On RNC call, Holtz-Eakin says ‘no one’ thinks ’stimulus has done nothing’ — but Steele does.
On RNC call, Holtz-Eakin says ‘no one’ thinks ’stimulus has done nothing’ — but Steele does.
Yesterday, the Republican National Committee featured former McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin on a conference call pushing back against positive takes on the new unemployment numbers. Though Holtz-Eakin said that the new data “cannot be considered good news,” he claimed that “no one would argue that the stimulus has done nothing.” But earlier this week, RNC Chairman Michael Steele said just that, before catching himself and saying that he meant it had done “very little”:
Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, in a conference call with reporters after Obama’s event, suggested that so far, it’s mostly talk.
“We’re still losing jobs,” he said. “In fact, I find it interesting and ironic that the president was today in Indiana, again repeating some of the same old broken promises about the stimulus and the jobs it’s saved. I don’t know how we measure that. Certainly, what we’ve seen put on the table so far has done nothing, very little, to create jobs.“
In a separate interview with CNN, Steele was asked whether he believed that “the raise in home sales or the Dow — the level of the Dow — or even the GDP raising as any part of this” was a “result of the stimulus package or anything.” “No, I don’t,” responded Steele. Private economic analysts believe the stimulus “added at least 1 percentage point to economic growth in the second quarter.”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Republican response to anything:
“Was it done by a Democrat? Then, no, nothing good can possibly come of it. Even if it seems positive, that’s only because you’re not looking at it the right way.”
August 8th, 2009 at 9:33 amWhy didn’t Steele or Holtz-Eakin claim that the rise in the stock market and the fall in the unemployment figures are because of Bush’s economic stimulus?
I guess they are so desperate to distance themselves from Bush, they are willing to ignore the few things he may have done right.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:38 amCould it be that the RNC elected Michael Steele as its head in attempt to showcase a black man as a poster boy of incompetence and ignorance?
I hope this is not offensive, but am curious. Considering the organized subterfuge Republican leaders practice, it could be so. I’m surprised Michael Steele doesn’t get it… or is he so needy for attention that he will surrender dignity for celebrity? Wouldn’t be the first time. I know I have at times. No more… I hope.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:48 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
***
good point ralph.
once upon a time the republicans were
a serious and legitimate political party.
now? it’s the return of the “know nothings“.
_ _ _
August 8th, 2009 at 9:52 amSome of the jobs lost are those who have retired and left the work force completely. There is always going to be this kind of ‘job loss’. I’m with President Obama. We’re not out of the woods yet. George Bush screwed up the economy for years by being dishonest with the American people by saying, “everything is fine! Now go buy that house you always wanted!” by making it out to be patriotic to put yourself in debt to support the troops. His cronies put out fake stats as far as I’m concerned. Building up the work force is going to take time now that we know it’s worse than George and his cronies made it out to be. This is why George Bush couldn’t wait to leave and said he wanted the next president to handle his messes. He knew exactly what happened during his tenure! Spit.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:57 am***
“Yet the economy continues to shrink.”
* * *
see what i mean?
know nothings.
:)
“libtards”
don’t you think it’s time to put that insult to rest?
it belies any serious attempt at intelligence.
*
just a suggestion.
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 9:59 amminarchist said,
Brock! Polly wants a cracker! Brock!
Oh by the way, comparing President Obama to a “Jesus Messiah” is called sacrilegious. Stick that in your theocratic pipe and smoke it wingnut.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:02 amAny comment that contains the word ‘teleprompter’ (or any misspelling thereof) should be voted out of existence.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:03 amFACT: every time America has had a republican president in the last few decades, we are left with either a recession or a depression. The End.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:04 amI’m trying not to be doom and gloom on the economy because I don’t want in any smallest way to affect it negatively. That said, folks should take precautions. The most basic item is food and that will be the most important. If the dollar crashes, nobody is going to sell you that for worthless dollars. That’s where the term, “using a wheelbarrow full of cash for a loaf of bread” comes from. If the dollar crashes, people will only be interested in buying food with their worthless dollars.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:05 am***
give up on spelling jane.
they are dumb.
and they are proud of it, god damnit!
:\
August 8th, 2009 at 10:05 amFACT: every time America has had a republican president in the last few decades, we are left with either a recession or a depression. The End.
If you vote for a republican, you’ll be out of a job.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:06 amI was told that years ago when I couldn’t understand what it meant. Now I do.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:07 amHow can the Economy get better, when the Party of NO are fighting tooth and nail, trying to under mind every policy put in place, by the President.
When Dictator Limburgh said he wants the President to “FAIL”, that was order to do everything possible to keep the Economy down until, Nov. 2010.
So, the Economy will not get any better, in fact it will get “WORSE”, as long as people on the Right are doing everything possible to kill it. It’s a long til Nov. 2010, but the Right Wing don’t mind let’s a few of there “SHEEP”, to lose everything they have, to prove a point.
Anything for the good of the Party, Right?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:08 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Thanks directly to Obama, my company has picked up some and I thank him for that.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:13 amThe world according to minarchist:
1) The President is an illegal alien.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:13 am2) Vaccines are made of dead baby juice and monkey kidneys.
3) Cash for Clunkers is a secret plot to take control of his computer.
4) Screaming “Telprompter Jesus Messiah libtards” at the top of his lungs is a brilliant economic analysis.
joe, it’s not the misspelling, it’s the ‘teleprompter’ bs. As if no other public speaker in the world besides President Obama ever uses a teleprompter. Jeebus, what a moronic thing to pick on!
August 8th, 2009 at 10:14 amminarchist,
Calling you a wingnut or a Rethuglican is not quite the same as the sacrilegious use of the name of thy lord thy god in vain by calling Obama the “Jesus messiah”. Aren’t Republicans supposed to court the religious right rather than blaspheme the name of our saviour?
May God have mercy on what little is left of your soul, and may God strike down the evil fascist theocrat Republicans for following the path of darkness.
Oh wait, it appears that God already has abandoned Republicans.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:16 amread and learn?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:16 am— Ah I love it when some pompous jerk weed thinks they can school me with an opinion piece…
Yo minarchist – Your diatribe above about Barack failed to mention one word about how the Repignofascist Party’s wonderboy, Chimpy McFlightsuit and his total lack of attention to anything other than vacations got us in this mess to begin with. Rather than rail on Barack’s attempts to fix the mess, why not give us a dissertation on all the accomplishments of the mess maker – like starting an illegal war based on lies, or suspending habeas corpus, or his widespread illegal domestic spying network, or his gulag at Guantanamo. And lets not forget him landing on the deck of a boat moored 500 meters off the coast of San Diego and then declaring “mission accomplished” even though more than 4,000 additional kids died needlessly after that stunt. Come on tough guy. Tell us all the wonderful things your spineless party did to get us into the mess Barack is trying to bail us out of.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:21 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Actually Kay, you can google this. EVERY recession (or damned near depression) since 1969 has been with a Repignofascist in office (curiously two were under a Bush). You’ll find also that every recession or near depression was erased by a Democrat who came in to fix the mess. This is another inconvenient truth the Repignofascists fail to mention – probably because it ivolves fact and not fear mongering.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:24 am***
#16,
well if casey mulligan said it then it must be true.
then again casey wrote this too, didn’t he?
as they say in the world of computer analysis,
“junk in, junk out”.
***
“You stop calling folks ‘wingnuts’ and “Rethuglicans’ and I’ll stop calling you ‘libtards.’”
kind of a childish response don’t you think?
i didn’t call you “wingnut” or a “Rethuglican” (with a capital ‘R’?) did i?
in any case, i’m sorry your feelings were hurt.
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 10:25 amDon’t look for any repubniscum to credit the Democratic Obama administration for anything.
I’d expect that if we reached 2% unemployment and a Dow at 12,000, they would still criticize him for whatever.
No one is saying that the problems are over, but these creeps can’t even accede that job losses are slowing, the Dow is improving, and we probably have stopped the bleeding.
All in all, it was not a bad week, Sotomayor was confirmed, two hostages were released, the market gained a but, unemployment lost a bit, a high-level terrorist in Pakistan was killed.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:25 amThink of what the repugs’ reaction might be if Grampy McCain were president and how they would be cheering.
…gained a BIT…
August 8th, 2009 at 10:27 amYou know things are picking up where you work when there’s more activity and you begin seeing people show up who you haven’t seen in several years. Hope has returned. It’s nowhere near where it used to be, though.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:27 amI am still looking for the facts and evidences…
August 8th, 2009 at 10:28 amMaybe it would be easier just to ask my new friend to explain whereby they came to all of their vast knowledge of how things as they view them and blend opinion with universal reality…
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
minarchist says:
I WRIT BIG IMPORTNAT BOKES! U R LIBTARDZ! LOLZ!!!!!!1!
What an entirely convincing assertion.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:29 amMight you direct me to some of these “published” works?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:29 amThanks…
Hippies?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:30 am—
Next he’ll be having a go at the birds…
minarchist said,
What facts or evidence have you provided? So far you have blasphemed the name of the Lord God to insult a President, and you have posted a link to an opinion piece.
Not one fact, no evidence whatsoever, but lots of fascist wingnuttery. Notice how this particular troll is avoiding his use of “Jesus Messiah” now that he has been called on it. He knows he is wrong for it, and every Christian knows he is wrong.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am***
#23,
“4. Pointing out the vast intellectual shortcomings of libtards is tons of fun.”
**
oh yeah.
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 10:31 amvast intellectual short comings?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:33 am— Haven’t they been telling me for years that higher education is the domain of the left? So so many contradictions…
***
#30,
there’s always jenna.
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 10:34 amminarchist said,
August 8th, 2009 at 10:34 amYou are right minarchist, Bush is no longer President, but he is Republican forever.
minarchist, we’re always impressed when some arrogant ass from the right who just crapped on our country tells us to
“read and learn”
looks like by now you would know that you have done everything wrong so now it’s time for you to sit down and shut up. We are in power now.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:34 amminarchist says:
Vaccines are essential. But it’s interesting that a certain strain of hippiedom finds them unacceptable.
What, hippies like these guys? It’s so unfair that the insane things Republicans say can be recorded for posterity, isn’t it?
August 8th, 2009 at 10:34 amEconomic disasters that have historically occurred under repug regimes are not only ignored by repugs themselves, but Democrats don’t make enough of an issue in talking up that fact.
Anyone can do very simple research and see that every downturn in the economy has been due to Republican “supply side” economics, based on Milton Friedman’s proven failed theory, then repaired and cleaned up under a Democratic administration.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:35 amEven people who don’t check it out should not have forgotten the disastrous Bush economic policies.
Note: NYT’s grudging acknowledgement–filled with comments about how many ‘missteps’ Obama took along the way–never puts Bush in the article or lays the blame for the economic mess at the feet of his administration. One of the articles ends by saying that Washington is showing it might be able to clear the mess up, then says that “Washington” caused the mess to begin with.
This strategy of changing the subject of the sentence from Obama Administration or Bush Adminsitration to “Washington” is a crummy sleight of hand
August 8th, 2009 at 10:39 amFascist theocratic Republicans have made it policy to hate all sorts of groups. In much the same way Hitler’s fascists hated Jews and blacks and anyone not like them, modern American fascist Republicans hate virtually any group they can single out.
One of those groups is “hippies”. I think this stems from the bias against anyone that smokes marijuana, but for fascist theocrat Republicans, it is really just another group to hate.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:39 amRight, George Bush is no longer president – but his trail of sh!t left behind will be with us for a generation. There is no slop mop big enough to clean it up in a short time, and even when remnants of the jerk and his crap are removed, the disaster he created will not be forgotten.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:41 amminarchist is just scared because after 8 years of failure under the republicans our country is now climbing out of the hole they dug for us.
It is our successes that scare him. He seems very scared as well he should be.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am***
“intellectual shortcomings”?
only 6 per cent of the scientists in
this country identify themselves as
republicans (not “Rethuglicans”).
:)
yes, fun.
“tons of fun.”
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 10:42 amSome of the things I’ve done at work, since things have been so slow, and although not for everyone, is doing tasks they’ve let staff go who used to do it. Like cleaning the windows. I’ve got one side done down on the high-rise. (OK, I keed, it’s only one story.) (They used to have a large enough maintenance staff that could do it so it’s built up with grime.) Now they barely have enough to empty the office trash containers. Do that, too, if it piles up after a couple of days. Look around for things to do that aren’t a part of you regular duties or job description. There were a couple of large containers of plants the gardeners used to maintain. They were pulled and only do the basics like just cutting grass and they turned brown and dead. I took over that and it’s blooming out of control now. And you know what? They’ll notice that and you’ll be the last they lay off…
August 8th, 2009 at 10:43 amWell, joe cantwell, that proves right there that science has a liberal bias.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:46 amInstead of me calling them right wing neck drooling knuckle draggers, I’ve decided to start calling them what they really are:
August 8th, 2009 at 10:49 amCONSERVATIVES
***
ralph,
i guess minime is finished having fun here.
that leaves him the rest of the day
to hate something else.
*
August 8th, 2009 at 10:54 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
So about those published works…
August 8th, 2009 at 10:58 amAnd stupid things begin piling up. Like there “was noone to turn the sprinklers on anymore” so the grass and shrubs started turning brown during a dry spell. So I figured out how to do that and saved it all.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:59 amObama is failing to get it through the cannonball heads of the conservatives that progressing forward and fixing George Bush’s messes are the key to America’s survival!
This is the only failure of President Obama so far, but we’re working on it!
August 8th, 2009 at 10:59 amExcept Jimmy didn’t get rid of the scum republicans in DC and we learned from that. If Jimmy had done that he would have been one of the greatest presidents in history. In fact he his now more famous and revered than you pseudo hero raygun.
No, you are just plain scared because things are getting better and you hate that. It doesn’t matter to you what is good for America, only what is good for you and the republics and it’s looking really bad for you for a long time.
Thanks for showing your true colors. It will be valuable to the country in the long run.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:00 amJimmy Carter is spending the rest of his life working on behalf of the poor. The republican presidents? Conspiring for more violent attacks on America!
August 8th, 2009 at 11:01 amSo the first posts complained that the administrations plans were failing to turn around the economy butnow the new posts are happy that the administrations programs are failing… Is this logically consistent…
August 8th, 2009 at 11:02 am***
#51,
“He’s turing into Jimmy Carter.”?
not original, are you?
:)
try to come up with something
you thought of yourself.
fight your “intellectual shortcomings”
with ideas of your own.
give it a try. you might surprise yourself.
good luck.
:)
August 8th, 2009 at 11:02 amminarchist says:
I WAS scared. But now I am not. Because Obama is failing. He’s turning into Jimmy Carter.
Sorry to break the news to you, because I know how much it means to you to feel your life has meaning because you can loathe Jimmy Carter.
He is no longer president.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:02 amIf I’m out on the parking lot walking to my office, I’ll pick up trash that some idiot has dumped or was blown there instead of just stepping over it. When it get’s a little cooler this fall, I’ll go around and pick it all up with a trash bag and one of those hand-held trash grab picker-uppers they have in the shed.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:04 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Trust me. I would be able to understand them. I might not agree with them but I sure as hell would understand them. Now just be a big person and pointed me to them. Otherwise I might think you were a poser…
August 8th, 2009 at 11:05 amonly to wrongheaded republicans who would rather the whole country fail than the republican party fail. Too late, almost for both.
good catch.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:06 amminarchist says:
You’ve outdone yourself with your latest cunning plan, Baldrick.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:08 amminarchist says:
Apparently, the “conservative” meme of the day is that the White House is asking people to report their neighbors for thought crimes. We had a “conservative” in here yesterday trying to make that claim, even though the link provided very clearly asked people to report misleading, inaccurate or totally dishonest web pages or emails–exactly the technique being used by the RNC to lie to Americans about health proposals.
That particular “conservative” was convinced that the use of the word “fishy” was, well, fishy. Obviously some sort of liberal code word informing us on where we can pick up our Soros paychecks.
And yet “conservatives” that show up here always claim to be soooo smart. It’s mildly amusing, or it would be if the stakes weren’t so high.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:09 amI’m guessing he means books on how to destroy an economy in 8 short years by imanidiot bush.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:09 am***
#61,
no books?
how about a nice website?
enjoy.
:)
keep trying twajie.
someday you might
even pull it off.
:0 :)
August 8th, 2009 at 11:10 amWingnuts are crazier than a rat in a shit house.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:10 amminarchist says:
Besides, you might be tempted to snitch on me, Stasi-like, to flag@whitehouse.gov.
The world according to minarchist:
1) The President is an illegal alien.
2) Vaccines are made of dead baby juice and monkey kidneys.
3) Cash for Clunkers is a secret plot to take control of his computer.
4) Screaming “Telprompter Jesus Messiah libtards” at the top of his lungs is a brilliant economic analysis.
5) Debunking e-mail hoaxes is worse than Hitler.
So, min, how many millions of Jews do you think Snopes.com has killed?
August 8th, 2009 at 11:11 amminarchist,
You have used the name of the Lord thy God in vain to insult a President to gain a petty political point. Repent, lest your soul burn for all eternity.
Does that scare you? If not, maybe you should consider that treason online could land you in one of those re-education gulags you wingnuts keep talking about, or even dangling from the end of a rope.
Does that scare you? If not, you should consider that you could be looking at forty years or more with a Democratic super majority, or even the extinction of the Republican Party altogether.
Does that scare you? If not, you should consider that, since we have now elected a President with black skin, the next logical step is a woman, then maybe a homosexual, and who knows what after that?
I would say that you have plenty to be scared of. After all, you fascists theocrat Republicans thrive off of being afraid.
“Fear will keep the local population in line” (trivia time, who is the character from Star Wars that said this quote?)
August 8th, 2009 at 11:13 amminarchist, I was #10 on your #51 but someone else may have gotten there before me so I might have been #14 or something.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:15 amminarchist, a question for you. Here you are on a blue blog not attempting an honest debate where one might learn from the other, but trying (rather poorly, but trying) to insult and provoke people. This is a volatile time in America’s history and here you are doing your part to rile people up. Why?
Are you hoping for more violence?
August 8th, 2009 at 11:18 amminarchist says:
You are nothing but another ignorant brainwashed punk. Spewing out what Rush TOLD you to think because you KNOW you are too stupid to think for yourself. Doesnt it bother you that you are so stupid and pathetic?
August 8th, 2009 at 11:19 am***
i found a link to his “book”.
it’s more of a manifesto
and it’s not about “business”.
:|
August 8th, 2009 at 11:20 am74
That was disturbing Joe.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:23 amRemember when George Bush told Americans to report anything they see their neighbors doing as suspicious because he wanted Americans to be vigilant in getting the terrorists?
But emailing the White House to tell them that Glenn Beck is lying through his teeth about health care and is also inciting violence against Americans who support health care reform….should be illegal? Bah hahahahahahahaha! OMG, CONSERVATARDS! You’re pathetic.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:24 amminarchist, I was #9 on your #61 because you’re #2.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:24 amI was #9 on your #61 because you’re #2.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:26 am—
I think I see that big weird ball thing headed this way…
Doesnt it bother you that you are so stupid and pathetic?
Nah, it doesn’t bother them. Wingnuts don’t have any pride in themselves.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:28 am***
mr. cobb,
you should be banned from this site
and you need help.
:|
August 8th, 2009 at 11:33 amI posted and once again TP ate it….Damn…Will try again.On topic Steele has as much relevence as newt..Both spend all their time pissing in the wind for attention..I ignore them..
OT, sorry,,,,,Have some question’s for all ya all….Anyone have the info on the health bill, want to know about Sect. 1233 Advanced Care planning and Sect 102?..Got an email today from a friend and was not pleased with what I was reading..Look’s like huge donut hole’s for us and big profit’s for health ins and pharmacutical co’s..If it’s like the medicare, medicade night mare maybe it’s not a good deal at all…Need some help here, anyone.?
In all my reading and trying to keep up I did not read the fine print of the “Cash for Clunker’s” buy out…Seem’s all the so called clunker’s are being crushed and not put on the used car lot’s for those of us that own realy old rig’s could buy…I found this disturbing since I was looking for a Jeep Cherokee and my paper showed ton’s of them are going to go to the scrap heap….Seems they could of done a little better on this bill also…You all know me I’m an equal critic…
Last but not the least, read an interesting article today by Winter Patriot regarding the drone bombings in Pakestane.(SP)…Seems our drone’s have killed over 600 innocent’s and only 14 undocumented al quida operative’s were killed…Seems like a very high price for the citizen’s of our #3 supported war to have to pay..Indeed ONE is to many..I’m sorry, I hate war….It kills and suck’s the life out of all countries involved…..When will we have Peace again.? Will we ever stop supporting this and Israel’s madness against our fellow man and the loss of our own….Can anyone explain to me what good war is to anyone living except the war profateer’s and the evil administration’s that support them..?…I much prefer. Peace, Blessings and Justice…
August 8th, 2009 at 11:38 amWitch1, I saw something more but I wont mention it here. I will to you if it happens.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am#82. Mr. Cobb…What.?….Blessings..P. S. sorry for all the errors and thank you to all the posters for today’s readings…
August 8th, 2009 at 11:56 amRemember when George Bush started spying illegally on his political opponents in February 2001 but then said he had to spy on Americans after 9/11/01 to protect the country?
August 8th, 2009 at 11:56 amYep! Kay, and it’s still going on just like the war’s…..Ugh!….Blessings
August 8th, 2009 at 11:57 amWitch1, here ya go:
http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf
Have fun. ;-)
Don’t let the wingnuts fool you into thinking that there will be no used parts ever again in the history of our nation. NAPA Auto Parts is where you can buy parts for autos 10 years old. Also, you can go directly through the dealer for car parts if needed. Junk yards around the nation can also be accessed.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:00 pmminimind uses the worn out talking point that because Bush is no longer president he isn’t responsible for the 8 years of devastating policies that have left us in this mess. First they don’t believe in science and now they don’t believe in history.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pmCash for Clunkers has been a boon for junk yard parts because only the engine and drive drain need to be destroyed. All the other parts can be reclaimed to fix existing vehicles. I don’t believe there will ever be a shortage of used cars.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:16 pmIt’s gonna be a long hot August for Republikkkans hoping America fails!
August 8th, 2009 at 12:22 pmExactly Shayne. The wingers continue to spread lies.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:36 pmThanks Kay, yep! That’s the bill I was wadeing through this morning and gotta tell ya it do’s not please me….Still have not found Sect. 1233 but I will…The mere fact that a hand full of 9 appointed non physician’s will dictate what care, to whom and what group will get what care is just one reason I don’t like this mess…Needless to say there will be more of my critical eye reading the rest of it.
About the clunker deal, my peeve was that these rig’s could be on used car lot’s for those of us that want to upgrade from the old relic’s we now own…I have no problem finding parts for my 1968 3/4 ton Ford pick up but had planned to buy a newer Jeep cherokee for my trip with my critter’s back east next spring…I was, am upset that all these turned in vehicles are being crushed instead of recycled..Seems such a waste to me…Thanks again…Blessings
August 8th, 2009 at 12:39 pm#1 there is no bill yet. There are proposals from various committees. The mere fact that a hand full of 9 appointed non physician’s will dictate what care, to whom and what group will get what care is just one reason I don’t like this
August 8th, 2009 at 12:44 pmThis is just one of the myths being sold. Right now everybody with insurance has a group of non doctors deciding what they’ll pay for and getting paid bonuses to deny coverage. Those on Medicare don’t have to deal with government denying coverage. That’s why we need a government option.
Part of the reason for Cash for Clunkers is to get the gas guzzlers off the road. There are magazines that sell used cars and trucks. There are people who never buy new vehicles no matter what and so there will always be used cars to buy.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
I’ve never even taken Economics 101 so I claim no expert authority for what follows other than this being some of what I understand about national economics:
It has been standard practice for the government (Democratic or Republican) to illustrate the state of “the economy” with handy metrics we can all easily grasp and reference, like how the Dow is doing or the unemployment rate, and from which we judge whether “the economy” is “good or bad” and then cheer or boo and or spend or save accordingly.
The trouble is that many economic indicators are given more prominence than others and are frequently used in isolation thus permitting distortions of meaning and relevance which can lead to mistaken confidence or gloom, but more importantly it can lead to the adoption of problematic fiscal policies, or the rejection of what would be sound fiscal policies.
For example surely the most frequently quoted economic indicator by which the health of the US “economy” is judged is the Dow Index.
It is commonly assumed that if trading is active and the Dow index is high then “the economy” is doing well, if sluggish and low it is doing badly.
Currently financial TV reporters are claiming that the economy is improving because the Dow has risen from approximately 6,600 points in March 2009 to about 9,200 in August 2009. That’s news that Obama and the Democrats can use, but that doesn’t mean the economy is healthy—especially as there has been no significant reform of the financial sector (or the political ‘sector’, I should add).
Whilst the Dow has been gaining, unemployment has still been increasing—the official rate of unemployment has slowed (more good news!), but people are still being laid-off in large numbers, and the overall unemployed is a public mystery as when unemployment insurance runs out for some (many?) they just disappear from the official ledgers.
So whilst “the economy” is indeed improving as measured by the Dow, its improvement doesn’t mean much to the typical ex-employee at the moment. Note that ‘Bank X ‘ who claimed something like a 30 billion dollar loss 9 months ago is now claiming a $5 billion profit—even though there’s been no movement in the sectors that crated their previous profits (and thus losses), and even those old profit/loss markets haven’t been replaced with anything new. WTF?
What politicians and reporters invariably call “the economy” is actually just a part of the economy that they choose to be representative of the whole. It’s lying saying “this car will only cost you $10,000!” when in fact it will cost you twice that much in insurance, maintenance etc.
A flawed scale as long as it is consistently applied can still be a valid measure of relative performance—but only with regard to itself.
In October 2007 the Dow hit 14,000.
If the Dow were representative of the ‘health’ of the national economy, why did it then sink to around 8,300 just a year later?
The answer is simple; because “the economy” wasn’t actually healthy. The economy ‘felt’ great because Wall Street had been snorting financial cocaine that was increasingly ‘cut’ with corn starch—and Wall Street was the dealer and the junkie whilst the deregulating free-market conservative Republican political machine was the supplier and the crooked neighborhood cop who looked the other way in exchange for a piece of the action.
A quick wrap-up to follow….
August 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pmminarchist says:
paraphrasing
“Even though Bush was incompetent, at least he was the right color. I’m scared of the big black man that is in the white house…”
Fact is that Bush couldn’t give a shyte what anyone thought of him or his policies. He even said; “Who cares what you think…”
Bush was detrimental to this nation.
That is all.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:07 pmThe stimulus has acted, I say, more like a cushion.
Now, here we have a ten story building with no cushion, or airbag, at the bottom.
And here another ten story building with no cushion at the bottom
Which building will Steele jump off?
August 8th, 2009 at 1:09 pmHeh. The first bldg has *A cushion, an airbag, at the bottom..my bad.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:09 pmThank You Lady Shayne & 5th. good posts….Blessings
August 8th, 2009 at 1:14 pmHi DaTruth
August 8th, 2009 at 1:16 pmHave you ever dated Miss Chloe?
And still no links to those books about business nor an explaination of the lack of consistancy of thought. I smell another bullshit poser…
August 8th, 2009 at 1:19 pmPerhaps, perhaps not.
One of two things are certain to happen though: if this “Greatest Depression” hits, wingnuts like DaTroof will blame it all on President Obama, and will pretend that the economy in freefall wasn’t what propelled him to the White House. If DaTroof is wrong (and really, who could see that coming?) then wingnuts like DaTroof will credit former President Bush.
We could try to nail down a wingnut like DaTroof, get him to say definitively at this moment who is most responsible for the state of the economy, but that would be a waste of time. We all know that wingnuts are blessed with a malleable reality, about to be molded to suit any occasion. A wingnut who says something that later proves to be wrong or contradicts a subsequent statement is perfectly capable of denying the previous statement — even in the face of hard evidence of the Truth.
It’s a remarkable gift they have.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:40 pmI WAS scared. But now I am not. Because Obama is failing. He’s turning into Jimmy Carter.
Scared of the “evil” black man in Washington KKKON???
Obama failing at what? Failing to continue Bush’s screwups?
Meanwhile you little CONSERVONAZIS incite violence at town halls and who is that failing? YOU LITTLE A$$HOLETURDERS!
Obama is your president. You lost and you CONSERVONAZIS will no longer be trusted and WILL NEVER WIN ANOTHER ELECTION AGAIN! THE GOPIGGIES ARE DONE! Deal with it.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:47 pmKayInMaine says:
I’m gonna call them what they are too.
CONSERVONAZI.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:51 pmmindlessarsehole says:
Nothing.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:55 pmDaMoron says:
Prepare for life as a brainwashed braindead imbecile because that is what you are.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:55 pmHi Eugene.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:56 pmHello Intrepid, isnt it a fine day?
August 8th, 2009 at 2:02 pmOooooooo, “CONSERVONAZI”, love it Intrepid! :-)
August 8th, 2009 at 2:03 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Not a quick wrap-up after all, but anyway…
We are still being offered the same trite and isolated metrics for financial success and financial health as we have been for decades. These metrics have predicted yet more success every time, yet every time they also fail to predict financial failure.
If you care to search for economic graphs that illustrate the supposedly natural cycle of boom and bust in the US economy (as I have done) you will notice some very obvious trends over the last one-hundred years.
For one the frequency of “booms” and “busts” has increased. Some of that is surely attributable to progressive globalization of resources and supply and demand etc. A war or natural disaster in one country can more easily affect the economy of another now compared to the past—particularly if a commodity or service has been more heavily invested-in or relied-upon than in the past ( oil for instance).
Secondly, the amplitude of “booms” and “busts” has also increased. Part of this would have to do with the ability of economies to react quickly to global economic circumstances.
But if the above is correct, then anyone’s national economic policy should be guided not by one or two simple and convenient indicators, but by a host of them. And national populations shouldn’t be guided in their support or rejection of proposed economic policies by the reporting and promotion of simplistic isolated metrics such as the how quickly or how high the Dow is rising, or how the unemployment rate has dropped compared to last month, or two months ago,
When someone signs a mortgage contract, they commit to a 25-year economic plan. 25 years is the measure of a generation.
When someone invests in a savings/retirement plan it too is a long term economic plan.
When a Wall Street trader borrows money to buy stocks, his or her economic plan is often measured in mere months, weeks, days, hours minutes and even seconds thanks to trading technology.
We constantly hear from politicians that “the working class” and “small businesses” and “the average consumer” are “the backbone of the US economy” but somehow their collective financial improvement ends up being never as important an indicator of the nations financial health as the number of millionaires and billionaires generated from a given political administration’s financial polices.
And when those financial policies that “the backbone of the US economy” has been assured (yet again) will succeed but instead fails, the now broken “backbone of the economy” is expected to stop complaining and work harder to restore the same economic system they were all told would lead to a comfortable retirement for themselves and a leg-up for their children.
If the “great unwashed” is too stupid to understand how economics really work, its not actually a hereditary congenital condition, it’s because an ambitious and self-serving minority having acquired the majority’s trust long ago has worked hard to maintain that trust by constant misrepresentation, according to a formula that sadly for the majority works very well.
Both the majority ignorant and the artful minority thus become self-sustaining political and economic constructs.
But just as the self serving minority has educated itself, so too can the majority educate itself, in the matters of how things are and how thing might be.
To be abrupt and finish this thing (as best I can):
Short-term economic gain only serves the short-term. The US economy has been increasingly geared towards short-term gains (and the ‘global economy” has followed suit to a significant extent). This is how economic success and failure has been measured most especially in a sustained way (ironic, yes?) over the last 25 years.
I’m arguing that any economic policy needs to be examined and understood as a generational policy, something that will have a real 25 year effect, rather than being viewed as having a desired political effect (which lasts in the US and other nations typically for 10-12 years).
August 8th, 2009 at 2:40 pmHome sales are up, the market is up and employment has stopped nosediving. Those damn socialist Democrats.
August 8th, 2009 at 2:43 pmBut they still cared enough about America people to try to send doctors to Katrina which bush foolishly rejected.
Why do you hate Americans?
August 8th, 2009 at 2:55 pmkwsventures’s bunch just drove the economy off the cliff. Yet they still have the gall to tell us how to make it work.
Astounding arrogance mixed equally with ignorance.
August 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pmEugeneDebs says:
——————————————————————————–
Hello Intrepid, isnt it a fine day?
Yes, yes. It’s a fine day to shit on mindless trolls, isn’t it?
KayInMaine says:
——————————————————————————–
Oooooooo, “CONSERVONAZI”, love it Intrepid! :-)
Why thank you. :D Fits in perfectly with knuckle draggers and neckdroolers. Easily insertable.
August 8th, 2009 at 3:27 pmkwsventures says:
I dont care much about Cuba you worthless ignorant punkass troll. Your ignorance is a stench in the nostrils of decent people you subhuman moron. Doesnt it make you cry when you think about how stupid and pathetic you are? You are not only stupider than a pile of dogshit you smell worse and are less useful to mankind. Go pour yourself a nice steaming hot cup of STFU and let the adults talk. You are FAR too stupid for anyone to take you seriously. Why dont you take a nice SWIM to Cuba? Cut yourself a couple of times first so the sharks can give you what you deserve PUNK
August 8th, 2009 at 4:20 pmDenial of good has long been the mantra of the GOP so that is not going to change any time soon. Besides, Steele is a tool of the GOP. He has himself said that he doesn’t do policy.
August 8th, 2009 at 6:34 pmThe Republicans are forgetting that less than a year ago, all these “too-big-to-fail” financial institutions were ostensibly in their death throes, the GLOBAL economy was in a death spiral, and it all looked very grim. Had we spent what we spent bailing out banks and speculators on green jobs and education, we would be undeniably better off right now, but not singing a swan-song is an improvement.
August 8th, 2009 at 6:42 pmEugene Debs’ political views turned to socialism after he read the works of Karl Marx. He grew to be one of the most influential Socialists, the reputation helping him to garner five nominations for president. During the latter part of his life, Debs was imprisoned once more after being arrested and convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 during the First Red Scare for speaking against American involvement in World War I. He was later pardoned by President Warren G. Harding, and died not long after being admitted to a sanitarium
August 8th, 2009 at 8:32 pmkwsventures says:
I know who Eugene Debs is MORON.
August 8th, 2009 at 8:39 pmRight, Debs is a MORON. Got it, kid. Goodnight, Commie.
August 8th, 2009 at 8:49 pmkwsventures says:
You are stupid. You are a punk. You are a worthless, mindless, juvenile troll. You are a moron. You will always BE a moron. None of that is our fault. Just keep shovelling the stupid though. I love to laugh at morons as stupid as you.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:37 pmkwsventures says:
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
247,000 more jobs lost in July. Poof. Yeah, instead of losing 56-0. We ONLY lost 35-10 this month. A butt kicking anyway you try to spin it. Not buying.No sale, here.
to further your football analogy, by the time Bush and his cronies got done with the first quarter, it was 56-0 already…But at least you’re admitting things got better…Under Bush we would have lost 224-0…
August 9th, 2009 at 2:10 amminarchist says:
Really, step our of your “everything is right with Obambi” bubble, and use what little imagination you have. Suppose George Bush would have said, “Hey, folks, send me the web pages or emails you get that say all this gosh darn fishy stuff about the Iraq war. Send it to WsWar@whitehouse.gov“
Now why would Bush need that when he already was using a domestic spying program?
August 9th, 2009 at 2:13 amto my comment…
UCSBKitty says
Well, my dear Kitty, here are a couple of important differences.
First, the Bush “domestic” spying program was designed to uncover terrorist activities. In contrast, Obama’s snitch-on-your-neighbor email is meant to counteract a political policy. It’s a purely political act not a national security effort.
Second, the Bush “domestic” spying program didn’t attempt to enlist the common citizenry to tattle on others. It wasn’t trying to clamp down political views.
Look, despite the fact that my worldview is polar opposite from virtually everyone who posts here, I too was quite troubled by the Bush NSA activitiy.
Of course, you apparently seem to forget that Obama is CONTINUING the Bush policy! And don’t think it’s me here…go read one of YOUR guys, Glenn Greenwald, who completely, and accurately, deconstructs how Obama’s Department of Justice is continuing all the Bush practices.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html
You know, your argument — “You think Obama’s bad…here’s what BUSH did!” — is a classic leftist argument. Accuse the other side of doing the same thing as our side, only worse. It’s a vapid argument.
It’s even more vapid considering YOUR guys is keeping up the same policy.
Hope and change, baby! Hope and change!
August 9th, 2009 at 11:55 amNot that anyone seems to care. But,
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4872310.shtml
August 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pmminarchist says:
You are incredibly stupid and you are a liar. If all Bush wanted to do was uncover terrorists what would have been the problem with getting a darn warrant. You do know that his warrantless wiretapping program began BEFORE 9/11? Nah you are stupid. I doubt you know anything Rush didnt tell you. Asking for e-mails so they can counter the viral misinformation that brainwashes so many morons like YOU is pretty far from a snitch on your neighbor program and only the stupidest people in the WORLD could think otherwise but then you clearly ARE one of the stupidest people in the world.
Look. You are ignorant. You are stupid. You are a moron and a worthless, uninformed, brainwashed punkass troll. Just STFU and let the adults talk
August 9th, 2009 at 8:39 pmkwsventures says:
No body in their right mind cares what YOU think MORON. That is certain
August 9th, 2009 at 8:39 pmIf they would get their heads out of their ***** and realize that unlike Bush handing out money, this current stimulus is going to take some time. Stock market is up, job losses have dropped some, so there is something positive going on.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:49 amThe GOP keeps saying things like this, so that the people will believe the lies and to try and make the people believe that Obama is not doing his job.
Losers never ever understand that it is THEIR fault they lose.
Eugene Debs’ political views turned to socialism after he read the works of Karl Marx. … that sums it up nicely.
August 10th, 2009 at 7:30 pm