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Obama touts jobs report as he seeks to lift campaign

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The unemployment rate has only gone down because more people are underemployed or no longer looking for a job. Is that an accomplishment to be proud of? The trend that really matters is the total number of people employed. That has not gotten better at all.

Historically, that's not the trend people look for though.

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@Alphaape:

@ bass4funk: Sorry I didn't give you the credit.

Good for you for the correction on bass4funk's stats on the surge of Black unemployment under President Obama. I knew that I didn't post those numbers and didn't think that you were attributing them to me.

I think the broader point is that there are so many bad economic numbers these days that it is nearly impossible for any of one of us to keep track of them all. It is ironic that the first black president (well, he really is bi-racial) hasn't been taken to task for this poor statistic on black unemployment. I don't think Obama is a bad person, I just think he is a bad president. He believes what he believes because he feels that they are the most humane way of governing despite all evidence to the contrary. The results of his policies have shown that to be the case.

@lostrune2:

It's not the number; it's the trend that matters, historically.

The trend for the last four years is that the unemployment rate has be at or above 8% despite the fact that Obama said it would never go above 8% if his economic program were passed. How many jobs is that they he failed to save or create? It has gone up and gone down around just above 8% this entire year. However, miraculously the unemployment rate dipped below 8% despite the fact that new employment did not even keep pace with population growth. Monthly employment has come in at below population growth on average all year.

The unemployment rate has only gone down because more people are underemployed or no longer looking for a job. Is that an accomplishment to be proud of? The trend that really matters is the total number of people employed. That has not gotten better at all.

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It's not the number; it's the trend that matters, historically.

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@ bass4funk: Sorry I didn't give you the credit.

This is something liberals can never talk about or brag about, that's why they never ever mention it and Obama as well. Obama has the worst record and the idiots on msnbc never mention that. Sharpton, Jackson, Matthews and the rest of the talento, NOT a peep.

As you mention, I have seen countless arguments in person from my relatives and friends back at home in our Black community on the failings of Obama and the Dems, and yet they still believe in the Dems and Obama. These are people who were alive in my home state in the Deep South when they had to pay poll taxes, and it was the Democratic state legislatures that kept them out of the white schools and who resisted intergration. Yet they still follow the Dems to this day, and will defend their poor record for helping out the people in the community by blaming it on the GOP and other whites (when the very same Dems in power are white also).

People whom you would think would be able to think logically and clearly, and who are teachers, lawyers, and in other professions, yet they blindly follow the Dems, believing in everything that they are told when they can see it is not working. Yet they just keep on following the same lies and false facts from the Dems. I learned a valuable lesson when I last went back, I just don't talk politics. And it's quite a shame too.

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Black unemployment rose and fell during Bush's years with the highest rate of 11.4% in NOv 2008, and the lowest of 7.7% in Aug 2007.

Since Obama was elected, the Black unemployment rate has never fell below 13.5%, and the highest rate was 16.5% in Apr 2010. The current rate is somewhere around 16.2% (as of May 2012). So much for "Hope and Change" for the Black community.

This is something liberals can never talk about or brag about, that's why they never ever mention it and Obama as well. Obama has the worst record and the idiots on msnbc never mention that. Sharpton, Jackson, Matthews and the rest of the talento, NOT a peep.

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@Alpha

Those were my stats. I wrote that.

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@ Wolfpak: Good postings!

"unemployment... blacks 14.4%, Hispanics 11% and whites 7.3%... you can't spin those numbers"

@ Serrano: Unfortunatley those very people will not really get any help from Obama and the Dems. The only thing that they will get is that Romney and the GOP are racists and that they are denying them the right to get jobs. According to figures provided by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in Jan 2001 when "W'" took office, Black unemployment rate was 8.2 %. Remember, we were coming off the 8 years or the first "Black" President, Bill Clinton (as the Dem used to say), when supposedley the budget was balanced, and the nation was a lot better off.

Black unemployment rose and fell during Bush's years with the highest rate of 11.4% in NOv 2008, and the lowest of 7.7% in Aug 2007.

Since Obama was elected, the Black unemployment rate has never fell below 13.5%, and the highest rate was 16.5% in Apr 2010. The current rate is somewhere around 16.2% (as of May 2012). So much for "Hope and Change" for the Black community.

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Wolfpak, your two-paragraph post at 11:21PM JST was spot on. Brilliant. My only regret is that I can only vote "good" once.

The only thing I can add to that is the fact that those who promise to "spread the wealth" always end up spreading poverty instead. "Unintended consequences", and all that.

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Noliving:

Well to be fair the tax cuts under President Bush didn't only just affect the rich they affected everyone. So much so that eliminating the tax cuts could cost the economy anywhere between 1-3% in economic growth if they were allowed to expire.

Which would wipe out all the economic growth we've had for the past 3.5 years. No wonder Obama hasn't eliminated them as he promised when campaigning in '08.

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Sorry, previous post got a bit jumbled.

About those phony official numbers...

October 5. Today’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 114,000 new jobs in September and a drop in the rate of unemployment from 8.1% to 7.8%. As 114,000 new jobs are not sufficient to stay even with population growth, the drop in the unemployment rate is the result of not counting discouraged workers who are defined away as “not in the labor force.”

According to the BLS, “In September, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force.” These individuals “wanted and were available for work,” but “they were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

In other words, 2.5 million unemployed Americans were not counted as unemployed.

The stock market rose on the phony good news. Bloomberg’s headline: “U.S. Stocks Rise as Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Drops.”

A truer picture of the dire employment situation is provided by the 600,000 rise over the previous month in involuntary part-time workers. According to the BLS, “These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.”

Turning to the 114,000 new jobs, once again the jobs are concentrated in lowly paid domestic service jobs that cannot be offshored. Manufacturing jobs declined by 16,000. As has been the case for a decade, two categories –health care and social assistance (primarily ambulatory health care services) and waitresses and bartenders account for 53% of the new jobs. The BLS never ceases to find ever growing employment of people in restaurants and bars despite the rising dependence of the US population on food stamps. The elderly are rising as a percentage of the American population, but I sometimes wonder if employment in ambulatory health care services is rising faster than the elderly population. Whether these reported jobs are real, I do not know.

The rest of the new jobs were accounted for by retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities (primarily credit intermediation), professional and business services (primarily administrative and waste services), and state government education, where the 13,600 reported new jobs seem odd in light of the teacher layoffs and rise in classroom size.

The high-tech jobs that economists promised would be our reward for offshoring American manufacturing jobs and tradeable professional services, such as software engineering and IT, have never materialized. “The New Economy” was just another hoax, like “Iraqi weapons of mass destruction” and “Iranian nukes.”

While employment falters, the consumer price index (CPI-U) in August increased 0.6 percent, the largest since June 2009. If the August rate is annualized, it means bad news on the inflation front. Instead of bringing us high tech jobs, is “the New Economy” bringing back the stagflation of the late 1970s? Time will tell.

Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal

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About those phony official numbers...

October 5. Today’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 114,000 new jobs in September and a drop in the rate of unemployment from 8.1% to 7.8%. As 114,000 new jobs are not sufficient to stay even with population growth, the drop in the unemployment rate is the result of not counting discouraged workers who are defined away as “not in the labor force.”

According to the BLS, “In September, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force.” These individuals “wanted and were available for work,” but “they were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

In other words, 2.5 million unemployed Americans were not counted as unemployed.

The stock market rose on the phony good news. Bloomberg’s headline: “U.S. Stocks Rise as Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Drops.”

A truer picture of the dire employment situation is provided by the 600,000 rise over the previous month in involuntary part-time workers. According to the BLS, “These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.”

Turning to the 114,000 new jobs, once again the jobs are concentrated in lowly paid domestic service jobs that cannot be offshored. Manufacturing jobs declined by 16,000.

TheTyrannyofGood Intentions Paul Craig Roberts...

As has been the case for a

Buy New $9.89

decade, two categories –health care and social assistance (primarily ambulatory health care

PrivacyInformation

services) and waitresses and bartenders account for 53% of the new jobs. The BLS never ceases to find ever growing employment of people in restaurants and bars despite the rising dependence of the US population on food stamps. The elderly are rising as a percentage of the American population, but I sometimes wonder if employment in ambulatory health care services is rising faster than the elderly population. Whether these reported jobs are real, I do not know.

The rest of the new jobs were accounted for by retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities (primarily credit intermediation), professional and business services (primarily administrative and waste services), and state government education, where the 13,600 reported new jobs seem odd in light of the teacher layoffs and rise in classroom size.

The high-tech jobs that economists promised would be our reward for offshoring American manufacturing jobs and tradeable professional services, such as software engineering and IT, have never materialized. “The New Economy” was just another hoax, like “Iraqi weapons of mass destruction” and “Iranian nukes.”

While employment falters, the consumer price index (CPI-U) in August increased 0.6 percent, the largest since June 2009. If the August rate is annualized, it means bad news on the inflation front. Instead of bringing us high tech jobs, is “the New Economy” bringing back the stagflation of the late 1970s? Time will tell.

Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal

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Zurc:

On the GDP falling, more predictably, you are totally wrong. The USA GDP is up 12 straight quarters in a row. Here are the facts, not fox news lies, but real facts for your education. Look them up for yourself if you wish.

I guess you didn't think anyone would actually follow up on your faux GDP numbers? I think you must be watching too much MSNBC because you sure did exaggerate the quarterly GDP numbers for 2010, 2011, and the first two quarters of 2012. Here are the actual quarterly GDP from the US Dept of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis for the same time period you provided. Notice how the numbers are not as inflated as those you provide above.

Y2008 Q3 (-3.7). Q4 (-8.9). Y2009 Q1 (-5.3). Q2 (-0.3). Q3 (1.4). Q4 (4.0). Y2010 Q1 (2.3). Q2 (2.2). Q3 (2.6). Q4 (2.4). Y2011 Q1 (0.1). Q2 (2.5). Q3 (1.3). Q4 (4.1). Y2012 Q1 (2.0). Q2 (1.3).

Here's the link so you can see for yourself (you need to download a PDF): http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

Do these numbers show GDP is up for 12 straight quarters? No. They don't even show an upward trend. In fact, the trend is going the opposite direction. For 2010, GDP was 2.8. In 2011 it was 1.7. So far in 2012 it looks no better or will more likely be worse than last year.

If you are going to say that someone is repeating lies, make sure you have the facts straight.

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JT

Your link didn't link...

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The U6 number is unchanged at 14.7%. If unemployment were really down, that would be down. The Labor Force Participation rate is unchanged, if unemployment were down, it would be up.

Heh, watch for the BLS to revise the number upward again like it has done for the past 43 months in a row.

RR

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@Zur

So now you are doing the same thing as Obama and want to believe your own facts. I asked you as question and you gave me NO answer, which shows your credibility is like Obama's, unbelievable.

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Wolfpack,

Unemployment, underemployment, and those that have given up on finding a job remains at 14.7%. The percentage of adult working age American's remains at a 30 year low. GDP has declined over the past three years since the recession ended. The only thing that is shallow is Obama's economic recovery.

Well you are rarely right but on the fact there is a recovery, well done. On the GDP falling, more predictably, you are totally wrong. The USA GDP is up 12 straight quarters in a row. Here are the facts, not fox news lies, but real facts for your education. Look them up for yourself if you wish.

I can go through every post by the right wingers and prove them wrong. I do not as why bother, you all live in your fake bubble of lies. But this once Wolfpack, try to get your facts correct.

2008q3 -0.6 2008q4 -8.4 2009q1 -4.4 2009q2 -1.1 2009q3 1.9 2009q4 5.3 2010q1 3.9 2010q2 4.1 2010q3 4.6 2010q4 4.5 2011q1 2.2 2011q2 5.2 2011q3 4.3 2011q4 4.2 2012q1 4.2 2012q2 2.8

Anyone who wants to go back to those huge negative number in 2008 and 2009 courtesy of the republicans vote for the Mittstake as he using the same bush neocon advisors from the bush administration in his campaign.

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Both parties have contributed to the empowerment of government for their own selfish ends. That is why I am a conservative and not a Republican. How many national Democrat leaders are poor or even middle class? They are all millionaires. Obama, Reid, Pelosi - all filthy rich - and hypocrites. President Obama became a millionaire by pushing the cult of his personality and his progressive/Socialist political views to the masses of gullible Liberals who worship him as a messiah; the second coming of Mao if you will. But Obama's "cultural revolution" will end just badly as Mao's. He is pushing a theory of government that has always failed in the past, is failing now in places as divergent as America, Europe, North Korea, and Cuba, and will always offer false hope ultimate failure in the future. 'People (and nations) that do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them".

Obama and the Democrats will use this meaningless 7.8% statistic which is unrelated to the actual number or percentage of people with a job, to make a case that their policies are good for America. I don't blame them for that. But as you saw in the debate, when forced to argue reality and not side issues, Obama has no answers for the economic malaise the country has endured for the past 4 years. Zingers about taxes and about the 1% or 47% or whatever are irrelevant to the very dire situation America finds itself in today. The nations debt is exploding by over a trillion dollars a year and there is no end in sight. Economics matter, bloated and inefficient government programs matter, and changing the Founding governing principles of the country matter, sound economics and financial management matter. Acting as if they don''t - as Obama has - is immoral. I hope that the citizens of America (and Europe) figure this out before it's too late.

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There isn't any particularly good news if more people have stopped looking for work. Apparently there are a lot more people on social security disability as well. That's not job creation. Of course the only jobs the government can create are government jobs or wars or subsidies. All rely on $$$ from the government, not because a good or service was created that people would buy. A very shallow recovery indeed.

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Funny, this thread is a little liberal light today, what happened to the majority of liberals? When Obama is really doing good or when things go his way, y'all come out to praise him, when he screws up, you guys are so quiet. How can you guys sit there with a straight face and believe that the unemployment rate just happened to drop from 8.1% to 7.8%? It took a few years for the 8.3% to get to 8.1 that took 43 months and now it just so quickly dropped by a stroke of luck?

You bought that line.

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As the saying goes, "don´t believe any statistic that you did not fake yourself". In this case, the fakery is so blatant, it is almost funny.

I hope someone calls these election campaigners out on it.

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@saidani:

And, in fact, you mistake the Kenyans for Keynesians. Is this perhaps a Freudan slip?

Too funny! :-)

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Creating more government jobs, where salaries are paid through either higher taxes , debt creation, or money printing doesn't = a better economy

The fact that people think its even the Presidents job to create employment, are retarded. Its the Presidents job to keep government out of the way, so the private sector can create REAL growth

Even if the GDP grows a few %, it doesn't mean anything, if you had to take on a high % of debt to fuel the growth.

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More people working in American is spun as bad news by republicans. How shallow can you possibly be?

Unemployment, underemployment, and those that have given up on finding a job remains at 14.7%. The percentage of adult working age American's remains at a 30 year low. GDP has declined over the past three years since the recession ended. The only thing that is shallow is Obama's economic recovery.

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"unemployment... blacks 14.4%, Hispanics 11% and whites 7.3%... you can't spin those numbers"

Watch Obama and his supporters spin 'em, lol!

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The markets are up in the US because business sees growth.

CNBC would disagree with you there.

The tax cuts of course were suppose to pay for themselves via trickle down, how is that working for you?

Well to be fair the tax cuts under President Bush didn't only just affect the rich they affected everyone. So much so that eliminating the tax cuts could cost the economy anywhere between 1-3% in economic growth if they were allowed to expire. The other thing to point out is that President Obama wants to keep Bush's tax cuts for all but those that make more than $250,000. Your question doesn't really prove anything considering the largest causes of the deficit is the Afghan war and the Great Recession and Iraq war was a big part of it but is no longer. In other words if you removed those three things from the equation who is to say that they would not pay for themselves via trickle down?

The trickle downy thing.

Government stimulus is trickle down effect is it not? Someone or something with a lot of money spends that money either on investments or other types of projects which in turn causes business to hire people and those jobs result in those people spending money at different business which in turn causes those businesses to hire people to meet demand, etc.

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zurcronium:

90% of the debt during the last four years comes from bush wars and unfunded programs, plus the tax cuts for the rich. The tax cuts of course were suppose to pay for themselves via trickle down, how is that working for you?

In 2003 revenues were $1782 billion, in 2007 revenues were $2568 billion, which number is bigger?

Who does your math, Rex Nutting?

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For all of you repeating Obama's talking point that this is a sign of economic recovery and the Republicans just can't get over it, let me take you back to March, 2004...

March 2004 Jobs Report: New jobs created: 308,000 Population employed: 62.1%

Candidate Obama says March 2004 Jobs Report is not a sign the economy is recovering.

September 2012 Jobs Report: New Jobs created: 114,000 Population employed: 58.7% (People who gave up looking for work and left the job force: Almost 500,000)

President Obama says the September 2012 Jobs Report is a clear sign the economy is recovering.

By the way, the unemployment rate for blacks remains unchanged at 13.4%, and teenagers stay at 23.7% as well. Yet, these are Obama's two strongest voting blocks. Ironic, no?

JTDanMan, I forgot to mention earlier, that was a nice comeback with the Grapes of Wrath thing. I lol'd. Well played, sir.

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The 'funniest' part about all this is that those Republicans who have been pushing unemployment as one of the reasons Obama's "the worst president" and what have you are the same ones now, Romney included, who are back-tracking and say the numbers don't matter.

They are not saying the numbers don't matter what they are saying is that the numbers don't add up. A 114,000 jobs are added causes a .3% drop in the unemployment rate yet in July of this year over 160,000 jobs were created that month and yet the unemployment rate stayed the same. How do you explain that? The most likely reason is that people just stopped looking for work in September.

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"as he ( Obama ) seeks to lift campaign"

What, it's not flying high? Why not?

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“More Americans entered the workforce, more people are getting jobs.”

Well if Obama is going to stand firm on this, then why is he and the Dems keep insisting that we still need to raise taxes if the recovery is working? So if I understand them correctly, once people start back workiing, the next thing to do is to continue to raise taxes, since obviously they have money now that they are working and can afford it.

I am glad and I hope that the numbers are true and not rigged to make the Obama admin look good. But I am not so sure. I would like to see how the unemployment rate went down in Nevada, since Obama spent his time there before the debate and NV, especially Las Vegas has a very high unemployment rate, higher than the national average. By these numbers, rates should at least be decreasing nationwide but I don't think we are going to see it.

More part time workers will be hired as the Holiday season approaches, and we will see some uptick in spending but probably not as much as in the past. But, I hope that Obama doesn't try to spin it that his plan is working.

The much-needed dose of positive news for the Democratic president came two days after he was widely judged the loser in his first presidential debate against Romney, who breathed new life into his own campaign.

I was listening to a talk radio show out of LA a few weeks ago and the host who is a member of the National Guard and has been to Iraq and other war spots as part of his duties, and has been known to give a fairly honest assesment both good and bad about the war on terror mentioned that he had received information from people in the right places that there is a particular person of interest that has been in the US sights, and that we have had opportunities to grab this person several times but it was called off at the last minute. There are some who believe that the go order will be given in October, and that has many of the people who actually will be doing the dirty work not too happy.

It sounds like rumor and it may be but that it pretty bold for someone to put that out over the airwave if he didn't really believe it. Having said that, I can probably say that if in the next debate, or the polls show a swing for Romney, something big in the War on Terror will happen. Glad that another bad guy will be taken out, but sad that it came down to only doing so to suit an election campaign and not the good of the American people.

Stay tuned for more Chicago styley dirty tricks politics.

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Obama and the hard work of 47% of America that the MIttstake hates is finally fixing the near depression that the bush republicans forced on the country. Like Clinton had to clean up the reagan recession, same story. Obama had it worse however as bush really screwed the country.

Clinton, cleaning up after Reagan? What are you smoking? Lol $10T and Obama added an additional $6T, and borrowing 3.5 billion a week and the debt goes on...

Yes, polls are not be believed by the republicans, its a liberal conspiracy, until they can be believed. Unemployment figures are rock solid until they are cooked up by the liberal spirits who haunt the spreadsheets of the Department of Labor.

Sorry, did you leave the latest issue of TIME? I hate to break your liberal heart, but both sides spin, BOTH! Wrap that around your logic.

Anyone paying attention to the real economic news, no one watching fox for sure,

Really? That's not what the stats say.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/05/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-october-4-2012/151692/ http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/05/20/poll-fox-oreilly-most-trusted-news-sources

knows that housing is rebounding finally and that in general the economy is doing much better.

The economy is doing better, give it your best shot, I'll take that bet with you. The economy is crappy! Have you been to Nevada recently?

You can see that in the stock market which is at five year highs now. The republicans have no answer for that, unless they think that Kenyans are driving the market up somehow to support Obama (who was born there according to most republicans).

ROFL

JT, get use to it man. When you lay out the truth, facts as you say, the bubble bound fox news retreads on this board respond with silence. They know propaganda, you know reality. You will always win and therefore they never dare to reply. For example, I have many times challenged them to come up with one thing the republicans did under bush that was good for the USA. Reply, crickets. Nothing. Because when they were in power all they did was tear the USA down. As Romney would do if elected, most Americans understand that.

like Romney was saying, you are entitled to believe whatever you want, but you are NOT entitled to your own facts.

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zurcronium

Oh, I'm used to it

For eight long-years the Republicans afflicted my country with hear-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing government. My country looked for government but the Republicans looked away.

For nearly four years we have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We Dems will keep our sleeves rolled up.

We Dems had to struggle with the old enemies of peace, prosperity, national well-being, and the American Way: business monopoly, financial monopoly, speculation and reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering, foreign adventurism, the senseless squandering of power, legitimacy and goodwill, and religious bigotry. In a word: the Republican party.

The Republicans, or more precisely the Big Money behind the them, consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We Dems have shown America that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.

Never before in our history have these forces, these reactiories, these anti-Americans -- in short, these Republicans, been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for Obama. As they are unanimous in their hate for any Democrat.

And I welcome their hatred.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Anyone paying attention to the real economic news, no one watching fox for sure, knows that housing is rebounding finally and that in general the economy is doing much better. You can see that in the stock market which is at five year highs now

It was my understanding the liberals were the most intelligent Americans. The stock market does not reflect current economic activity. It is being pumped up by the Fed Reserve policies because all of the money it creates has nowhere to go except into equities. The market is way overbought. The Bank of Japan has been doing the same thing since 2000 to prop up real estate and other asset values.

And, in fact, you mistake the Kenyans for Keynesians. Is this perhaps a Freudian slip?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Obama and the hard work of 47% of America that the MIttstake hates is finally fixing the near depression that the bush republicans forced on the country. Like Clinton had to clean up the reagan recession, same story. Obama had it worse however as bush really screwed the country.

Yes, polls are not be believed by the republicans, its a liberal conspiracy, until they can be believed. Unemployment figures are rock solid until they are cooked up by the liberal spirits who haunt the spreadsheets of the Department of Labor.

Anyone paying attention to the real economic news, no one watching fox for sure, knows that housing is rebounding finally and that in general the economy is doing much better. You can see that in the stock market which is at five year highs now. The republicans have no answer for that, unless they think that Kenyans are driving the market up somehow to support Obama (who was born there according to most republicans).

JT, get use to it man. When you lay out the truth, facts as you say, the bubble bound fox news retreads on this board respond with silence. They know propaganda, you know reality. You will always win and therefore they never dare to reply. For example, I have many times challenged them to come up with one thing the republicans did under bush that was good for the USA. Reply, crickets. Nothing. Because when they were in power all they did was tear the USA down. As Romney would do if elected, most Americans understand that.

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JT

I don't think their is really any desperation on most conservative minds, the people have already pretty much made up their minds at this point, it's what the Swing Voters think, they are the people that will swing the election one way or another. It doesn't matter what you think, the fact remains, the sudden change in numbers is very strange and considering no president has never been reelected with an economy over 7.4% And now the drastic change???

Coincidence? I doubt it.

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JTDanMan:

Yep. Really. 'Cause it was higher. And now its lower. That is good news.

And yet, the U-6 rate remains at 14.7%. Still. One would think that if the U-3 dropped for the right reasons, the U-6 would drop as well.

One would also think that the number of people on welfare or food stamps would drop if unemployment dropped. But it's still climbing, as it has every single month Obama has been president.

So, the U-6 rate remains at 14.7%, and the welfare and food stamp rolls are still increasing. And you think that's a good thing. Fascinating.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

RON PAUL 2012!

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Project much?

Why yes, I do. I like to run movies every friday on the big white wall next to my house. Friends come over. We have a really good shabbas. Tonight we watched The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

How did you guess?

Anyways, you say "My posts are often downrated, but almost never substantively countered. Go for a browse and see for yourself."

Well, that is you assert. You can evidence for it, if you like. But as it stands now, it is your mere assertion.

Whereas the evidence for my assertion is plain and clear for anyone to see. I posted, right here on this thread the following factual statement:

Obama Approval Reaches 3-Year High

While President Obama turned in a lackluster debate performance that was panned by Republicans and Democrats alike, he got some good news yesterday: according to a new Gallup poll his approval rating now stands at 54%, the highest it has been in 3 years. Historically, Presidents with an approval rating above 50% have been reelected while those under 50% have struggled and often lost.

To which four Right Whiners downrated before some others here kindly uprated.

That is, yet another, uhhh, what do you call those things that come in handy when you are trying to support something you think is true....uuuh, Oh yea:

Facts.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Yep. Really. 'Cause it was higher. And now its lower. That is good news.

Yay, the labor force participation rate decreased! YAY! Let's be happy! This is great news! Soon it will drop to levels not seen since virtually all married woman stayed at home! Don't you just love when Americans give up on having a job? :)

Homeless people aren't unemployed, are they?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Old Hawk

7.8% unemployment is good news for Obama, the Democrats, and America? Really?

Yep. Really. 'Cause it was higher. And now its lower. That is good news.

Unless, of course, you don't want the number to go lower? Like Mr. McConnel.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

OldHawkOct. 06, 2012 - 10:58AM JST

globalwatcher:

"Big Bird" should be very happy. He may be able to keep the job on PBS after al with Obamal.

You still haven't explained why Sesame Street, which makes millions with its movies and merchandising, should still be subsidized with tax dollars. Or money borrowed from China.

OldHawk,

I said, Big Bird, you have two minutes for rebuttal.

Big Bird said, "Okay, I will run for 2012 Presidential campaign to clear my name!!."

I said, Big Bird, you will be the winner!! You will go to Washington to clean up the mess!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

smithinjapan:

The 'funniest' part about all this is that those Republicans who have been pushing unemployment as one of the reasons Obama's "the worst president" and what have you are the same ones now, Romney included, who are back-tracking and say the numbers don't matter.

Where are we saying that numbers don't matter?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

My posts are often downrated, but almost never substantively countered. Go for a browse and see for yourself.

It's the same for me. People don't like to be challenged outside their comfort zones. I consider it a badge of honor.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Quite the opposite. The loss in government jobs has dragged down the overall gains from the private sector.

Actually.....

The best news anywhere in the U.S. economy over the past three months has been in the government sector, where unemployment has dropped dramatically from 5.7 percent in July to 5.1 percent in August to 4.3 percent in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Both the federal and state governments increased their employees in July, August and September.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/unemployment-rate-plummets-43-government-workers

Try again.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

kazetsukai: The problem is much of the positions added were from US government "created" jobs.

Quite the opposite. The loss in government jobs has dragged down the overall gains from the private sector.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The 'funniest' part about all this is that those Republicans who have been pushing unemployment as one of the reasons Obama's "the worst president" and what have you are the same ones now, Romney included, who are back-tracking and say the numbers don't matter.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Regarding information from any government, "There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics." Statistians always skew the numbers to support their cause. That goes for either party. The better measure is the Employment Participation Rate.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

saidani:

After Gallup declined to change its polling methodology, Obama’s Department of Justice hit it with an unrelated lawsuit that appears damning on its face.

Welcome to Chicago!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Lies, damn lies, and statistics. The labor force participation rate has continued to drop - that's terrible news. Liberals are such hypocrites - if this was happening during Bush's term, they'd be saying the same exact thing as the conservatives.

I hate politics...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

JTDanMan:

I love it when the Right Whiners here downrate factual posts they don't like. Shows you where the Republican party really is these days: Denial.

Project much? My posts are often downrated, but almost never substantively countered. Go for a browse and see for yourself.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

globalwatcher:

"Big Bird" should be very happy. He may be able to keep the job on PBS after al with Obamal.

You still haven't explained why Sesame Street, which makes millions with its movies and merchandising, should still be subsidized with tax dollars. Or money borrowed from China.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

JTDanMan:

7.8. That is good news for Team Obama, Team Democrat and Team America.

7.8% unemployment is good news for Obama, the Democrats, and America? Really? Median incomes at a 13-year low is good news? A consistent 14.7% U-6 unemployment/underemployment rate is good news? U-3 unemployment numbers that have previously gone down only because people gave up and left the work force is good news? A record number of people working part-time jobs but wanting full-time jobs is good news?

Wouldn't 4.7% be better? Especially if they were full-time, career-oriented jobs, with the median income back where it should be for a healthy economy? Yes, it would. But the Obama administration has proven itself incapable of creating an environment where such an economy can happen.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

saidani:

Here's a peculiar statistical aberration:

Household Survey people employed: +873,000 (source)

Part-time jobs for economic reasons: +582,000 (source)

582,000 divided by 873,000 = 0.666666666666*

Aka: precisely two thirds. Whatever are the odds...

No...nothing fishy about these numners.

Considering that I am counted three times in the employment numbers (I'm working three part-time jobs, only to make less than a third of what I used to make at one full-time job back during the "awful" Bush economy when unemployment was low and median income was high), it's par for the course. Remember when the Obama administration would let go of census workers, only to hire them back the next week? They counted each time as a "new hire", even though they were only re-hiring the same people over and over.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

paulinusa:

When the monthly unemployment numbers came in lousy in the past, conservatives rejoiced and never doubted the data.

Rejoiced? You can provide evidence of this, right? Do you know the difference between someone rejoicing, and someone saying "I told you so"? Apparently not.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Unemployment goes down for two reasons;

a/ more people are working b/ more people stop looking for jobs and go on welfare/food stamps

In the past number of months, b/ has been the norm. The number of jobs created isn't even enough to keep up with the growth in population and subsequent growth in the work force. It's shallow and disingenious to just tout the number without looking beyond.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Weird, only 114,000 jobs are created and that results in a .3 drop in percentage of unemployed. In July of this year the US economy created over 160,000 jobs and yet the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3%. Most likely the drop in percentage is down to people who just stopped looking for a job.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

In other great news:

Obama Approval Reaches 3-Year High

http://mysapolitics.com/obama-administration-threatens-gallup-pollster/

Internal emails between senior officials at The Gallup Organization, obtained by The Daily Caller, show senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod attempting to subtly intimidate the respected polling firm when its numbers were unfavorable to the president.

After Gallup declined to change its polling methodology, Obama’s Department of Justice hit it with an unrelated lawsuit that appears damning on its face. ..........

In response to that email, a third senior Gallup official said he thought Axelrod’s pressure “sounds a little like a Godfather situation.”

Who knows if this has influenced Gallup but, then, who can trust them now? They are the only major poll which in not a tie within the margin of error.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And more deception from the left as usual.

Your whining. I'm not deceiving, unless you actually think I personally cooked the books, 'Cause I'm a Librul Dem.

Now that's just paranoia.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Romney is toast! Ha ha ha

What? C'mon my hearty fellow. Don't go saying that. Besides, it's 85% in favor of the Kenyan Soshalist who won't keep his darn hands of my medicare. Willard having a 15% chance to win ain't toast, No way!

C'mon! Put on your game face. Don't buy into the lubrul lame stream media!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

It's really 11%.

"The online prediction market Intrade...put ( Obama's ) chances at re-election at about 69%"

Romney is toast! Ha ha ha

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I love it when the Right Whiners here downrate factual posts they don't like. Shows you where the Republican party really is these days: Denial.

But I am here to remind them: Facts are Stubborn Things.

When they work through their grief, the Bagger Know-Nothing Movement subsides back into the sewers form whence it emerges to poison our body politic every 35 years or so, they will once again embrace reality, and not reject it.

And until that fine day, they will remain a regional party.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

And yet more whining from the Right.

And more deception from the left as usual.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

"Big Bird" should be very happy. He may be able to keep the job on PBS after al with Obamal.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Dems are trying to cook the books,

And yet more whining from the Right.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@paul

Typical? You mean at how Dems are trying to cook the books, you betcha!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

In other great news:

Obama Approval Reaches 3-Year High

While President Obama turned in a lackluster debate performance that was panned by Republicans and Democrats alike, he got some good news yesterday: according to a new Gallup poll his approval rating now stands at 54%, the highest it has been in 3 years. Historically, Presidents with an approval rating above 50% have been reelected while those under 50% have struggled and often lost.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

How shallow can you possibly be?

Shallow ain't the problem. They have no honor and no shame.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

7.8. That is good news for Team Obama, Team Democrat and Team America.

And Good News for John McCain.

I'm Lovin' It.™

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

When the monthly unemployment numbers came in lousy in the past, conservatives rejoiced and never doubted the data.

@paulinusa

I think rejoicing is the wrong word. Seeing unemployment and the misery it inflicts, makes me want to see the situation be changed for the better, and PDQ.

Now the jobs report comes in better than expected and they scream about how the figures are cooked for political purposes.

If there was evidence, not just figures, but there is none, and at election time, it is natural to assume a shell game has indeed taken place.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-05/odd-arima-x-12-statistical-aberration

Here's a peculiar statistical aberration:

Household Survey people employed: +873,000 (source)

Part-time jobs for economic reasons: +582,000 (source)

-> 582,000 divided by 873,000 = 0.666666666666*

Aka: precisely two thirds. Whatever are the odds...

No...nothing fishy about these numners.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

A reason for unemployment numbers "improvement":

More part-time work, while full-time jobs are disappearing.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/10/05/what-78-percent-jobless-rate-really-means/

Initially, the figures appear improved, but upon closer inspection, there is more of the same hardship for the American worker, in this present economy.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Smells a bit fishy to me, has nothing to do with being a conservative and more with the numbers being a little suspicious.

Nothing fishy the household survey threw out an outlier this month thats all.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/10/05/a-brief-note-on-polling-and-unemployment-data-analysis/

The BLS conducts two surveys each month to determine employment data. The first is the establishment survey, which polls 410,000 businesses each month. The second is the household survey, which polls 60,000 households each month. As one might expect, the larger survey provides a more stable series and more reliable data. The smaller one is still a very significant sample, but in a nation of around 150 million households, it’s hardly an exact science.

In today’s case, the establishment survey showed a result that corresponds closely to other economic trends and that doesn’t deviate much from the intraseries trend. The household survey, from which the jobless rate is derived, showed a very large deviation from its own trending and from the growth data in the economy. The last time we had that many added in the household survey, the GDP growth rate was around 9%, and it’s currently 1.5%.

That’s why people who understand data and surveys look skeptically at the result of the household survey. It doesn’t mean a conspiracy is in place; it does strongly suggest that this month’s sample of 60,000 households threw an outlier, especially when compared with the establishment survey and other economic data.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

There are fewer people working now than in 2009 -- that is a fact...

0 ( +3 / -3 )

More people working in American is spun as bad news by republicans. How shallow can you possibly be?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

bass4funk: Like I said, typical.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

@Paul

For over 43 months, the unemployment rate was OVER 8% and to a sliver of a point that is decent news, don't you think it's a bit odd how it would drop from 8.1% to 7.8%? Honestly and with the timing as to the drastic change. Smells a bit fishy to me, has nothing to do with being a conservative and more with the numbers being a little suspicious.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/05/news/economy/september-jobs-report-preview/index.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/10/05/hey-neutron-jack-quit-the-conspiracy-talk-the-jobs-report-is-pretty-bad/

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

The validity and applicability of All statistics issued by the US government or any government depends on the "criteria," "definition," and "scope" of the data used. Already the statistics released is under "question" because the data used included "household" related jobs that are usually not included in such statistics. The problem has been that the administration under Mr. Obama has been using "different" "criteria" each time they issued the figures. So all such statistics released, especially by the US under Mr. Obama must be "scrutinized" and "interpreted" in the correct perspective.

As the previous writer expressed, the TOTAL unemployment numbers are much greater and the new jobs obtained are far less than what the report indicates, when the "prior" statistic criteria is used.

The problem is much of the positions added were from US government "created" jobs.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

When the monthly unemployment numbers came in lousy in the past, conservatives rejoiced and never doubted the data. Now the jobs report comes in better than expected and they scream about how the figures are cooked for political purposes. Typical tunnel vision of the far right.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

There are less people working now than when Obama took office -- you can't change that...

0 ( +5 / -5 )

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