Fiscal Cliff Notes #2
I'm not writing about this much, in part because I think much of what is going on is theater. Lots of posturing on both sides. I will note, however, that Republicans are playing a losing game. Most polls show that they are not trusted to avoid the fiscal cliff, and if we do go over it, the GOP will be … Read More
Elizabeth Warren on Banking Committee
Wall Street doesn't like Elizabeth Warren, a strong advocate of Wall Street reform. They hoped she wouldn't be elected Senator from Massachusetts, but she was. And now, it appears that their worst nightmare is about to happen: she's going to be in a position of real power over them. The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim is reporting that sources have told him that … Read More
Walmart So Cares About Children
On the subject of striking Walmart workers: Numerous activities over the past year or longer “have caused disruptions to Walmart’s business, resulted in misinformation being shared publicly about our company, and created an uncomfortable environment and undue stress on Walmart’s customers, including families with children,” Walmart outside counsel Steven Wheeless said in a letter sent on Friday to Deborah Gaydos, assistant general counsel … Read More
Fiscal Cliff Notes
“Fiscal cliff” is the popular shorthand term used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to go into effect. Among the laws set to change at midnight on December 31, 2012, are the end of last year’s temporary payroll tax … Read More
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit abruptly resigned today, leaving the helm of the bank that he guided through the financial crisis of 2008. Other banks have recovered since 2008. Not so with Citigroup. Overall, Citi lost 88 percent of its value under Pandit So he's stepping down. Johnny, what do we have for the bank CEO who ruined shareholders' holdings in Citi? If no … Read More
The outrageous attack on BLS
Reprinted in full from the Economic Policy Institute: Apparently, Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric, is accusing the Bureau of Labor Statistics of manipulating the jobs report to help President Obama. Others seem to be adding their voices to this slanderous lie. It is simply outrageous to make such a claim and echoes the worrying general distrust of facts … Read More
Unemployment Rate Down To 7.8%
That's the September numbers, and 7.8 is the lowest rate since August 2009. There's goes Romney's favorite talking point — that the unemployment rate has been above 8% under Obama's leadership. It also answers the "right direction-wrong direction" question. Decreases in the jobless rate are not always good news — the figure sometimes falls when discouraged Americans drop out of the workforce … Read More
New CNN Poll Shows Future Optimism About Economy
… and more than that, here's two revealing poll questions: Likely voters are TWICE as likely to blame Bush and the Republicans for the bad economic conditions we are in, as compared to blaming Obama. That's bad news for Romney. And Romney is running on a campaign of "Are you better off than you were four years ago". As the … Read More
The “Net Job Loss” Lie
This is the graph: The red lines represent when Bush was president; the blue is for Obama. These are the monthly job gains/losses for each month since January 2008 to last month. Romney and company would like to tell you that, if you take all the job gains under Obama (where it goes up) and add them to the job … Read More
Better Off Now Than Four Years Ago?
I hate this election question, generally speaking. However, I'm surprised that the Republicans think they can win by asking this question. Sure, for SOME people, things are worse. But GENERALLY SPEAKING, things are better now than they were before Obama took office. That's objectively true. Let's look at the headlines from September 2008: STOCK SHOCK FELT ROUND THE WORLD. Gets … Read More
The Short Cartoonist Speaks The Truth Again
Love me the Reich-man: Transcript: Mitt Romney hasn't provided details so we should be grateful he's selected as vice president a man with a detailed plan Romney says is "marvelous," "bold and exciting," "excellent," "much needed," and "consistent with" what he's put out. So let's look at the five basic features of this "marvelous" Ryan plan. FIRST: It would … Read More
Surprised? – Romney Wants To Increase Taxes On Everybody So That His Will Be Lower
Well-played, Mr Robber Baron Mitt Romney’s plan to overhaul the tax code would produce cuts for the richest 5 percent of Americans — and bigger bills for everybody else, according to an independent analysis set for release Wednesday. The study was conducted by researchers at the Brookings Institution and the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, who usually bend over backward to … Read More
Unseemly and Disgusting
The Romeny camp's response: “The Obama campaign’s latest unfounded character assault on Mitt Romney is unseemly and disgusting. Mitt Romney had a successful career in the private sector, pays every dime of taxes he owes, has given generously to charitable organizations, and served numerous causes greater than himself,” said spokeswoman Andrea Saul. “Barack Obama has become what he once ran … Read More
They Say You Can’t Get Re-Elected If Unemployment Rates > 8%
Obama's had a couple of good weeks with the immigration issue, and the Supreme Court uphold of the ACA. And Romney's team has been playing those issues badly. But today came the jobs numbers for last month. The U.S. economy added 80,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 8.2%. The number was below economists’ expectations. April’s … Read More