.
So the GOP are in control not Obama?That is what I have been saying. He is not a leader. The GOP is. If they have been in charge the last three years, then Obama is week and ineffective just as you have said. Why let him be out smarted for four more years? The merciful thing to do is end his misery and let those smart people you say have actually been running the country be in charge. Apparently the only things that work are the things the GOP lets work. What confuses me is how they do it, what with the GOP being so dumb and near collapse as they are described in these blogs. And not identifying with the mainstream of Americans. Dems must be nearly retarded and living in holes to so politically out smarted all the time.
If you claim he is a leader how is it he is not responsible for anything that goes wrong? To read these blogs I'd have to believe that Bush is still more influential than Obama. So powerless and so victimized, let the poor man go back to organizing dinners and house paintings. Good speaker when the prompter is up, but really week on leadership skills.
The Doctor Patient Medical Association has released a new survey of about 700 doctors, and the results are bleak. Scary bleak. Among other dismal figures, Doctors' Attitudes on the Future of Medicine: What’s Wrong, Who’s to Blame, and What Will Fix It found that 83% of respondents are contemplating leaving the industry if Obamacare is fully implemented, owing to its disastrous projected consequences. Indeed, they openly blame the healthcare law for their industry's woes:
If this isn't an airtight argument for the repeal of Obamacare, nothing is. When the people providing the actual healthcare are thinking of getting out of the game, the system is clearly broken. Here's hoping the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare this month.
Here we go again with blaming congress for the budget issue. They are a near useless bunch but, all other presidents knew how the system worked. The White house proposes a budget not congress. It is supposed to be an outline of how an administration intends to use OUR money. Congress approves or disapproves the budget based on the people they represent which gives US a voice in the system. Only this, would be King has taken the attitude that he is above our petty part in the process. He has failed every year to propose a budget. Instead telling congress, this is how much you will give, and I don't have to answer to the people. Oh and if I don't get it I will shut down the government. He is a like an angry child throwing a tantrum. That is NOT a leader, it is an elitist.
Sane; I beg to differ. Obama has given an outline and proposal every year. Congress is the one who has argued, changed and added or deleted things and chosen partisanship over governing. You can't blame Obama for failed leadership when republicans have publicly stated that they are out to finish him. Clinton and Regan had Congresses that actually worked together, compromised, and put America first, not party. I don't believe Obama stated he would shut the country down, I believe that was the house of representatives who wouldn't make the deal with Obama; left Boehner with egg on his face.
The headline should read, "Economic Stagnation Due To Economic Uncertainty".
The FACT is that Obama has been a miserable FAILURE at repairing the economy, and no matter how HIS Liberal Media tries to spin it... it's NOT Getting Better!
It's become quite obvious to rational VOTERS that Barrak has No Clue how to fix it either.
That is why , without a doubt , he will be defeated by a landslide in November.
It's about the ECONOMY Stupid! We sent a "community organizer to do a CEO's job... NEVER AGAIN!
NOBAMA2012.... the End of an ERROR!
I beleive in God and the words of GOD in the Bible. On another post a Tea Party person thought they had to cherry pick the words there to make thier point.my only comment on this is may God have mercy on them.If one has to use the word of God, please use the full context.
Are you better off than four years ago?
Four years ago I had to get up early five or six days every week and to work eight to twelve hours on a job I hated for people I don't like. My house was worth less than my mortgage balance. I had homeowner insurance and property taxes to pay. My health care insurance was more than I could affort and was inadequate. After paying for the necessities and making payments on my debts I was always deeper in the hole than the month before. Then I lost my job. My house was foreclosed, and I finally went into bankruptcy.
Now I sleep as long as I want to every day. I don't have any monthly debt payments, I pay for my food with an EBT card, my house is smaller but my Section Eight covers the rent and utilities, no more medical bills--Medicaid takes care of it. So, yes, I am better off than four years ago, and I will vote for politicians who promise to keep me happy.