Surrrrrrrrrrrrre it is
October 5th, 2012
Wow, how lucky is that? After three and a half years the unemployment rate magically drops below 8% just in time for the election.
Man, coincidences are amazing.
Entry Filed under: Observations
October 5th, 2012
Wow, how lucky is that? After three and a half years the unemployment rate magically drops below 8% just in time for the election.
Man, coincidences are amazing.
Entry Filed under: Observations
22 Comments Add your own
1. John Foust | October 5th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Where’s your post about Walker’s PR regarding unprocessed job numbers?
2. Roland Melnick | October 9th, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Forget the ballooning number of folks giving up their search for a job and going on govt. assistance…forget the fact that, under Obama, the number of people needing foodstamps has gone up roughly 50%…dropping the “unemployment rate” from 8.1% to 7.8% is an amazing accomplishment! Let’s par-tay!! If we could just tell the rest to stop looking for work, we could get that number down to 0%. I think Obama is The One to do it!
3. John Foust | October 10th, 2012 at 7:24 am
Wow, Roland, that’s an amazing fact about the food stamps! Let me guess. It happened almost immediately after Obama was elected, and even before he took office.
4. Roland Melnick | October 10th, 2012 at 10:49 am
I know John…its all Bush’s fault. Blaming one’s predecessor only goes so far before folks begin wondering what, if anything, you can do to bring positive change. Besides hype and Hollywood, what does Obama have going for him?
5. John Foust | October 10th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
He’s not Bush? And Rmoney has similar Daddy issues?
As Jon Stewart put it, “I gotta say, if you’re cooking the books, 7.8 percent unemployment is a shitty recipe.”
6. Roland Melnick | October 10th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Shitty recipe? Then why is the liberal media trumpeting such a grand sign of progress? Obama is desperate for any good news he can scratch together and those in the accomplice media are working hard to give him cover.
7. John Foust | October 10th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Uh, Roland… it was the conservatives who came up with the story that the books were cooked.
I await your analysis of Walker’s use of precooked job numbers.
8. Roland Melnick | October 11th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Precooked job numbers? Gee John…sounds like you have a point to make so why doncha’…ya know….make it.
Integral to Stewart’s point was that a 0.3% drop isn’t a real measure of success, suggesting that someone cooking the books should have shaved off a full point. But the drop didn’t need to be that big. Obama and his media accomplices only needed the talking point to be that the rate finally dropped below the magic 8% mark Obama promised years ago. In a campaign desperate for good news, they are hailing it as proof that Obama’s Presidency doesn’t suck after all.
9. John Foust | October 11th, 2012 at 11:14 am
I guess playing dumb is a form of self-stimulation for some, but surely you know what I was talking about.
10. Roland Melnick | October 11th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Newsflash to John Foust…the Walker recall failed and failed miserably. Given Obama’s desperate situation today, it’s no surprise you feel the need to direct the conversation away from the election at hand.
I wasn’t playing dumb but merely pointing out the fact you rarely take a stand or make an argument preferring instead to snarkily pick apart others who do.
11. Debunked | October 11th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
” talking point to be that the rate finally dropped below the magic 8% mark Obama promised years ago”
Find me one speech transcript or video where Obama made this promise.
Do this, and I’ll find you several where Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs.
12. Roland Melnick | October 12th, 2012 at 9:55 am
A report compiled by the fledgling Obama Administration entitled “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” stated that Obama’s plan was going to bring the unemployment rate below 8% by early 2010. They also predicted by Q3 2012, the rate should be in the mid-5% range.
This same report projected an unemployment rate around 6% “without Recovery Plan” by now.
This report was introduced by Obama in his Jan. 10, 2009 radio address where he stated:
“I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create – and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.”
Is it reasonable to run away from Obama’s first term record while pressing Walker on half of his?
13. Debunked | October 12th, 2012 at 10:03 am
So, you’re quoting a projection based analysis that Obama stated he would begin an investigation on from a speech [b]before he was even President[/b]?
Further, “This same report projected an unemployment rate around 6% “without Recovery Plan” by now.”
So, basically, you also admit the report underestimated just how fucked up the economy was?
And how is any of this a “promise made by Obama to keep unemployment below 8%” again?
Or, in your words, “the magic 8% mark Obama promised years ago.”
14. Roland Melnick | October 12th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
That was Obama highlighting a report that detailed what his policy was supposed to achieve for the country. You want to reduce this to a semantic argument because he didn’t use the specific words “I promise”…feel free. You’re drawing a distinction that isn’t there. Bottom line is that he failed to produce those results.
I don’t know if they underestimated the sad state of the economy, but let’s assume they did. You want to use that as another excuse to let Obama off the hook for his failures when it’s actually another measure of his incompetence. Analysis of our nations problems is an important piece of crafting policies to improve upon them.
15. Debunked | October 12th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Look, I’ll both put it bluntly and make this easy for you.
Stating that “Obama promised unemployment would not go above 8%” is a lie. Pure and simple.
Here you go:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/11/paul-ryan/ryan-obama-promised-unemployment-would-not-exceed-/
Relevant parts of this page:
” The important word here is projection. The economic analysis wasn’t a promise, it was an educated assessment of how events might unfold. And it came with heavy disclaimers.”
Note, heavy disclaimers.
Further, as can be seen in a different page:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/09/american-crossroads/ad-says-barack-obama-promised-jobless-rate-would-b/
“The unemployment rate hit 8 percent even before Obama signed a stimulus package into law in February 2009.”
So, basically, the unemployment rate hit 8% less than two weeks into Obama’s Presidency.
Yet, somehow, he was expected to “prevent this” and he broke his promise when he didn’t? This is exactly the claim you’re making.
And it’s absurd.
16. Debunked | October 12th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Look, I’ll both put it bluntly and make this easy for you.
Stating that “Obama promised unemployment would not go above 8%” is a lie. Pure and simple.
Here you go:
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/11/paul-ryan/ryan-obama-promised-unemployment-would-not-exceed-/
Relevant parts of this page:
” The important word here is projection. The economic analysis wasn’t a promise, it was an educated assessment of how events might unfold. And it came with heavy disclaimers.”
Note, heavy disclaimers.
Further, as can be seen in a different page:
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/09/american-crossroads/ad-says-barack-obama-promised-jobless-rate-would-b/
“The unemployment rate hit 8 percent even before Obama signed a stimulus package into law in February 2009.”
So, basically, the unemployment rate hit 8% less than two weeks into Obama’s Presidency.
Yet, somehow, he was expected to “prevent this” and he broke his promise when he didn’t? This is exactly the claim you’re making.
And it’s absurd.
17. Roland Melnick | October 12th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Great…let’s talk bluntly and I will type slowly so you can understand. I’m well aware of when the rate hit 8%. I don’t deny Obama inherited a mess.
What’s the difference between:
“I promise unemployment will drop below 8%.”
…and…
” I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.”
…when that report says we will be well below 8% in just a couple years?
You want to say it wasn’t a “promise” but a “prediction.” Ok, fine. It was a prediction…a prediction based on his policies. You are arguing a semantic difference that holds no substantive distinction. To say it doesn’t matter that Obama told Americans his policies will lead to lower unemployment because he didn’t use the words “I promise” is just juvenile.
Oh…I forgot the disclaimers. Well that just makes it all good then, ay? Why didn’t Obama just say “I have no idea if this will work, but let’s spend the trillion dollars anyway.”
That may give Obama a way to weasel out of responsibility for failure, but it doesn’t give us a reason to re-elect him.
18. Debunked | October 12th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
The difference is one isn’t a promise that Obama made like you claimed.
19. Roland Melnick | October 12th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Weasel words.
20. John Foust | October 14th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
I don’t deny Obama inherited a mess.
Be blunt. Don’t weasel. You can say “Bush,” you can admit the Republicans did it.
21. John Foust | October 15th, 2012 at 11:06 am
And they white-wash their web sites. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/24/1134424/-Walker-s-80-000-job-deficit
22. Roland Melnick | November 3rd, 2012 at 4:22 pm
It’s all Bush’s fault? Foust, you were the one claiming President’s have little control over the economy…of course, that claim was in the context of defending Obama’s miserable Presidency. Revel in your hypocrisy…you’ve earned it.
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