September 6-10, 2012
Sep 06 01:18 Virginia newspaper criticizes Franken, Klobuchar, praises Chip Sep 06 06:52 Slick Willlie returns Sep 06 21:34 Iron Range mayors, city council upset with EPA, PUC Sep 07 04:58 Jennifer Granholm's 'Howard Dean moment' Sep 07 08:38 96,000 Sep 08 10:38 Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin in play Sep 08 09:56 Joe Biden: Reporting from Mars? Sep 09 09:30 'Real unemployment' is reason why America is hurting Sep 10 03:30 DFL spinmeister: 368,000 people quit looking for work is moving forward
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin in play
Last night on Almanac, UW-River Falls professor Neil Kraus dismissed the possibility that Wisconsin was in play. Jennifer Rubin's post shows that Prof. Kraus needs to pay more attention to his state:
When the Romney-Ryan ticket announced a major ad campaign in eight states last night, the media noted that Wisconsin and Michigan were not among them and then jumped to the conclusion that these states are no longer in play. Wrong. Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul told Right Turn that the campaign is 'definitely not' abandoning these states. She told me: 'Stay tuned.'
The Romney-Ryan camp, I was told, has expensive ground games in these states, as well as in Pennsylvania.
Then Saul provided these statistics on the Romney ground game in Wisconsin:
Wisconsin (as of July 1)
- Consistently in the top five states for number of voter contacts
- 500,000th volunteer phone call made this week
- Will knock on the 150,000th door this week
- 20 'victory centers,' or campaign offices
- More than 4 million voter contacts during the recall
It's impressive that these statistics haven't been current for over 2 months. The addition of Paul Ryan to the ticket will only add volunteers to Wisconsin's GOTV operation. Another thing that's important is that Democrats are all but conceding the State legislative races. If that's true, then their turnout will be driven solely by the presidential ticket. That's the definition of hanging on by a thread.
Tags: UW-River Falls , Neil Kraus , Pundit , Paul Ryan , Wisconsin , GOTV , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Saturday, September 8, 2012 10:38 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 08-Sep-12 10:43 AM
You do not list Illinois or Ohio. Any reason?
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 12:25 PM
Eric:
I know you pretend to not to pay attention, but Ohio is one of the 8 battleground states in the group. What Gary was talking about (and it went over your head) was the attention that was being focused on states that should've been on the list like Wisconsin.
Illinois will go Romney if the national margin gets to be 10% for Romney (which it can by the way) without making any investment.
Eric keep in mind Illinois is being governed the way Obama will govern the country. Even the citizens of Illinois know they don't want that to happen to the country.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by eric z at 10-Sep-12 08:33 AM
Walter, thanks.
Virginia newspaper criticizes Franken, Klobuchar, praises Chip
While the editorial staff at the Mesabi Daily News didn't specifically criticize Rick Nolan, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken in this editorial , they certainly implied it.
Something they did was effusively praise Chip Cravaack's work on economic development issues:
Once again 8th District U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack was on hand to not just voice support, but to show his support and advocacy for copper/nickel/precious metals projects on the Range and all other resource-based economic ventures.
Cravaack's words of support in these areas have been matched by his actions in Congress. He has had successes in pushing through an amendment attached to a strategic minerals bill that would streamline the permitting process and remove some duplication for nonferrous mining. That bill is currently waiting on Senate action. Whether it will even be brought to the floor by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is highly uncertain.
Cravaack also has gotten a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness land transfer bill out of committee to the House floor, where it is waiting on a vote. It would then need Senate approval. The measure, which would pave the way for more School Trust Fund dollars to be generated, gives the needed federal blessing to a bill already passed by the state Legislature.
The Mesabi Daily News rightly highlights the fact that Chip Cravaack isn't just about saying things people want to hear. They highlight the fact that Chip actually tries to solve significant problems.
I wrote here about the median household incomes in St. Louis County vs. the median household incomes in Sherburne County. The median household income in St. Louis County is $44,941 vs. $71,704 in Sherburne County.
Are Sens. Franken and Klobuchar doing anything to make it possible for Iron Range families to make bigger incomes? These are hard-working people. They shouldn't have to listen to politicians like Rick Nolan, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken pay lip service to them, then do nothing after they've met with these miners.
Chip Cravaack is actually putting in the effort to improve these Rangers' lives. That can't be said about Sen. Klobuchar, Rick Nolan or Al Franken. That didn't go unnoticed by the Mesabi Daily News:
Local officials, represented by mayors, school board members, city councilors and mining and Minnesota Power personnel, say they want a face-to-face meeting with elected officials from Gov. Mark Dayton to U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken on Iron Range economic development issues.
We couldn't agree more. We are sick and tired of too many comments about support of economic development and jobs for the Range without those words being backed up by true advocacy.
People that work hard and play by the rules should be rewarded. When Sen. Franken and Sen. Klobuchar sit silently while the EPA and the Minnesota Department of Commerce stand in the way of progress, they're contributing to the problem. They definitely aren't part of the solution.
Sen. Klobuchar likes to highlight her bipartisan do-nothing bills. Isn't it time for Sen. Klobuchar to take a leadership role in solving the important problems facing Minnesotans?
People on the Iron Range are hurting financially. They don't need her to be submitting new do-nothing bills every other week. They need her submitting bills that tells the EPA not to harass companies just because they "have the authority to request information ."
Sen. Klobuchar leads the Senate in doing nothing while real problems fester in Minnesota. It's time Sen. Klobuchar became a leader on the things that Minnesotans care most about.
Sponsoring legislation that touts tourism won't drop the price of a gallon of gasoline. Sponsoring legislation that amends "the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999" doesn't do a thing to create jobs on the Iron Range.
Compare that with Chip's record of fighting for important things that his constituents tell him about. Chip's fought against the EPA when they've harassed companies like PolyMet and Mesabi Nugget.
That's what leadership looks like.
Tags: Economic Development , Amy Klobuchar , Al Franken , Mark Dayton , Rick Nolan , DFL , Chip Cravaack , PolyMet , Twin Metals , Mesabi Nugget , EPA , MNGOP
Posted Thursday, September 6, 2012 1:18 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 06-Sep-12 09:50 AM
Gary:
Lets not forget that she is popular and has clout.
She should use it on something this important!
She will show up at an AFSCME picnic, but not meet officials for jobs.
That shows how phony she is.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 06-Sep-12 12:04 PM
If she wore suits more often, Sen. Klobuchar would be the poster child for empty suits.
Slick Willlie returns
Bill Clinton was true to form Wednesday night. The speech ran long. He told a few whoppers that will get clobbered this morning. He had people's eyes glazing over. Bill Clinton didn't deliver the entertaining speech he's capable of.
Yes, the people in the arena got excited. No, the people watching on TV didn't watch all of it.
Here's the first whopper Bill Clinton told:
We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. We think "we're all in this together" is a better philosophy than "you're on your own."
Who's right? Well since 1961, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24. In those 52 years, our economy produced 66 million private sector jobs. What's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 million!
According to the BLS chart, Democrats created 39,700,000 jobs in 24 years. Republicans created 36,600,000 jobs in 28 years.
Here's another whopper:
He also tried to work with Congressional Republicans on Health Care, debt reduction, and jobs, but that didn't work out so well.
Three days into his administration, President Obama met with House GOP leaders to discuss the stimulus bill. During the meeting, President Obama swatted down the Republicans' suggestions :
President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning, but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. 'I won,' Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.
Later, the House and Senate health care bills were written in Nancy Pelosi's and Harry Reid's offices. Republicans weren't allowed into their offices. If that's Bill Clinton's idea of trying "to work with Congressional Republicans on health care", then he's got a warped picture of what bipartisanship looks like.
I can't dispute the fact that Bill Clinton knows a thing or two about the economy. I also can't dispute the fact that Bill Clinton takes some major liberties with the truth. Here's something that he can't possibly believe:
President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No President, not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the President's contract you will feel it.
Conditions aren't improving. Median household incomes dropped $4,019 since the recovery began. That's why more people dropped out of the middle class during the Obama recovery than during the Bush recession. That's why 15,000,000 more people are on food stamps today than there were when President Obama took office.
President Obama's surrogates frequently recite the point that the economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month when President Obama took office. It's closer to 600,000 a month, which is still a devastating number. That lasted 5 months. That's potentially 3,000,000 new people receiving food stamps.
That still doesn't explain where the other 80% of the people on food stamps come from.
The labor force participation rate is near its 30 year low. Still, the U-2 unemployment rate is 8.3% going into Friday's jobs report. If the LFPR was 2 points higher, the unemployment rate would be over 10%.
That's before talking about how many times more people were added to SSI than new jobs were created. The most recent time that happened was 2 months ago.
If that's President Clinton's definition of 'things are improving', he's either living in a different galaxy or he's spinning terrible news the best he can. I suspect it's the latter.
Both Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan attacked the President for allegedly robbing Medicare of 716 billion dollars. Here's what really happened. There were no cuts to benefits. None. What the President did was save money by cutting unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies that weren't making people any healthier. He used the saving to close the donut hole in the Medicare drug program, and to add eight years to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund. It's now solvent until 2024. So President Obama and the Democrats didn't weaken Medicare, they strengthened it.
The money collected from the Medicare payroll tax is supposed to go into the Medicare trust fund. The Affordable Care Act redirects that money to make it look like the ACA is deficit neutral. The Medicare actuaries testified that you can either keep that money in the Medicare Trust Fund or you can use it to make it look like the ACA is deficit neutral. You can't use it for both simultaneously.
Bill Clinton knows this. He's just saying this to be a good team player.
Finally, anyone who thinks that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to follow in President Bush's spending footsteps is kidding themselves. Ryan's spending habits aren't anything like President Bush's spending habits.
Last night, Bill Clinton was in all his glory, strutting his stuff to a gullible audience while reminding us why he was nicknamed Slick Willie.
Tags: Bill Clinton , Slick Willie , President Obama , ACA , Stimulus , Food Stamps , Unemployment , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, September 6, 2012 6:52 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 06-Sep-12 07:44 AM
You know why Clinton got the job last night, don't you? It was because, as one of Clinton's top aides said of him, "He's a very good liar."
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 06-Sep-12 09:33 AM
Gary:
Lets take a different tack on that line about providers. What it is does is discourage doctors from taking new medicare patients. I heard a story on the radio yesterday from a doctor who has patients looking all over trying to get a new doctor.
Democrats don't understand no guarteened payments no doctors are available.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by Patrick at 06-Sep-12 11:27 AM
Don't forget that if doctors decide to not take Medicare then they don't have to take Tricare (military active/retiree + families). I was in to see my doctor the a few months ago for my annual check-up.... you know what Tricare authorized to be paid (by me and them)? 27% of the billed amount. And according to Tricare rules the doctor can not require me to pay the difference (73%) left over.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 06-Sep-12 12:16 PM
Excellent point, Patrick. Why spend 8 years in school, accumulate $100,000-$150,000 in student loan debt, to get the skills for a job that'll make $75,000-$100,000 a year?
How stupid of a decision would that be? Single-payer advocates don't factor in the possibility that removing the profit motive will kill the desire to fill these important positions:
There would be a removal of profit-motive in health care. The driving force behind the health industry would be patient care and not profit maximization.If people can't get compensated for the work they do, they stop doing that work. They don't refocus on altruism.
Iron Range mayors, city council upset with EPA, PUC
Iron Range mayors and city council members have had it with the EPA and with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. This article explains why they're upset:
There was a lot of venting done in Hoyt Lakes on Friday and it was all aimed at federal and state agencies that local officials said are putting handcuffs on current resource-based businesses while putting a boot of delay on new ones just waiting to go.
Mayors, city council and school board members, mining and Minnesota Power officials all voiced the same frustrations over what they called 'excessive' and often 'unwarranted' federal and state regulations.
This isn't the way to grow Minnesota's economy. So-called environmentalist organizations are trumpeting their 'successes' while blue collar workers suffer.
Something I included in this post convinces me that environmentalist organizations like Conservation Minnesota have nothing to do with the environment. I don't believe Arne Carlson, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, Jim Ramstad, Dee Long and Tom Horner know a thing about the environment.
They're political celebrities. They aren't environmental experts. They're the people applauding the regulations being levied by the EPA and PUC.
This information is vitally important. Former state legislator Frank Moe planned to travel 350-mile via sled dog to deliver a reported 12,500 to 13,000 signed petitions to Gov. Mark Dayton to block copper/nickel/precious metals mining in Northeastern Minnesota. Here's what you need to know:
70 percent of the signatures are from the seven-county metropolitan area (4,498 or 45 percent) and out of state (2,612 or 25 percent) combined.
Twin Cities activists are, by far, the biggest advocates who want the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects to happen.
This information is troubling, too:
And Hoyt Lakes Mayor Marlene Pospeck said she is equally concerned about the state Public Utilities Commission's threat to close Minnesota Power's Laskin Energy Center in Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor Energy Center by 2016.
The closing would affect 40 jobs in Hoyt Lakes. And Pospeck said it would have a devastating effect on the city's property taxes. 'Laskin is about 70 percent of Hoyt Lakes' tax base,' she said.
PUC apparently thinks it's ok to strip a city of 70% of their property tax base, which would be disastrous for Hoyt Lakes or any other city.
This is why elected officials are upset with the EPA:
Officials said delays to getting the PolyMet copper/nickel/precious metals project near Hoyt Lakes, which would create 360 permanent jobs, hundreds more spin-off positions and 1.5 million hours of construction work, up and running after about eight years of environmental review, is preventing a resurgence of the East Range economy.
Another nonferrous project, Twin Metals near Ely and Babbitt, is not as far along as PolyMet but holds greater job potential.
The EPA is demanding PolyMet and Twin Metals jump through ever-changing hoops because they keep writing new regulations to change the rules of the game. The EPA is killing the Iron Range just like it's killing coal mining communities.
Nolan, Klobuchar, Franken and Dayton haven't lifted a finger to make life better for these communities. They've ignored PUC's decisions. They haven't done a thing to rein in the EPA. In a fight between the people of Hoyt Lakes and the EPA or the PUC, these politicians didn't pick the people of Hoyt Lake.
That's disgusting.
Tags: EPA , Hoyt Lakes , PUC , Regulations , Unemployment , Rick Nolan , Amy Klobuchar , Al Franken , Mark Dayton , Taxes , DFL , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, September 6, 2012 9:34 PM
Comment 1 by Bill Opsahl at 07-Sep-12 12:40 PM
Put me on your "mailing list"
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 07-Sep-12 01:35 PM
Gladly Bill. Welcome to LFR. I also write for Examiner.com. You can subscribe to my articles here. After clicking the subscribe icon, you'll enter your email address. That means you'll automatically get an email when I write an article for Examiner.
Comment 2 by Wisesooth at 07-Sep-12 01:48 PM
There is a "back story" to this post. Minnesota government owns all mineral rights to land within the State; an issue the reservation-bound American Indian tribes reject. The mining companies are Canadian-owned, not US owned. A land-owner's land can be torn up with Minnesota government's blessing to extract and transport the mining operations over the land-owners objections. The land-owner is compensated by an obligation of the mining company to restore the land when they finish, and nothing else.
So who wins and who loses?
1. Minnesota government receives the overriding royalty interest money with no expense or risk to earn it. Government wins, and spends it all.
2. People get jobs and merchants indirectly benefit from the job income as the workers spend it. They win, but government wins too through taxation.
3. The local government receives property tax income from the mining companies and new workers who live there. All government taxes worker wages and property tax revenue related to the project and its work force.
4. Canada wins because the mining companies are owned and chartered in Canada. They, not USA, get the mineral income and control how it is sold.
5. The land-owner of the surface land loses big time.
6. The USA private sector loses because the mining operation grows the Canadian economy, not ours.
We work for Canadian enterprise, not for USA enterprise. Get the picture?
Comment 3 by Mz M at 07-Sep-12 06:14 PM
In addition to wisesooth - the sulfide, heavy metal bearing ore is NOT the same as the typical iron bearing ores on the range.
Sulfide and valuable heavy metal ores always occur together - it is a geologic process and acid runoff is the result. The Mining companies want the profits w/o the cleanup cost. People are wise to these tactics.
Maybe the IRRRB should work on that little problem rather than bankrolling a coal-fired power plant (natural gas plant, now) w/ no customers
Comment 4 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 01:14 AM
Wisesooth:
You should change your name.
Your point number five, the land owner if the land can't be mined (which it can't be right now) doesn't generate any income for the minnerals. Not to mention if a company can develop the land for me at no cost to me and I make money I don't lose.
Your point number six, the US economy wins because of the jobs and the metal is given to lots of US companies to make products.
I guess you're not a Wisesooth after all.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Jennifer Granholm's 'Howard Dean moment'
The first thing I thought of when I saw this video was Howard Dean's scream after the 2004 Iowa Caucuses:
It takes some doing to leave me speechless but that video left me speechless. Imagine how stupid Jennifer Granholm will look if GM has to file for bankruptcy :
President Obama is proud of his bailout of General Motors. That's good, because, if he wins a second term, he is probably going to have to bail GM out again. The company is once again losing market share, and it seems unable to develop products that are truly competitive in the U.S. market.
Right now, the federal government owns 500,000,000 shares of GM, or about 26% of the company. It would need to get about $53.00/share for these to break even on the bailout, but the stock closed at only $20.21/share on Tuesday. This left the government holding $10.1 billion worth of stock, and sitting on an unrealized loss of $16.4 billion.
Right now, the government's GM stock is worth about 39% less than it was on November 17, 2010, when the company went public at $33.00/share. However, during the intervening time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by almost 20%, so GM shares have lost 49% of their value relative to the Dow.
The UAW bailout that President Obama pushed through didn't solve GM's problems. It just gave GM employees collecting exhorbitant pensions a few extra years of solvency.
The UAW bailout didn't solve GM's legacy cost problem. It just kicked the can down the road. As a result of President Obama's bailout, the American people are probably out of $25,000,000,000-$30,000,000,000.
Recently, Vice President Biden's been saying that "Osama bin Laden is dead and GM is alive." That's a misleading statement. UBL is dead but GM is on life support.
Had GM been allowed to file bankruptcy to reorganize, GM's legacy costs could've been renegotiated to a more affordable price that would've provided longterm stability for the company without significantly hurting UAW retirees.
Jennifer Granholm's manic behavior might be the most bizarre behavior of the Democrats' convention, which takes some doing.
Remember that this was the convention that removed "Jerusalem as Israel's capitol" and "God-given abilities" from its platform only to have it re-inserted in the platform despite 3 failed attempts.
This is the convention where "Pat Lehman, the dean of the Kansas Democratic delegation," and John Burton, the chairman of the Democratic Party of California, linked Republicans to Joseph Goebbels. This is where Dick Harpootlian, the chairman of the Democratic Party of South Carolina, linked Gov. Nikki Haley to Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress.
This is the convention where, for a night, Sandra Fluke, Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi were the faces of the Democratic women.
Standing out from that bunch takes determination. Jennifer Granholm passed the others with flying colors.
Tags: Jennifer Granholm , Dick Harpootlian , Pat Lehman , John Burton , Joseph Goebbels , Elizabeth Warren , Sandra Fluke , Nancy Pelosi , Contraception , Party Platform , GM , DNC , Howard Dean , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Friday, September 7, 2012 4:58 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 08-Sep-12 10:58 AM
The "Howard Dean moment" thing, people focus on that like the elder Romney's "brainwashed" comment, and I do not see either as that bad or that defining.
What I resent about Howard Dean, he kind of pioneered email political fundraising spam. Now Bachmann does it. Klobuchar does it. It is the most prominent show of bipartisanship we have seen in our lifetimes.
The sky is falling or will be if my campaign does not advance, please send $25, $50, ... note the paypal toggle on the side of my campaign website. They all do that and it is awful. Even the Koch brothers and Soros on opposite sides want to trade on other peoples money.
Any thoughts on that? As far as Granholm, dumb speeches are a part of politics because we have politicians. Some invent phrases, like Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism," but then we see them taking paper sacks full of tens and twenties.
A politician giving a dumb speech, Gary, I contend that is not news.
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 12:17 PM
Eric:
If you haven't heard (and apperently you haven't) Obama has pinned his reelection on two great achievements.
One, was the killing of Bin Laden which is nothing. Any President (except for President Clinton who is being used to praise the decision) would've made that call. He makes it about Obama instead of the seals. Furthermore we only had the chance to get Bin Laden because of the intelligence techniques developed under Bush which Obama was in charge wouldn't have gathered the information.
And the second is the so called saving of GM which was the purpose of the speech. GM was saved only because the government handed billions to the company so the UAW wouldn't lose their benefits which a bankruptcy would've forced on them. You are aware that we the tax payers have lost $30 billion plus on this deal.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
96,000
The U.S. economy created a paltry 96,000 jobs in August , according to the BLS:
U.S. payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 96,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The politically important unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell to 8.1% from 8.3%, mainly because of more people dropping out of the work force.
This isn't the type of job growth President Obama needed heading out of his convention. Less than 12 hours after a disappointing speech, President Obama was hit with this news.
This information won't help President Obama:
Compounding the weak August report, July and June payroll numbers were revised down - July payrolls rose 141,000, compared with the initially reported 163,000, and June was up 45,000, versus an earlier estimate of 64,000.
That's a drop of about 41,000 jobs than previously reported. That makes those reports look a little more anemic.
This was the last jobs report before the debates and the start of early voting in several states.
UPDATE: I knew there had to be a big drop in the LFPR for the unemployment rate to drop from 8.3% to 8.1% after this morning's discouraging jobs report. This article proves it:
The jobless rate fell from 8.3 percent as 368,000 Americans left the labor force.
That news must be disquieting to this administration but this isn't good news for the administration either:
The participation rate, which indicates the share of working-age people in the labor force, fell to 63.5 percent, the lowest since September 1981, from 63.7 percent.
When President Obama took office, the LFPR was 65.7% . If the LFPR was still at 65.7%, the unemployment rate would be 11.7% :
Today's reported unemployment rate: 8.1%. The reason: the labor "participation" dropped to a 31 year low 63.5% as reported earlier. Of course, this number is pure propaganda, and makes no sense for one simple reason: despite the economic collapse started in December 2007, the US civilian non-institutional population since then has grown by 186,000 people every month on average hitting an all time high of 243,566,000 in August. These people need a job, and the traditional shorthand is that at least 100,000 jobs have the be generated every month for the unemployment rate to merely stay flat, let along improve. So what does one get when one uses the long-term average of the past 30 or so years which happens to be 65.8%? One gets an unemployment number that is 45% higher than the reported 8.1%, or 11.7%.
The people that quit looking for work know that they're hurting. They don't care what the 'official' unemployment rate is. They just want a job.
Tags: Unemployment Rate , Job Growth , Economy , Debates , Early Voting , President Obama , Democrats , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Friday, September 7, 2012 1:31 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 07-Sep-12 09:40 AM
Gary:
I think the media which will cheer the unemployment rate dropping to 8.1% is missing the real point.
On election day there are millions of people who are so discouraged they won't even look for a job. Those voters I don't think will be flocking to vote for Obama since they will have it figure out that Obama can't get them a job.
By the way didn't Obama and his economic team say we needed to pass the stimulus bill to keep unemployment bellow 8%. A Republican administration will be attacked every month for it being above 8%.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Patrick at 07-Sep-12 10:45 AM
I am one of those people who have an idea or two for a business and the cash/financing to start it up. In addition to myself I could potentially offer employment to at least one or two other people (no benefits yet). But until I see a change in Washington (Executive and Legislative) I am content to sit on the sideline. How many more out there like me?
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 01:09 AM
Patrick:
I bet a lot. I also bet come midnight or so on November sixth when you see President Romney, Republicans holding the House, and getting the Senate you'll be ready to go!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 4 by Patrick at 08-Sep-12 08:23 AM
Walter
That would get me to at least think more positive about my future in a business venture. If Obama and the liberals prevail on November 6th I may have to become one of those ex-pats.
Comment 5 by eric z at 08-Sep-12 10:51 AM
Wow. A real John Galt. I should seek an autograph.
Comment 6 by Patrick at 08-Sep-12 11:41 AM
Eric
careful, your liberalism is showing.
Comment 7 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 12:20 PM
Eric:
You can seek the autograph of all those celebrities that said they will move to Canada after Bush won his second term and never did. They might be too shocked to move after Romney defeats Obama on November 6th.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Joe Biden: Reporting from Mars?
When Friday's jobs report was released, it made a mockery of Vice President Biden's acceptance speech . Here's a gem from Vice President Biden's speech:
Together, we're on a mission...we're on a mission to move this nation forward. From doubt and downturn to promise and prosperity. A mission I guarantee you we will complete. A mission we will complete.
When 368,000 people quit looking for work out of frustration in August alone, it's proof that they don't believe that this administration will complete its mission. They certainly won't agree that this administration is implementing policies that will return prosperity to America.
Here's another gem:
Folks, I've watched him. He has never wavered, he never backs down. He always steps up and he always asks in every one of those critical meetings the same fundamental question, "How is this going to affect the average American? How is this going to affect people's lives?
I don't think President Obama cared one iota how the ACA would affect "the average American." He didn't listen to the people who turned out in droves to the health care townhalls in August of 2009. If he didn't listen to them, how could he ask that "same fundamental question"?
As patronizing and pathetic as that statement was, this was the howler (in terms of foolishness) of the speech:
And folks, because of the decisions he's made, and the incredible strength of the American people, America has turned a corner . The worst job loss since the Great Depression, we've since created 4.5 million private-sector jobs in the last 29 months.
When 4 times as many people quit looking for work as there were jobs created, it isn't turning the corner into the neighborhood of prosperity and security. It's turning into the neighborhood of despair and grim prospects.
When a paltry 96,000 jobs are created, it's proof that America hasn't turned the right corner. When GDP is 1.5% and wobbling, it's proof that America hasn't turned the right corner.
There are 23,500,000 people who are either unemployed, underemployed or who have quit looking for work. Of those "29 straight months" of private sector job growth, 6 of those months had negative overall job growth. The average monthly job growth for the last 6 months has been less than 100,000 .
At that rate, it'll take until September, 2033 just to employ the people who are currently unemployed. That's before creating enough jobs for people entering the workforce each month.
Vice President Biden is famous for his gaffes. He should be just as famous for making foolish predictions and declarations, too.
Tags: President Obama , Joe Biden , Unemployment , Jobs Report , Economy , GDP , ACA , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Saturday, September 8, 2012 9:56 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 08-Sep-12 10:49 AM
The tradition is to pick a VP who does not overshadow. Kennedy made a mistake, Reagan too, one was shot dead the other shot. Bush-Quayle and earlier Nixon-Agnew, and Eisenhower-Nixon fit the plan. In any event, not suggesting any shooting will follow - Obama followed the paradigm, Romney did not. He picked a lightning rod, while focusing more on his own bland nature. To pick one less bland he should have gone with Pawlenty. Some may thing Ryan energizes the ticket, some may take a dislike to Ryan the more they see of him, but it is interesting Romney made the choice. More in line with Bush-Cheney, and we know how that one ended.
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 12:29 PM
Gary:
Lets not forget that something like 40,000 jobs that were created in July and August were removed (overestimated).
Lets not forget that the 4.5 million is a made up number. Obama-Biden still haven't had a net job gain since they came into office.
Lets not forget that the stimulus plan which was going to keep unemploment bellow 8.0% is now over 8.0% for 43 months.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 08-Sep-12 12:37 PM
Eric:
Do you really believe that stuff you just typed.
Why was Ryan picked?
A Vice President is suppose to help get the base excited about the ticket. I noticed you named three Vice President candidates and didn't talk about two who helped the base Palin and Cheny.
Romney knew when he made the selection that he was going to have to get the budget under control and make a very serious effort to do entitlement reform. Asking Ryan to be Vice President shows the country the seriousness which Romney will take this issue unlike Obama.
Romney knew that the Democrats were going to throw out their playbook of how horrible it will be if Medicare was cut and Obamacare gets repealed. Ryan being on the ticket has thrown it back in their face.
Romney knew after the treatment that Palin got in 2008 he needed somebody who even the left couldn't tar and feathered. Ryan being an unsuccessful target of Democrats for the last two years met that criteria.
And one more critical thing which you left out the Vice President is not suppose to embarrass the ticket and hurt them. Remember that famous three letter word J-O-B-S?
Of course you think Biden is perfect!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
'Real unemployment' is reason why America is hurting
Friday's jobs report is worse than it looks, according to Mort Zuckerman's op-ed :
The alarming numbers proliferate the deeper you look: 40.7% of the people counted as unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more - that's 5.2 million "long-term" unemployed. Fewer Americans are at work today than in April 2000, even though the population since then has grown by 31 million.
We are still almost five million payrolls shy of where we were at the end of 2007, when the recession began. Think about that when you hear the Obama administration's talk of an economic recovery.
The key indicator of our employment health, in all the statistics, is what the government calls U-6. This is the number who have applied for work in the past six months and includes people who are involuntary part-time workers - government-speak for those individuals whose jobs have been cut back to two or three days a week.
They are working part-time only because they've been unable to find full-time work. This involuntary army of what's called "underutilized labor" has been hovering for months at about 15% of the workforce. Include the eight million who have simply given up looking, and the real unemployment rate is closer to 19%.
These statistics tell people that 'the Obama Recovery' is myth, not reality. The statistics show why people are still hurting. Particularly stunning is the 'real unemployment rate' of 19%.
Another devastating fact is that 22% of the people that are unemployed or underemployed have been unemployed for more than half a year. Honest people can't look at that statistic and parrot Vice President Biden in saying that we've turned the corner economically :
And folks, because of the decisions he's made, and the incredible strength of the American people, America has turned a corner. The worst job loss since the Great Depression, we've since created 4.5 million private-sector jobs in the last 29 months.
The only corner the US economy has turned is from terrible to downright awful. If that's what Vice President Biden meant, then I'll agree with him. If he's spinning these awful statistics, which I think is likely, then I can't agree with Vice President Biden.
Dick Morriss cites another set of discouraging statistics in this article :
Economist James Fitzgibbon of the Highlander Group says that 'If we impute the data samplings of non-working citizens at the labor force rate of January 2009 (when this Obama term began) we would have a Household U-3 Unemployment rate currently of 11.4%.'
Fitzgibbon notes that the unemployment rate is being held down by 368,000 new people who have dropped out of the labor force. He says 'Labor Force Participation rate, which has fallen sharply to 63.5%, a new 31 year low reading.'
What both statistics tell us is that the U.S. economy under President Obama's 'leadership' is pathetic. The 4 year average GDP growth is an anemic 2.2%. Twenty-two percent of unemployed people have been unemployed for more than half a year. Real wages have dropped more during the Obama recovery than they dropped during the Bush Recession.
What's most troubling about these statistics is that President Obama doesn't plan on changing policies. He doesn't plan on increasing domestic energy production because he agrees with the environmentalists.
President Obama will oppose fracking, which means he isn't serious about lowering shale gas and natural gas prices or electric bills. He's opposed to a robust all-of-the-above energy policy. President Obama's words say one thing, his actions another.
He's certainly given no indication that he'll rein in the EPA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the NLRB, IPAB or the financial regulators. If he isn't willing to dramatically change those policies, then job creation will continue at this stagnant rate.
That's why there's only solution to this crisis: Fire Obama this November.
Tags: President Obama , Unemployment , Underemployed , Long Term Unemployment , Real Unemployment , Regulations , EPA , NLRB , ACA , Fracking , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Sunday, September 9, 2012 9:30 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 09-Sep-12 04:33 PM
Sadly, there are enough people who believe the government will solve all their problems (unlimited UI, free health care, free food, free housing, free everything) and this fraud of a president will get re-elected.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 10-Sep-12 02:18 AM
Fortunately, there are more people that want to work, people that haven't forgotten about the American dream. Quit writing off the American people, Chad. The TEA Party movement is strong & growing. If you want to be a pessimist, it's your right to be wrong.
Rather than getting frustrated & pessimistic, I'll stay optimistic while searching for solutions. Anyone can be a quitter. It takes heart, wisdom & optimism to win. That's what I'll fight for. I suggest you do the same.
DFL spinmeister: 368,000 people quit looking for work is moving forward
Each week, the DFL sends a Chanting Points machine to regurgitate the DFL's Chanting Points during At Issue's Face-Off segment. This week, that machine was Darin Broton.
Being the dutiful robot that he is, Broton even said that "President Obama has a plan to move America forward."
If that's true, it'd be great if President Obama quit with the spendaholic drunken sailor act. It's time he abandoned his failed policies and started implementing a plan that gets America working again.
President Obama's policies aren't working. It's time Democrats stopped with the partisan defense of indefensible policies and started putting America first.
It was heartbreaking to hear that the economy only created 96,000 jobs. The most heartbreaking statistic was that 368,000 people got so frustrated with the dismal jobs picture that they quit looking for work.
If Mr. Broton thinks 368,000 people quitting their search for employment is moving America forward, it's time he dropped that line of thinking. In the real world, having 368,000 people quit looking for work out of frustration isn't a positive step forward. It's a major setback.
I think Mr. Broton thought he was being a faithful DFL spinmeister. That's proof that the DFL's first priority is to maintain political power. There's no proof that they'll put America first. It's time they had a major change in attitude.
Another thing that shouldn't be defended is this administration's economic policies. This president's explosion of regulations are killing the coal- and taconite-mining industries, which is killing jobs.
As a result of regulations implemented by President Obama's EPA, almost 100 coal-fired power plants have either shut or announced that they're shutting down.
Driving up electric bills while killing jobs isn't a pro-growth, moving-America-forward agenda. It's the opposite of a pro-growth, moving-America-forward agenda.
Finally, by saying that President Obama has a plan to move America forward, Mr. Broton is essentially saying that it's ok for median household incomes to drop by $4,019 since the end of the Bush recession. I'm betting families disagree with his spin.
President Obama's economy isn't creating enough jobs to keep up with population growth. The jobs that are getting created are low-paying jobs. That's why median household incomes have dropped by $4,019.
President Obama will blame President Bush's policies but their policies have caused pathetic job growth, dropping household incomes and people giving up looking for work.
That might be moving America forward in a Democrat's spin but it's failure in the eyes of the American people.
Tags: President Obama , Acceptance Speech , DNC , Spin , Jobs Report , Unemployment , Real Unemployment Rate , Labor Force Participation Rate , Forward , Darin Broton , DFL , Election 2012
Posted Monday, September 10, 2012 3:30 AM
No comments.
