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With 243,000 jobs created in January, the economy is starting to look more positive, which might...
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Saturday, February 4, 2012, 9:25 AM ETWith 243,000 jobs created in January, the economy is starting to look more positive, which might be a big plus for Pres. Obama in the November election. Current forecasts for labor growth point toward an extremely close election, Nate Silver writes - one in which every monthly fluctuation above or below a threshold of 150K jobs created could matter.
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indeed the policies of the administration have held back recovery
- EPA idiots - NLRB trogolodytes - Drilling moronoatorium - Obamacare - Dodds Frank - separate and apart from Dodds-Frank over 200 new rules and regs proposed - green energy obsession - obsessive focus on union rights and redistribution rather than job and wealth creation - statism at every turn - government union payoff scheme that was disguised as "shovel ready" stimulus - the constant demonization of anyone who has capital and might decide to put it on the line in the absurd hope of turning an evil profit on their investment - oh and did I mention Obamacare? - talk to employers I am one of them - about the coming huricane that is causing us to quesiton heavily every new hire and wonder about the future costs we are saddling ourselves with - indeed remove that impediment and that alone will alleviate a lot of this "uncertainty" people speak of - we are looking at enormous bills or fines wihiveher way you look at it - the upshot - less jobs.
two things the morons have done - the payroll tax fiscal stimulus and after 3 years a couple of free trade pacts
they have done their best to shackle Gulliver but the US ingenuity and productivity will not be denied. for how much longer can the economy shrug off the morons?
Obama must be defeated before he does further damage.
send him to the UN - he would love to head up that place - he can slam America to his heart's content aqnd focus on social justice while enjoying a nice comfortable lifestyle living as a limousine liberal on the upper East side.
E
Yes the unemployment report looks good however we do know better. Under employment, people falling off the system, participation rates, etc paint a not so good picture.
I have been known as a "economic bear" by many on SA though as I have stated a million times, I am, and continue to be fully invested in various securities.
I think what is happening here: This is the new normal for the U.S.
My points:
*I have made the point before that in the "good old days" 4% unemployment was the norm for the good times in the country.
I think now, after much brainwashing and conditioning by what ever side of government is in power, 6%-8% is going to be the acceptable new norm for unemployment.
*It is now going to be permanently acceptable that 50% of all Americans will from now on receive some form of government assistance. There is no stigma anymore. It is going to be a normal way of life now.
*In this country, you are either a "maker" or a "taker". There is no in between.
*The portion of the population that generates most of the wealth is, without question, going to be forced to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. What is worse, I am not talking about people who through no fault of their cannot take care of themselves. I am talking about those Americans who knowingly rip off the system, who refuse to work, who blame everyone for their misfortune, while at the same time, do not pay their obligations yet continue to be first on line for every Apple product launch. The fraud on every level in our country is out of control and it is beyond the control of our government to stop it.
It is what is it. I have no interest in politics. Politics is nothing more than temporary appeasement. That's all it is regardless of which party is in charge. It is almost pathetic to see clips of political conventions with these poor people, tears streaming down their faces, completed brainwashed into believing that whoever they put into office is actually going to help them. It really shows just how weak minded and scared the citizens of the US have become. A completely "reactive" nation since 1970, instead of a "proactive" nation of the early 1900's.
When a new president or congress gets into office who do most people call? Their friends or family so they can bask or cry about how they think their lives are going to change over the next 4 years.
Who do I call?
My tax attorney. Why? So I can figure out how I can keep ruling this country while the brainwashed sheeple continue on their treadmill to nowhere. (Or insolvency...take your pick)
Every job shipped offshore puts another American family on welfare.
We need jobs in America. Many of those 50% would be much happier being self supporting with jobs.
These people really need to get over him winning the election and move on with their lives!!! Step up and do something positive for the country rather than cry…waa-waa-waa
I suggest going to the drug store and trading your B-negative vitamins for some B-Positive ones!
It has taken President Obama time to undo Bush’s mistakes, and he has a long way to go yet. Four more years should do it!!
I thought it was a parody then I realized it was serious.
Gives you an insight into the level of the intellect of the Obamabots.
I seriously doubt that increase will hold up next month. If you look over the jobs figures in the past, December and January are always a bit skewed because of all the temporary and short term jobs. I think the next report will tell the real story.
(US News)
"U.S. companies aren’t acting the way economists had expected them to. In the past, when the U.S. economy fell into recession, companies typically cut jobs but often kept more than they needed. Some might have felt protective of their staffs. Or they didn’t want to risk losing skilled employees they’d need once business rebounded.
Among manufacturers, for example, some tended to hoard workers during downturns by giving them make-work assignments: sweeping factory floors, counting inventory, painting warehouses.
The result is that productivity — output per workers — has typically decelerated or even dropped as the economy has weakened.
Japan and Europe have been following that script. At the depth of the recession in 2009, productivity shrank 3.7% in Japan and 2.2% in Europe.
The United States has proved the exception. U.S. productivity growth doubled from 2008 to 2009, then doubled again in 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development."
So an alternative explaination is increased productivity.
It's also no surprise that U.S. companies have been reluctant to hire full-time workers when Washington mandates policies that punish them for doing so.
On the other hand, productivity figures are getting more and skewed as the world becomes one giant labor pool. If a company figures out how to make a part for $200 less, that is counted as increased productivity. But if it buys that same part from China for $200 less, that is counted the same way for productivity increase in the official numbers.
You can't possibly believe that your side doesn't say the same "intolerant" things, can you?:
http://lat.ms/zy4VP1
James Hoffa of the Teamsters Union at a Labor Day event, where he said of the Tea Party:
“Everybody here has a vote….If we go back and we keep the eye on the prize. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.”
As an FYI, quoting Suze Orman as an expert on this site probably has exactly the opposite effect of what you expect it to have.
It's so irritating to read how this or that recent economic stat affects his reelection prospects. His record is his record despite the cheerleaders in the media and it comprise a body of issues spanning his time in office much of which is described above. He can't run away from his record.
The answer to the question: "Do you feel better off after 4 years of his leadership?" will be the defining question of the upcoming campaign. Did he take a bad situation that he inherited and made it much, much worse or a lot better? We'll see.
I don't think the GOP candidate will matter as long as he is competent.
This is the price you are paying for this guy
Forget about left and right - that is not the issue
The key question is if you don't know how something works and you mess with it you get bad outcomes
Like the guy who decides to fix his own car but is completely clueless about how it works - no matter how smart a teacher or social workert or lawyer he is - if he does not know cars - he is going to fail
Obama has surrounded himself with people who are unconnected to the economy. His own expereince in this regard - is extermely limited - so we have the guy and his team - the lawyers and social workers - tinkering with the economy and ignoring advice...
And so we get for example a Solyndra.This is emblematic of the problem.
You can see the little wheels turning - green energy - people we trust - they vote for us(that's good and a requirement) - looks like a bright and shiny job creation scheme - what's not to like?
Well - one or two guys with calculators and pocket protectors over at CBO saw the problem right from the start - it was never viable - but hey you can't let an inconvenient truth get in the way of a photo op. Why listen to guys who actually know something...hand me a wrench and shut up
Solyndra was always risky - VC's make bad investments all the time - sometime they make a lot of money and sometimes they don't - the difference is that the market exerts a discipline on these guys - you make enough bad calls and poof - no more money. With Government there is no such discipline. Instead it is almost the opposite. If it does not work - throw more money at it. the economics cease to matter and it becomes a political issue. it must work because it has to.
The Administration understands none of this. To them this business stuff is easy. To the Administration profits and capital formation are risk free and therefore need to be taxed higher. To the Administration - companies exist to provide jobs for voters - not to provide a return on capital. They don't understand it when companies sit on piles of cash. Why not invest it and employ people and pay the profits out in taxes. After all that's only fair isn't it?
E
That's a very good summation.
The XL pipeline decision debacle just goes to show much of a counterweight drag this administration is on this economy - lower oil prices hence lower gas prices improving our competitive advantage, huge new revenue stream for the governments involved, greater national security (fewer "wars for oil"), and greater safety (pipelines by far safer than any other mode of oil transport). Even his big Union buddies are in favor of it.
Seriously any critique of the pipeline project on a cost/benefit basis won't stand even a cursory review.
And yet he sides with the Junk Scientists and the wacko environmentalists which goes to show where his loyalties reside. Weirdly he would gain favor with the public by doing exactly the opposite so this is really a bizarre decision driven by some strange ideology that he hasn't shared with us.
You've identified what actually makes Obama so potentially dangerous, especially in a second term with no need to run for re-election...and, God help us if the Dems take both houses of Congress:
He's an ideologue, a true believer, not a politician. And, it's a far, far left ideology.
The XL pipeline decision? Jobs involved were exaggerated as "tens of thousands" when in reality about 6,000 and temporary. And what about the environmental damage -- destroying farmland doesn't matter? Lower gas prices for how long? Everyone is so up in arms about the debt being left to generations to come, but how about oil? Those who just want to get it out of the ground as soon as possible as though it's a never ending supply without any concern for alternative energy development don't seem to care about energy in the future.
And what about that horrendous debt ceiling debacle? Was that good for the country? Not only did the stock market take a beating (including my portfolio) but the political dissension only coarsened dividing us even further.
I work full time; no great shakes salarywise, but I've gotten a tax cut more than once since Obama became president, not a tax hike as I keep reading Pres. Obama has pushed through.
When O was elected we were losing jobs 700,000 a month. He has added over 1 million jobs in 2010, 1.8 million in 2011, 200,000 jobs a month presently with momentum in positive direction. The rhetoric on the internet is so outrageously false and it's unfortunate that so many people only get their news from it, never learning the facts.
You say you want a third party, why don't you run? Rosanne Barr is!
Glad you think I'm funny!
Ideologically driven and cynical in the extreme.
No way Cliniton would have gone this way - he would have approved it then smoothed it over with the ideologs by throwing them some bone or other.Telling that the State Dept. was supportive and that's where Hilary is. The Clinton's got it. They are pragmatic, practical people.
Obama is a clueless, tone deaf ideolog and therefore like all such people either right (Santorum, Paul, Gingrich) or left - dangerous.
Obama must be defeated.
E
let him use his own money, by all means use your money
but don't take my money from me and piss it away and then tell me you need more because I am not paying my fair share.
E
The government has been doing this indirectly for years with tax incentives and loopholes in the tax laws. There have been times when this was a good thing, and times when it wasn’t. It’s a complex issue.
By the way, since your business is green energy, I’m curious as to if you have benefited at all from anything the government has done.
This is the 3rd or 4th round of big government incentives since 1980, and every time that happens you get an inrush of vendors & installers jumping on the bandwagon. Where we have made out is that eventually most of those go under, so we end up getting some of their customers. So far I see no difference this time around - Our business is up about 50% since Jan 2009, but a lot of that has been because we never relied on any of the incentives, and about half of our competitors have gone bankrupt.
While I am sure that we have gotten some extra sales directly due to the incentives, it is pretty hard to measure. One thing you never see in the glowing reports of solar panel prices dropping is the fact that all of the other items required for installation, including such things as mounting systems, electronics, hardware, permit fees, etc. etc. have gone up just about as drastically.
You sure did get a tax hike, you just don't seem to realize it like the majority of people who lack an understanding of the financial system (high % of Obama's voter base unfortunately). Inflation = a tax on everyone regardless if you are poor or wealthy.
Don't even get me started on Govt CPI that underestimates inflation which negates two very important costs for the average American....energy and food.
We are in Stagflation....or worse yet, what Kass calls Screwflation.
Feb 2009 Obama pledged to cut the deficit in half by his first term. He received everything he asked for in the first half of his term and this is all we have to show for it? He rivals Bush for worst President ever. He promises dreams built on fiscal irresponsibility to his voters who lack the basic understanding of "where does the money come from and can we sustain this path."
Canada of all countries makes a $7 cut to $1 tax increase and fixes nearly all the same problems we had in the 90s. They balanced their budget and controlled debt AND grew jobs. They are well prepared to weather storms as future global problems are tossed their way due to their solid leadership and fiscal responsibility. Instead, we just compile problems on top of problems with a path that follows Greece, Spain, and Italy rather than the responsible path of Canada.
He has created a sentiment of anti-anyone who is successful and anti-business creating further divide in this country. The divide in American today is going to be threatening to our future.
Failed leadership. Obama makes Clinton look like a God to Republicans.
To me, that is the characteristics of an idealogue, not a problem solver.
"no kool-aid drinking here"
That's about the funniest thing you said in that comedic monologue.
Presidents are measured on their performance not their good intentions.
The worst sore losers I ever saw. Get over it!
Your description is a riot --- very funny!!
STEP AWAY FROM THE KOOLAID.
(from Seeking Alpha):
1) "More macro views from Caterpillar (http://bit.ly/w2jJLD), foreseeing the start of a recovery in U.S. construction spending: "We project a 1.5% increase in infrastructure-related construction and a 5% increase in non-residential building construction. We are expecting housing starts of at least 700K units in 2012, up from 607K units in 2011."
2) Apples blowout numbers also indicate at least worldwide there is disposable income.
3) Conservatives here are not credible on any economic matter simply because they are ignoring the largest financial misappropriation in the US, the flow of federal tax dollars from the blue states to the red states. California gets back about 61 cents of every federal tax dollar while states like VA get 1.50 and MS gets about $2. Red states are the ultimate welfare hypocrites.
Virginia: McConnell/Rep. gov.
Oh: Kasich/Rep. Gov.
Nh: Rep. Gov. & Romney backyard
MA: Romney former gov.
Fla: Scott/Rep gov.
IN: Daniels/Rep. Gov.
WI: Rep. Gov.
MI: Romney's dad was gov.
All these states went easily for Obama in '08.
He'll have to battle hard for each and every one of them in '12.
Unlikely that DNC really spends much on BHO. They'll focus
on keeping the Senate (reid/landreau/etal)--... less money to retain basic veto power (while RNC focuses on Prez) They'll build a local bench from School Boards and city council slots.
Donate early. Donate often! Go DNC!