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Good News: Only 36,000 Lost Their Jobs
by Big Dog on Mar 5, 2010 at 18:12 Posted in Political 63 Comments
Darrel and Mike, two commenters at this site, have been having a debate about a chart that shows the number of people losing their jobs. There are still jobs being lost but not as many and these two gentlemen are discussing if losing fewer jobs is good or if it is still bad because we are losing them.
Harry Reid has settled this and it would appear that losing jobs is a good thing as long as it was not as many as before. Reid tells us today that the good news is that only 36,000 people lost their jobs last month.
That is great news, unless you are one of the 36,000.
The administration was preparing us for bad numbers by telling us that the numbers would be bad because of the snowstorms in February. That is a bogus claim. I can’t see how the storms resulted in people losing their jobs. But if I concede that the storms caused job loss I would have to say it was a wash because a whole lot of people became employed clearing snow. The labor report (linked below) addresses how people were counted with regard to the storms.
In order for severe weather conditions to reduce the estimate of payroll employment, employees have to be off work for an entire pay period and not be paid for the time missed.
It is unlikely that people would lose their jobs over bad snowstorms. They might get time off without pay but that is about it. But then again, that counts as unemployed to the BLS.
Now the progressive pundits, in response to an unemployment rate that held at 9.7%, are claiming the numbers would have been better if we had not had the storms. Once again, not credible (especially considering the definition of unemployed due ot severe weather). Also, when discouraged workers are counted, the number rose:
The U6 alternative gauge of the unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers and those forced to work part-time, rose to 16.8% from 16.5%. Market Watch
The government has boosted the number of jobs by hiring for the census. Thousands of people have been hired to work for the government. Those people will lose their jobs once the census is completed.
So remember, it is good when people lose jobs so long as it is fewer than before (progressive mantra). It is certainly a positive trend but it is not good news. These numbers do not indicate that jobs are being created, just that fewer people are losing them. We will not see job creation until jobs are being added to the numbers. In other words, the graph has to rise above the zero line.
It is also interesting how we continue to have jobs being lost, albeit many fewer than before, and yet the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 9.7% two months ago and has held there. How can this happen?
No job loss is good news despite what Harry Reid believes.
Well, maybe there are a few exceptions…
Tags: Harry Reid ♦ jobs ♦ lies ♦ Obama ♦ snowstorms ♦ unemployment
Teachers In Trouble Over Black History Month Posters
by Big Dog on Mar 4, 2010 at 18:02 Posted in Political 12 Comments
Three teachers in Los Angeles are in trouble after they gave posters of Dennis Rodman, RuPaul and OJ Simpson for kids to carry in a Black History Month parade. Evidently, some black people are not as appropriate as others:
Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama, Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said. New York Daily News
I understand the apprehension over all this. OJ Simpson was accused of murder and was only found not guilty because they were able to find the only 12 people in the world who thought he did not do it. He is now in jail for using a gun to get back his belongings. Simpson though, was a great athlete before his troubles.
Dennis Rodman is just a weird person though he has had his troubles. But he too was a great athlete.
The article states there were posters of Michael Jackson and though Jackson was a great singer and extremely talented he was not without his legal troubles which involved sexual molestation of children.
Why is it that Jackson is appropriate and Simpson and Rodman are not?
What I am most perplexed about is the idea that RuPaul is a problem. RuPaul Charles is a guy who happens to be a drag queen. He has been very successful with this career and has his own show. RuPaul is also a singer who has recorded songs and music videos. What about RuPaul makes him an inappropriate choice?
Is it because RuPaul, when in drag, is a pretty good looking “lady” and the other women were jealous?
I though that the schools were all about diversity. I can understand the reluctance over Simpson and Rodman (though the inclusion of Jackson pretty much negates the issue) but I can’t understand why RuPaul is a problem, especially among folks who are supposed to be big on diversity.
The other thing that I want to know is did the teachers pick the person on the poster or did the children.
In any event, this seems like much ado about nothing.
Tags: black history month ♦ michael jackson ♦ rodman ♦ rupaul ♦ simpson
Obama Will Do What He Was Opposed To
by Big Dog on Mar 4, 2010 at 05:09 Posted in Political 17 Comments
I realize that campaign promises are just that and I never took Obama seriously. He is an inexperienced hack, a joke who does not know how to lead. He has a community organizer mentality in that as a community organizer he worked in a small community with no regard for money, no budget to worry about. Just organize and someone pays for it. He is an organizer in a larger community now and he still thinks that money is no problem because someone else will handle it.
We saw how he was opposed to ending the filibuster when Republicans wanted to do it. We saw how he criticized Bush for the Patriot Act and then he signed to extend it and we see him doing a number of things Bush did that Obama expressed dissatisfaction with. Obama promises come with expiration dates and he will say anything and do anything to get what he wants.
Obama told us in 2007 that getting 50 plus 1 vote was not the way to get things done. He said that they would not achieve things by getting 50 plus 1 vote. Obama even said that this kind of thinking was what Karl Rove engaged in because did not like government.
But Barry is firmly committed to using a process to get 50 plus 1 vote to pass his agenda. It is rather Rovian (by Obama’s definition) and must mean that Obama does not like government. According to his own words, he is now unable to govern. Obama specifically said that he was going to build a working majority and that he would not use the 50 plus 1 strategy to pass health care:
We are not going to pass universal healthcare with a 50 plus one strategy. We’re not going to have a serious, bold energy policy of the sort I proposed yesterday unless you build a working majority.” –Sen. Barack Obama, October 2007
Watch the video and listen closely to the jive talk. Obama is telling us what he thinks we want to hear. He is saying that he will get a working majority so he will not use the 50 plus 1 strategy that he NOW favors.
Why is Obama so hell bent on destroying his party? Why is he hell bent on doing something that so many oppose? Why will he not start over and build that working majority?
There are several reasons. He wants to impose on America social programs bigger than FDR and LBJ so that he can stake his claim in history as one of the progressive heroes. He knows that he will lose seats in November and the election of Scott Brown ushered in the reality that he could lose the majority in one or both chambers. He wants to do it now or he will not have the progressive legacy he believes is his birthright.
The other thing is that he believes that if he tanks on health care he will be seen as a failure. Republicans said this issue could be his Waterloo and now some Democrats are expressing the same thing. He is more worried about his image, his legacy and whether he is viewed as a failure than he is about America or his own party. Obama is so worried about passing his agenda that he is embracing a procedure that violates Senate rules. The way this bill has been amended and will be voted on (vote on Senate bill, add amendments and send to Obama) is not how legislation is supposed to be accomplished but none of this matters because Obama wants it done at all costs.
There are people in Congress who have been there for years who will lose their jobs this November and most of the blood will be on Obama’s hands. Some were going to lose anyway, no matter what, but there will be huge losses because of what Obama is doing. Some people who would otherwise win reelection are going to be gone because of Obama and his legacy. Others are quitting rather than be part of the bloodbath.
Of course, the best laid plans sometimes come undone. Obama has a problem with the Senate and that is why the sleight of hand. But he might lose this in the House. There are Democrats who will not vote for this and right now it looks like they will be shy a few votes. Pelosi might start beating people up or sending the mob in to break some knees but until then, the votes are not there.
Obama will do absolutely anything it takes to get this through. He will begin campaigning (did he ever stop) for this mess on Monday.
“Whatever it takes to get health care done,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the president’s schedule. Washington Post
And when I say he will do whatever it takes I mean legal or otherwise. He was not upset at the bribes passed around the Senate to get it through the first time and he is not above payoffs to get what he wants either:
Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he’s obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson’s brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Weekly Standard
This might just be a coincidence but I doubt it. Obama will do what it takes and he is all about Chicago style politics.
Keep an eye on Matheson because if he now votes for it then he was bribed because perception is reality.
In 2004, Kerry was for it before he was against it. Obama was against 50 plus 1 before he was for it.
Remember America, this is about control and nothing else. They need control to collapse the economy and replace it with what they want.
Let’s deny them the chance. Call your Congress critters and tell them that all the temple monkeys will be replaced if they vote for this. It is an election year, the only time they listen (or pretend to). They know we do not like it so ask them if they are willing to fall on their swords for Obama who is not up for reelection for three more years or the likes of Pelosi who is in a safe seat.
If they screw us with this we need to make them pay.
And revenge is a dish best served cold…
Thanks to:
Flopping Aces
Breitbart TV
Tags: 50 plus 1 ♦ health care ♦ house ♦ lies ♦ Obama ♦ reconciliation ♦ Senate
I Thought Obama Was Against Nukes
by Big Dog on Mar 3, 2010 at 05:33 Posted in Political 4 Comments
Well, he is for us but he is happy for Iran to get them.
He is also not opposed to using the nuclear option. Word on the street is that today Obama will announce he has incorporated some Republican ideas (no serious tort reform) and that he now expects them to sign on or he will call for reconciliation (though he won’t use that word). Here is the compromise; Obama took 2700 pages of legislation and added about 30 pages of things Republicans like. So he wants them to vote for the 2700 pages they do not like in order to get 30 they will like.
That man boy is still smoking crack. He has to be. And that was the fastest six weeks in history (he did say they neded to get this done in the next six weeks).
No, Republicans will not sign on and Obama and the Democrats knew that. He held the summit to show Republicans as obstructionists and then they showed up and handed him his ass because they were prepared. America saw a party with ideas and a willingness to work together so long as they started from scratch.
Baby steps, Obama said, will not do it so it is his bill or nothing. This is beacue Obama and the Democrats need to pass something, anything, that is labeled health care before the next election. They do not want to be negotiating the bill through the next election because it will look like they failed.
If they had started last year with this summit instead of waiting until this year, there might not have been as many problems.
So now we are at the crossroads and Obama is expected to tell Republicans that they have his bill, vote on it or the Democrats will use reconciliation.
The president will call for an up or down vote on health care reform, as has happened in the past, and though he won’t use the word “reconciliation,” he’ll make it clear that if they’re not given an up or down vote, Democrats will use the reconciliation rules as Republicans have done in the past. ABC News
If this happens the Democrats will lose the House and the Senate in November. All the ACORN fraud in the world will not stop the tidal wave (but if you see ACORN fraud beat the hell out of the ACORN person doing it).
The American public does not want this bill and we are quite upset with these ninnies in DC telling us that they know what is best for us. We do not need you to spoon feed us (well, most liberals do) and we do not want you ramming this down our throats.
For a person who people claim is a smart politician Obama sure does not act like it. This guy is willing to lose control of the Congress to get this passed. He is not worried about himself because he is not up for 3 more years. But he will be a one term wonder because we will drive him out.
The provisions of this bill do not take place until after the 2012 elections. Obama will lose the majority and then he will lose the White House. Republicans will draft legislation to repeal all of this mess and if we have to, we can use reconciliation to do it. If any Democrat cries about that we can string him up for the hypocrisy.
And then the Democrat party will be irrelevant for many, many years to come.
Obama is destroying his party right along with this country.
Prepare patriots. We will need to disobey anything they legislate and we will need to exert our will on them (remember, they get their power from us).
The tree of liberty is getting thirsty.
Big Dog Salute to JPT for the picture.
Tags: health care ♦ lies ♦ Obama ♦ reconciliation
Is Pelosi On Drugs Or Naturally Confused?
by Big Dog on Mar 2, 2010 at 05:10 Posted in Political 41 Comments
Or does she think we are stupid?
Nancy Pelosi is working hard to pass the health care takeover that Obama wants even though it looks like she is currently a few votes shy of the needed number of Democrats to pass it. The House and Senate have been working on this health care stuff for about a year and both chambers have a bill. They could have passed anything they wanted without Republican support because they had large enough majorities in both chambers.
The Democrats could not agree on the legislation and it is they who are at fault for this not passing. If it is so wonderful that they are going to ram it through now whether we like it or not then it was just as wonderful when they had enough votes to get it done on their own. They did not get it done because some of their own did not like it.
This is important because the Democrats keep blaming Republicans for obstructing. Republicans could not obstruct, they could only delay the inevitable, as long as all the Democrats were on the same sheet of music. They were not.
Plus, they know that if they are the only party to vote for it then they own it. If it turns out good then they will look like heroes and if it turns out bad it will be entirely their fault. They must know that it is not as wonderful as they say because they do not want sole ownership of it.
But what about Pelosi and her drug problem? She must be on drugs. Read this portion of a transcript from an interview she had this weekend with Candy Crowley of CNN:
CROWLEY: When we looked at our polling numbers just from yesterday, we had almost three-quarters of Americans who said they need to drop this bill, just stop talking about health care and move on to something else or they need to start new. So don’t the Republicans have a point?
PELOSI: The point is, is that we have a responsibility here, and the Republicans have had a field day going out there and misrepresenting what is in the bill, but that’s what they do. That’s what…
CROWLEY: So it has been messaging thing?
PELOSI: … they do. No…
CROWLEY: You think people don’t understand the bill?
PELOSI: No, I don’t think — there isn’t a bill. When we have a bill, which we will in a matter of days, then that is the bill that we can sell. Our bill, the House and the Senate bill, had some major differences which we’re hoping now to reconcile. [emphasis mine]
Nancy Pelosi starts off by saying that Republicans have had a field day misrepresenting what is in the bill. We could argue all day as to whether this is true and whether things were misrepresented but that is not important. Pelosi and her minions tell us this is wonderful and people just don’t understand it. They had enough votes (provided they all voted for it) to pass it. If things were misrepresented then they could have passed it and let America find out how wonderful it really is.
They did not do that for a reason. It stinks and they know it. They do not want to own it so they blame Republicans. Let me be clear for the moonbats who have trouble with this, Republicans did not obstruct because they could not block passage.
Next, Pelosi goes on to say that there is no bill. She said there is no bill now but when they have a bill they will be able to sell it. If this is true then how did Republicans misrepresent what was in the bill? You cannot misrepresent what is in a bill if there is no bill (her words were technically there is not a bill).
Maybe Pelosi is defining bill as the reconciled product from the Senate and House. If that is her definition of “the bill” then Republicans could not have misrepresented what is in “the bill” because “the bill” does not yet exist.
This is all misdirection and deliberate confusion created to make it appear as if Republicans had anything to do with the Democrats being unable to pass their health care takeover. They do not want to own up to the fact that they had enough votes and could have rammed it through at any time and still could not get it done. Now that they do not have a filibuster proof majority they want to ram it through with reconciliation and claim they had to because Republicans obstructed the process.
This is a lie and they should be called on it every time.
I do not agree with the health care process going on and would not have been happy if they had passed it when they had the chance, especially since a lot of people oppose it and I know it will be bad for this country. But, they should have the integrity and honor to admit that they hold all the responsibility for that failure.
No matter what, Pelosi is out lying about the process (or should I say misrepresenting) and whether or not they have a bill and trying to paint Republicans as obstructionists.
Republicans showed at the summit that they had ideas and were willing to work but like I said before, Obama’s idea of bipartisan is when Republicans do what he wants. He said it before and he intimated it at the summit, he won.
Fine, but man up and admit your own failures and the failures of your party. You blew your chance to pass it when you were unobstructed and now you might not have the votes to ram it through even with little used and inappropriate procedures. You can’t admit to your base that you could not get it done when you were completely unobstructed so now you need to blame it on Republicans to try and salvage the November elections.
It is your fault Mr. Obama and the fault of your Democrats.
Keep this in mind America as they use “obstructionist Republicans” as their reason for ramming it through (or at least trying) with reconciliation.
It really is too bad the Democrat party lacks men and women of honor and integrity.
Tags: drugs ♦ health care ♦ Obama ♦ obstruction ♦ Pelosi ♦ reform
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