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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Benny B on February 16, 2010, 10:15:07 PM
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(http://www.barackobama.com/images/issues/economy/jobs_graph_large_feb10.gif)
One year in, the evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.
* According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009
* As a result, job losses are a fraction of what they were a year ago, before the Recovery Act began
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
* Cut taxes for 95 percent of working families through the Making Work Pay tax credit
* Cut taxes for small businesses
* Provided loans to over 42,000 small businesses
* Funded over 12,500 transportation construction projects nationwide, ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects
* Made multi-billion dollar investments in innovation, science and technology that are laying the foundation for our 21st century economy
* Provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls, including help to prevent cuts to Medicaid and creating or saving over 300,000 education jobs
Economists on the left and the right have stated that the Recovery Act has helped avert an even worse economic disaster.
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(http://www.barackobama.com/images/issues/economy/jobs_graph_large_feb10.gif)
One year in, the evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.
* According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009
* As a result, job losses are a fraction of what they were a year ago, before the Recovery Act began
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
* Cut taxes for 95 percent of working families through the Making Work Pay tax credit
* Cut taxes for small businesses
* Provided loans to over 42,000 small businesses
* Funded over 12,500 transportation construction projects nationwide, ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects
* Made multi-billion dollar investments in innovation, science and technology that are laying the foundation for our 21st century economy
* Provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls, including help to prevent cuts to Medicaid and creating or saving over 300,000 education jobs
Economists on the left and the right have stated that the Recovery Act has helped avert an even worse economic disaster.
Too bad my kid has to help pay back the $10 trillion this assclown created in less than one year in office.
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Too bad my kid has to help pay back the $10 trillion this assclown created in less than one year in office.
Tell your lazy ass kid to GET A JOB, and he'll be okay Coach. He's going to need money to make up for the debt BUSH created with a war paid for "off the books" and irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy that your little crumb-snatcher will have to deal with too.
Your son would have to deal with a lot more if Obama's great stimulus bill were not there and we now have 25% unemployment.
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Tell your lazy ass kid to GET A JOB, and he'll be okay Coach. He's going to need money to make up for the debt BUSH created with a war paid for "off the books" and irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy that your little crumb-snatcher will have to deal with too.
Your son would have to deal with a lot more if Obama's great stimulus bill were not there and we now have 25% unemployment.
he's 12 you fucking leftist wingnut, and will you QUIT BLAMING BUSH you bi-polar, blame everyone but themselves and take NO responsibility for what is going on. Why in the f**k do you think Dems are starting to distance themselves from Obama by not seeking re-elections? No doubt Bush spent, but damn, Obama's spending makes Bush look like a fucking penny pincher. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!
And no, I'd be willing to bet anything if it was just left alone to begin with it would have never got this high. IT'S A CYCLE....PERIOD!!
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he's 12 you fucking leftist wingnut, and will you QUIT BLAMING BUSH you bi-polar, blame everyone but themselves and take NO responsibility for what is going on. Why in the f**k do you think Dems are starting to distance themselves from Obama by not seeking re-elections? No doubt Bush spent, but damn, Obama's spending makes Bush look like a fucking penny pincher. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!
And no, I'd be willing to bet anything if it was just left alone to begin with it would have never got this high. IT'S A CYCLE....PERIOD!!
MELTDOWN
So if we just left Bush's policies in affect longer, things would have just worked themselves out??? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Re-read the chart above and get back to me with something that makes sense, Coach. You're a pretty stupid guy, but I have faith in you to have a burst of mediocrity that will allow you to see the positive trend that the Recovery Act is providing.
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anytime congress has to pump 1.8 trillion dollars off the printing press is not economic growth, if anything it shows lack of economic growth, if the recovery bill would have indeed worked they wouldnt have had to print that money ! and if its working so well how come economists have shown that by bammers third year he will have put us in more debt that g.b. sr clinton and g.b jr combined?? if you think that is working correct then i have some junk cars that i want to sell you for new car cost,
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(http://www.barackobama.com/images/issues/economy/jobs_graph_large_feb10.gif)
One year in, the evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.
* According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009
* As a result, job losses are a fraction of what they were a year ago, before the Recovery Act began
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
* Cut taxes for 95 percent of working families through the Making Work Pay tax credit
* Cut taxes for small businesses
* Provided loans to over 42,000 small businesses
* Funded over 12,500 transportation construction projects nationwide, ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects
* Made multi-billion dollar investments in innovation, science and technology that are laying the foundation for our 21st century economy
* Provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls, including help to prevent cuts to Medicaid and creating or saving over 300,000 education jobs
Economists on the left and the right have stated that the Recovery Act has helped avert an even worse economic disaster.
<<<after picking myself off the floor from hysterical laughter>>>
Ummm.....this stimulus was supposed to keep unemployment under 8%. It's over 10%.
Obama's approval ratings are plunging like a lead balloon, filled with bricks.
Democrats are quitting left and right, to avoid a Rodney-King-style beatdown in November.
The net is job LOSSES, Benny. Citing the creation of 2 million jobs, when you've LOST OVER 4 MILLION, means the stimulus AIN'T WORKING, point blank.
Even soon-to-be-former Senator Evan Bayh has mentioned the stimulus ineffectiveness.
MELTDOWN
So if we just left Bush's policies in affect longer, things would have just worked themselves out??? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Re-read the chart above and get back to me with something that makes sense, Coach. You're a pretty stupid guy, but I have faith in you to have a burst of mediocrity that will allow you to see the positive trend that the Recovery Act is providing.
I forgot exactly when unemployment went over 10% under President Bush.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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JME I agree, not only is your 12 year old son gonna pay but so is my 4 and half year old gonna pay..christ their kids will be paying for this cluster fuck, it was everyones fault, not just bush or obama. What about greedy banks, Insurance companies..so on..
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Creating Jobs
President Obama’s first priority in confronting the economic crisis is to put Americans back to work. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan signed by the President will spur job creation while making long-term investments in health care, education, energy, and infrastructure. Among other objectives, the recovery plan will increase production of alternative energy, modernize and weatherize buildings and homes, expand broadband technology across the country, and computerize the health care system. The recovery plan will save or create about 3.5 million jobs while investing in priorities that create sustainable economic growth for the future.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/economy/
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The government doesn't create wealth. Its really as simple as that, they are taking that money from the tax payers and giving it to other people. The government is essentially saying "we know how to spend your money better than you do!!!".
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The government doesn't create wealth. Its really as simple as that, they are taking that money from the tax payers and giving it to other people. The government is essentially saying "we know how to spend your money better than you do!!!".
Additionally, the only jobs they "saved" were state and local government "jobs" that probably should be eliminated anyway because these budgets are based on bubble level receipts that there is ZERO prospect of us returning to anytime soon whatsoever.
These local jobs are going to be lost anyway once the stim money runs out and the tax receipts still have not returned to bubble era levels.
Its pure lies, garbage, maniuplation, and propaganda for fools like Benny.
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Creating Jobs
President Obama’s first priority in confronting the economic crisis is to put Americans back to work. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan signed by the President will spur job creation while making long-term investments in health care, education, energy, and infrastructure. Among other objectives, the recovery plan will increase production of alternative energy, modernize and weatherize buildings and homes, expand broadband technology across the country, and computerize the health care system. The recovery plan will save or create about 3.5 million jobs while investing in priorities that create sustainable economic growth for the future.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/economy/
Well, the President and Vice-President better get improved PR campaign, because (according to this sample poll), only SIX (6) PERCENT of people interviewed believe this mess is actually working.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/6_believe_stimulus_created_jobs/ (http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/6_believe_stimulus_created_jobs/)
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Great points 333, also remember, most of these states had deficits before the economic crisis. As you pointed out those debts were based around the bubble level tax receipts. So, instead of reducing budgets to realistic proportions, the states used a crutch(the stim) to get by.
Its akin to a man who is an alchi. He goes to the doctor for help, and the doc gives him medicine to reduce his hangover. A lot of "us" just say quit drinking and you'll be fine.
This is exactly what the stim bill does. Instead of treating the actual problem, it only deals in treating symptoms.
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Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, with no jobs to show for it, and absolutely no way of our children and grandchildren ever paying it back.
Bush Deficit vs. Obama Deficit
(http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/wapoobamabudget1.jpg)
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Another Obama lie.THERE WERE NO TAX CUTS IN THIS BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!There was a one time tax credit.Tax rates remain the same ,and,in fact,if you want to cite a fact,Obama raised taxes on the poor and middle class by increasing tobacco taxes.This bill has created ZERO jobs.
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Great points 333, also remember, most of these states had deficits before the economic crisis. As you pointed out those debts were based around the bubble level tax receipts. So, instead of reducing budgets to realistic proportions, the states used a crutch(the stim) to get by.
Its akin to a man who is an alchi. He goes to the doctor for help, and the doc gives him medicine to reduce his hangover. A lot of "us" just say quit drinking and you'll be fine.
This is exactly what the stim bill does. Instead of treating the actual problem, it only deals in treating symptoms.
We have the same mess here in NYS and all the localities.
Only brain dead libs like Blacken and Benny dont understand the point I made above. The "Jobs" that were saved are the ones we need to lose since those "jobs" are a drain on the taxpayer and dont generate wealth of any measure whatsoever.
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Benny and Blacken - do you care to refute anything in this video?
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Where'd Benny go.....bahhahahahahaahah ahhaahahahaaha..idiot.
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benny, like Blacken plagerize and run to the DUmpster to find drivel they think sounds good.
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LOL love it so we saved or created 2.4 million jobs supposedly as we cant really put a definite number on it but lets just go with 2.4 million as thats the number benny and the libs use...how much did it cost us to create/save those jobs you ask...
over 800 billion dollars...
unless those jobs collectly create over 800 billion in revenue ITS A NET LOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Most of this trash is make work jobs at best, propping up bloated state budgets, etc.
It is a complete waste of money.
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Rush Limbaugh mentioned this on his show yesterday.
Isn't it funny that, just over one year ago, Dems were talking smack about how the GOP was growing irrelevant (as were guys like Benny and Blacken), that conservatism was dying out, that the Dems would be in power almost indefinitely, etc.
Now, it's the Dems, retiring left and right. Obama's approval ratings are plunging lower than Pam Anderson's necklines; and the liberals are taking the express route to the political woodshed this fall.
Part of the reason for this is the stimulus.
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Also,Biden and Obama can get out there and claim its created 2.5 million jobs but the NY TIMES had a poll that said 6% of Americans think the stimulous created jobs.6% in a NEW YOURK TIMES POLL.Id say that they are losing the battle over this lie by a landslide!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Also,Biden and Obama can get out there and claim its created 2.5 million jobs but the NY TIMES had a poll that said 6% of Americans think the stimulous created jobs.6% in a NEW YOURK TIMES POLL.Id say that they are losing the battle over this lie by a landslide!!!!!!!!!!!!
It didnt create a damn thing just like Evan Bayh said.
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Benny...Benny, whoa Benny..where are ya Benny?
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Benny...Benny, whoa Benny..where are ya Benny?
He ran off to Kos or the Dumpster to find some nonsense.
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Also,Biden and Obama can get out there and claim its created 2.5 million jobs but the NY TIMES had a poll that said 6% of Americans think the stimulous created jobs.6% in a NEW YOURK TIMES POLL.Id say that they are losing the battle over this lie by a landslide!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get this. There's a video from RealClearPolitics, which has Biden, talking that mess about how "The Stimulus is working".....in MICHIGAN, where unemployment is 14%.
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Get this. There's a video from RealClearPolitics, which has Biden, talking that mess about how "The Stimulus is working".....in MICHIGAN, where unemployment is 14%.
What else is he going to say at this point?
Of course there is going to be some benefit. Spending 800 billion has to get you something.
However, most of this money is plugging up local budgets that simply are not sustainable themselves.
Spending by Govt on all levels is simply out of control and therer are not enough taxpayers to fund all the promises, committments, and programs these hacks implement.
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The government has responsibility for sure but it's the American people who gorged on cheap money and figured things would only ever go up that are the true cause. No govt policy can stop greed and that's what happened. People got greedy they all wanted mansions and lenders were happy to oblige. I'm not saying lenders aren't to blame because their practices were shady at times, packaging the loans up as AAA investments was one of the most despicable things done considering they were not even investment grade in a lot of cases. The fed crashing rates post 9/11 and the whole 'home owner' push didn't help but at the end of the day it was the American people who did this to themselves. If the stimulus is what was needed to starve off 25-30% UE then so be it. The legacy of debt is better than a legacy of no jobs and no future. This isn't the depression America is not longer a producer at that time i believe the economy was 60-70% manufacturing (or something around that) now it's 60-70% consumer and barely 10-15% production.
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The government has responsibility for sure but it's the American people who gorged on cheap money and figured things would only ever go up that are the true cause. No govt policy can stop greed and that's what happened. People got greedy they all wanted mansions and lenders were happy to oblige. I'm not saying lenders aren't to blame because their practices were shady at times, packaging the loans up as AAA investments was one of the most despicable things done considering they were not even investment grade in a lot of cases. The fed crashing rates post 9/11 and the whole 'home owner' push didn't help but at the end of the day it was the American people who did this to themselves. If the stimulus is what was needed to starve off 25-30% UE then so be it. The legacy of debt is better than a legacy of no jobs and no future. This isn't the depression America is not longer a producer at that time i believe the economy was 60-70% manufacturing (or something around that) now it's 60-70% consumer and barely 10-15% production.
The stimulus DID NOT help unemployment one bit.This is a lie.This plan was a slush fund rewading government unions PERIOD.Plugs Biden can go out there and act like a tough guy gritting his teeth and say "its working,its working" over and over again.Its a lie as everything else this administration says.It didnt help create one job and many economists say if it hadnt been passed the economy would have been better off.
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Billy stop with the lies here. You should really not believe everything Fox news tells you.
Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html)
Oh wait that exert must be from a lib paper ::) and that congressional budget office well they are just full of liberals wanting Obama to do well so they're lying as well right? ::)
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<<<after picking myself off the floor from hysterical laughter>>>
Ummm.....this stimulus was supposed to keep unemployment under 8%. It's over 10%.
Obama's approval ratings are plunging like a lead balloon, filled with bricks.
Democrats are quitting left and right, to avoid a Rodney-King-style beatdown in November.
The net is job LOSSES, Benny. Citing the creation of 2 million jobs, when you've LOST OVER 4 MILLION, means the stimulus AIN'T WORKING, point blank.
Even soon-to-be-former Senator Evan Bayh has mentioned the stimulus ineffectiveness.
I forgot exactly when unemployment went over 10% under President Bush.
where do you get this shit....he is at 52% according to gallup...hyperbole anyone?
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where do you get this shit....he is at 52% according to gallup...hyperbole anyone?
According to RealClearPolitics, he's averaging just under 48%.
A year ago, his approval rating was in the mid-to-high 60s. Hyperbole? I don't think so.
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so 12% in a year = "plunging like a balloon full of bricks"?
He got his most lib shit out of the way and only los 12 points... that's a damn victory.
Plus, hw long as "real clear" been doing their polls? Gallup has been doing it for 30+ years, and the data from carter, reagan, bush1, and others is far more relevant than a new mathematical conglomerate of numbers using a formula they like. Being able to COMPARE is very useful - since clinton and i thik reagan were this low at this point after one year as well ;)
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240, What all lib stuff did he get out of the way? Healthcare failed, cap and trade didn't get passed, amnesty didn't get passed. The only thing he has is sotomayor and the stim bill.
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he didn't pass it all... but he sure shocked us all with it.
he made his mov, got 2 for 6, or whatever.
This year? it's all popular central moves. "let's go after the banks" and "more nuke energy!" and "more lollipops at the circus!"
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Do you think he will pursue cap and trade or amnesty this year?
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so 12% in a year = "plunging like a balloon full of bricks"?
He got his most lib shit out of the way and only los 12 points... that's a damn victory.
Plus, hw long as "real clear" been doing their polls? Gallup has been doing it for 30+ years, and the data from carter, reagan, bush1, and others is far more relevant than a new mathematical conglomerate of numbers using a formula they like. Being able to COMPARE is very useful - since clinton and i thik reagan were this low at this point after one year as well ;)
Are you drinking?
CRAP & TAX = FAIL
HEALTH CARE = FAIL
CARD CHECK = FAIL
KSM TRIAL IN NY = FAIL
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According to RealClearPolitics, he's averaging just under 48%.
A year ago, his approval rating was in the mid-to-high 60s. Hyperbole? I don't think so.
so who has more credibility. Them or gallup?. who is more Objective
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so who has more credibility. Them or gallup?. who is more Objective
Who gives a shit about the polls? The fact is that his agenda sucks. Its a NWO dream like KRS 1 said and he is a complete phoney.
The idiots who bought into the slick marketing scheme should be ashemed of themselves for falling for this garbage no different than a drunk chick at a bar for a slick talking sleaze back.
Mal you expecially, you should be praising God that the GOP stopped DeathCare.
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Billy stop with the lies here. You should really not believe everything Fox news tells you.
Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html)
Oh wait that exert must be from a lib paper ::) and that congressional budget office well they are just full of liberals wanting Obama to do well so they're lying as well right? ::)
So your saying spending one trillion dollars for 1.6 million jobs or 1.8 million jobs or 2.5 million jobs was a great idea.You also said without it UE would have been at 25%.Based on what.1.6-2 million jobs would not move the rate that much.This scheme "saved" union jobs in the government secor.When the money dries up so will all those jobs.Its a TOTAL waste of a trillion dollars.
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I am going to love the fact that the ERA of ZERO is going to lead to 20-30 years of no democrats ever again.
The failed stim bill alone shows that left wing economics never works.
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so who has more credibility. Them or gallup?. who is more Objective
RealClearPolitics includes a variety of polls, INCLUDING GALLUP!!
Or, did you guys forget that little part?
Making these kinds of excuses for Obama's plunging poll numbers is just comical.
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RealClearPolitics includes a variety of polls, INCLUDING GALLUP!!
Or, did you guys forget that little part?
Making these kinds of excuses for Obama's plunging poll numbers is just comical.
:-\ i didnt know...thats why i asked...what execuse did i make...i said your "sack of bricks" comparison was a bit strong and then asked about the poll you were referencing...woah..um ok.... ::)
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(http://www.barackobama.com/images/issues/economy/jobs_graph_large_feb10.gif)
One year in, the evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.
* According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009
* As a result, job losses are a fraction of what they were a year ago, before the Recovery Act began
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
* Cut taxes for 95 percent of working families through the Making Work Pay tax credit
* Cut taxes for small businesses
* Provided loans to over 42,000 small businesses
* Funded over 12,500 transportation construction projects nationwide, ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects
* Made multi-billion dollar investments in innovation, science and technology that are laying the foundation for our 21st century economy
* Provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls, including help to prevent cuts to Medicaid and creating or saving over 300,000 education jobs
Economists on the left and the right have stated that the Recovery Act has helped avert an even worse economic disaster.
You are kidding right? When Obama has to send this to his SUPPORTERS, it ain't good in da ol whitehouse... 3 more years and we are finished with this socialist nut
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You are kidding right? When Obama has to send this to his SUPPORTERS, it ain't good in da ol whitehouse... 3 more years and we are finished with this socialist nut
More like, if things go well, 11 more months. IF the GOP re-take the House and Senate, Obama will be basically hamstrung in his efforts.
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More like, if things go well, 11 more months. IF the GOP re-take the House and Senate, Obama will be basically hamstrung in his efforts.
i didnt know...thats why i asked...what execuse did i make...i said your "sack of bricks" comparison was a bit strong and then asked about the poll you were referencing...woah..um ok....
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i didnt know...thats why i asked...what execuse did i make...i said your "sack of bricks" comparison was a bit strong and then asked about the poll you were referencing...woah..um ok....
I wasn't necessarily responding to you alone, when I made that blurb about excuse-making.
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Great job numbers this week.Way to go Obama.Lets see,when did we really start losing jobs?Oh yes,it was in Nov. when Obama won the election.Companies knew what was coming and started to slash employees.In fact,it was actually in Oct.when everyone knew he was going to win.
Lets see,Bush had 54 consecutive weeks of rising job numbers and unemployment at about 4.7%,the democrats took control of the house and senate AND THATS WHEN everything fell apart.Coincidence?I think not.When did the economy really tank,the moment it became obvious that old blue mouth was going to win.Coicidence?I think not.
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Great job numbers this week.Way to go Obama.Lets see,when did we really start losing jobs?Oh yes,it was in Nov. when Obama won the election.Companies knew what was coming and started to slash employees.In fact,it was actually in Oct.when everyone knew he was going to win.
Lets see,Bush had 54 consecutive weeks of rising job numbers and unemployment at about 4.7%,the democrats took control of the house and senate AND THATS WHEN everything fell apart.Coincidence?I think not.When did the economy really tank,the moment it became obvious that old blue mouth was going to win.Coicidence?I think not.
Let's see Obama continue to talk that mess that the stimulus is actually working.
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Obama is right. It is working just as planned.
Bankrupt the private sector and save the government jobs that should be lost anyway.
Obama is a comnplete disgusting communist POFS.
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BUMP
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Bump
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Tell your lazy ass kid to GET A JOB, and he'll be okay Coach. He's going to need money to make up for the debt BUSH created with a war paid for "off the books" and irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy that your little crumb-snatcher will have to deal with too.
Your son would have to deal with a lot more if Obama's great stimulus bill were not there and we now have 25% unemployment.
Fail.
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Average Job Seeker Gives Up After 5 Months
The Wall Street Journal ^ | June 8, 2011 | June 8, 2011
Job seekers look for work.
Jobless Americans who dropped out of the work force typically searched for work for five months before ultimately giving up last year.
The amount of time the unemployed spent hunting for jobs rose sharply last year. Those out of work tended to search for about 20 weeks before quitting in 2010, compared to 8.5 weeks in 2007, according to a recent Labor Department report. The report studied how long unemployed workers took to either find a new job or quit looking.
Labor-force participation, the share of Americans who are working or looking for jobs, has fallen to its lowest percentage since the mid-1980s. That’s partly because people have grown discouraged about their ability to find jobs and have given up looking. With those workers on the sidelines, the unemployment rate has been lower than it otherwise would be.
The official unemployment rate hit 9.1% in May. Including all of those who had part-time jobs but wanted to work full-time as well as those who want to work but had given up searching, the rate was 15.8%.
While sidelined workers can keep the jobless rate lower, they weigh on the economy in other ways. The nation loses their output — from the goods or services they would provide in their jobs as well as the spending that would come from their paychecks. And, if they move onto programs such as Social Security disability, the government could end up supporting them for the rest of their lives.
Those lucky enough to finally land a job last year found they had to spend more time searching. Job seekers took a median of more than 10 weeks to find new positions last year. That’s up from five weeks in 2007 before the recession began.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
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The Stimulus Was…Too Small? Seriously?
John Podhoretz 06.08.2011 - 10:37 AM
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/06/08/the-stimulus-was-too-small-seriously
By now it is clear to everyone that the Obama administration bungled the 2009 stimulus package. The dispute now is over the reasons for its failure. The conventional wisdom is coalescing around a view crystallized in a column by Mr. Conventional Wisdom himself, Charlie Cook of the National Journal: “The administration’s initial response, the much-maligned economic-stimulus package, was far too modest and unfocused.”
Cook is a rational analyst, so it is striking that he is able to advance an argument that is, on its face, nothing short of demented. The idea that the 2009 stimulus, which cost $840 billion, could have been less “modest” and more “focused” does violence to the facts of very recent American history and to the arugments made for the stimulus by its advocates at the time.
Even at its “far too modest” size, the stimulus was, by leagues, the costliest such effort in American history. Its astounding price tag was justified during the debate over its passage by the fact that there was a genuine economic emergency that had to be addressed. And the mere fact of addressing it with enormous public resources was, we were told, enough to do the trick almost on its own. The central point of taking emergency measures, we were told, was precisely not to focus them but to cause them to wash over the economy as a whole.
How many times during that emergency were we reminded of the supposed wisdom of John Maynard Keynes, who wrote in 1930 that it was enough to employ a man to perform any task at hand to create the conditions for macroeconomic growth? Simply “to dig holes in the ground,” Keynes wrote, “paid for out of savings, will increase, not only employment, but the real national dividend of useful goods and services.” This is the famous “multiplier effect” we also heard so much about, according to which $1 in government spending would blossom into $3 of value for the entire economy. In effect, we were told by the most enthusiastic believers in the magic of the multiplier effect, that for $840 billion in spending, we’d get more than $2 trillion in economic activity.
It’s also important to remember that the stimulus wasn’t the first bite at the apple. It followed the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, itself a proposal of unprecedented size and scope, which was brought into being in September 2008. TARP’s managers did they thought was necessary to save the American and world economies from collapse, but the dishonesty in the execution—using the money for purposes other than the removal of the “troubled assets” for which the program was named—had created an unprecedented level of grassroots distrust of Washington’s economic policies, and not only within the GOP. Leftist populists like Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone made the most violent possible cases against the crony capitalism that seemed to be on display with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson favoring his own former firm, Goldman Sachs, above all others as the crisis progressed.
The point here is that in the reckoning of the public, $700 billion in taxpayer dollars had already been spent to right the economy. The notion that Congress could have passed a stimulus bill twice the size of the one that did—Paul Krugman’s idea—was then and is now preposterous. Obama’s stimulus was as large as it could possibly have been, and the parlous results indicate it was vastly larger than it should have been.
The growing consensus is that Obama’s economic policies have failed, and precisely in the ways that those skeptical of the stimulus predicted. The most expensive government intervention into the economy in this country’s history proved to have negligible macroeconomic impact. (UPDATE: A friend points out that if one adds together all the efforts taken by the administration to stimulate the economy directly, the number is not $840 billion but something like $2.1 trillion.) This fact should force supporters of the stimulus to acknowledge that the problem was not with the stimulus as it was implemented, but with the very idea of stimulus itself. And they just can’t.
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bump for comedic value.