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Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
President Barack Obama greets supporters Friday during a campaign event at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, N.H.
President Barack Obama traveled to Portsmouth, N.H., looking to maintain the momentum from his Thursday night Democratic convention address despite a disappointing jobs report released Friday morning.
Trying not to put too much of a damper on the event – his first since his convention prime-time acceptance speech -- the president sought to put a positive light on the jobs report, which showed a lower-than-expected 96,000 jobs created in August and an 8.1 percent unemployment rate.
“Today we learned that after losing around 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, business once again added jobs for the 30th month in a row,” he told the 6,000-person crowd at the Strawbery Banke Museum.
“But that's not good enough,” he continued. “We need to create more jobs faster. We need to fill the hole left by this recession faster. We need to come out of this crisis stronger than when we went in.”
He spent much of the rest of his speech hitting similar notes as he did Thursday night – explaining in broad, aspirational language his goals for a second term, including adding a million jobs over the next four years; cutting oil imports in half by 2020; improving access to education and overhauling the tax code.
He also, as he did Thursday night, ridiculed Republicans for what he said was a plan that relied solely on tax cuts for the wealthy intended to encourage economic growth among lower-income people.
“All they've got to offer is the same prescriptions that they've had for the last 30 years: tax cuts, tax cuts, gut some regulations -- oh, and more tax cuts,” he said. “Tax cuts when times are good, tax cuts when times are bad, tax cuts to help you lose a few extra pounds -- (laughter) – tax cuts to improve your love life -- I -- it'll cure anything, according to them,” he joked.
It was a similar line to one he used Thursday night, when he also characterized Republicans as depending on tax cuts as a cure-all.
“Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call me in the morning,” he joked at the Time Warner Cable arena in Charlotte, N.C., at the convention.
On the flight from Charlotte to Portsmouth, White House senior adviser David Plouffe downplayed any sort of positive effect the convention would have on the president’s standing in the polls.
“We come out of the convention with momentum. That doesn't mean the race is going to change significantly. But we think that we come out of here with some momentum in terms of putting together the electoral picture,” he told reporters traveling on the president’s plane.
Obama went on to Iowa City, Iowa, where he was to address students at the University of Iowa. He will then travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., where on Saturday he will kick off a two-day bus tour.
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Unemployment over 8% for 43 months.
Gas $4 a gallon.
43 million on food stamps.
Housing still in the tank.
GM going bankrupt again.
With the abject across the board failure that his administration is Barry has to spin everything.
Actually its 48,000,000 on food stamps...a US record...Obama gotta go!
Unfortunately many people are getting used to be handed out their food and essentials from the government and they're turning this amazing system in to a socialist piece of @!$%#.
Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE
Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE
Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE Obama= FAILURE
No matter how you add it up, he is not QUALIFIED for Community Organizer, and he failed at that. VOTE FOR QUALIFICATIONS IN 2012, INSTEAD OF COLOR.
COLOR FAILED US MISERABLY THE LAST 4 YEARS!
ROMNEY-RYAN 2012 To rebuild our country!!!
...i guess the one bright spot in the job picture is that obama has a job! remember the old saying, 'it's a recession when your neighbor loses his job, it's a depression when you lose yours!'
Why doesn't he ask his buddy Clinton why HE gave away all the jobs. While he's at it, why doesn't he ask Spunky Bill why he closed all the domestic military bases and then, less than a year after he left office, we had 9/11 because there was no protection for NYC?
Not good news, even the "main stream news" can't hide this.... almost 400,000 people QUIT LOOKING FOR A JOB.... 8.3% to 8.1% is BOGUS NUMBER! WE NEED EXACTLY WHAT OBAMA WANTED IN 2008! A CHANGE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? YOU OBAMA ZOMBIES ARE TERRIBLE! These are human beings (AMERICANS) who are NOT "racists" "sexist" (misogynistic) "anti-poor" "anti-immigration" people! They are the ones (as well as their CHILDREN) who are being hurt the MOST! Quit listening to the infectious hate being fed by our current administration.. we are slowly dying as a nation because we are being divided! Look at the FACTS! Our country is worse off than it was 4 years ago! and its not getting better!
386,000 people..or 386,000 neighbors..or 386,000 friends..or 386,000 family members...or 386,000 loved ones....or 386,000 strangers? yes...386,000 AMERICANS...that's the #... 386,000 human beings left the United States work force during the month of August....yes 96,000 people found a job, that's GREAT! But 386,000 people have given up looking for work so that means we don't count them as an unemployment #...thus 8.3% to 8.1% drop in unemployment (a false improvement)... that's not a drop in unemployment the United States of America was looking for...please stop the HATE, and look to the "change" we really need.....Obama knows this, but he doesn't tell you the truth...please wake up....learn the TRUTH..
Just trying to get the message out, it's not a message I like at all...believe me, I wish things had worked out the last 4 years....but I do know more than 1 of the 23,000,000 that definetly shouldn't be unemployed right now...its a tough reality..The very scary trend growing now is what I call the "living in my parent's basement syndrome" that is creating a generation of young Americans feeling that its "ok" to be dependent on the government and ultimately creates a welfare state...Not good!
Young adults drop out of the job market, By Chris Isidore, September 7, 2012, CNNMoney: “The drop in the unemployment rate in August isn’t particularly good news for the economy — it’s driven mostly by nearly 400,000 people dropping out of the labor force, rather than more people finding jobs. But those dropping out aren’t so much the discouraged 30-, 40- or 50-year olds. In fact, the Labor Department said there was a modest decline in the overall number of discouraged job seekers. The drop is because so many young adults, aged 16 to 24, are no longer looking for work.
But the biggest surprise to some is the trend being seen today..in June 2010 (we warned that 700,000 Are About To Lose Their Extended Jobless Claims Benefits), a massive 135K people fell off the Extended and EUC claims as the 99 week cliff hits more and more. Recall that late May 2012 105K dropped of extended claims. This means that in the first 2 weeks of June 2012 alone 240,000 people no longer collect the last possible form government unemployment benefits, the most in a two week period since December 2010!.
WAKE UP PEOPLE, THIS MEANS THAT WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF A "DOUBLE DIP RECESSION" & AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF NOW UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS WILL NOT BE GETTING A CHECK IN THE BEGINNING OF 2013!!! THUS WILL BE OFFICIALLY IN POVERTY!!! HOW CONVENIENT HUH? RIGHT AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION!!!!! OBAMA PLANS GOVERNMENT DEPENDENCY, CREATES THE WELFARE STATE....THEN MAKES "FALSE PROMISES" IN ORDER TO GET YOUR VOTE!!!!!! HE DID IT IN 2008, AND NOW HE'S DOING IT 2012!! MY GOD HIS PATHETIC PANDERING SPEECHES WERE PRACTICALLY THE SAME!!!
History Lesson on Your Social Security Card Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn't know this.
It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what's what and it doesn't matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts.
Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and
card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the message, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION, was removed.
An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message.
Our Social Security
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social
Security (FICA) Program. He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be
Completely voluntary,
No longer Voluntary
2.) That the participants would only have to pay
1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program,
Now 7.65% on the first $90,000
3.) That the money the participants elected to put
into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year,
No longer tax deductible
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent 'Trust Fund'rather than into the
general operating fund, and therefore, would
only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other
Government program, and,
Under Johnson the money was moved to
The General Fund and Spent
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.
Under Clinton & Gore
Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed
Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are
now receiving a Social Security check every month --
and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of
the money we paid to the Federal government to 'put
away' -- you may be interested in the following:
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the
independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the
general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically
controlled House and Senate.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax
deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social
Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the
'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the
Senate, while he was Vice President of the US
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Q: Which Political Party decided to start
giving annuity payments to immigrants?
AND MY FAVORITE:
A: That's right!
Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party.
Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65,
began to receive Social Security payments! The
Democratic Party gave these payments to them,
even though they never paid a dime into it!
------------ -- ------------ --------- ----- ------------ --------- ---------
Then, after violating the original contract (FICA),
the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!
And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!