Dem rep: Obama will create more jobs in 2010 than entire Bush presidency May 30, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 1 comment so farby Ed Morrissey
Yes, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz D-FL) was apparently serious yesterday when she told Stuart Varney that the Obama administration would create as many jobs in 2010 as during “the entire Bush presidency,” a moment that comes at about 1:50 in the clip below. This claim came in response to Varney’s challenge to the incumbent Democrat as to how she will explain her vote to spend a trillion dollars when it failed to achieve its objective in keeping unemployment below 8%. Wasserman-Schulz does a strange double down in reply. But was she right?
For the record, employment grew during the Bush years from 137,778,000 in January 2001 to 142,221,000 in January 2009, a net growth of 4,443,000 jobs over the course of the Bush years. The economy has added 1,663,000 jobs this year (from 137,792,000 in December 2009 to 139,455,000 in April 2010), over four months. At that rate, assuming the same rate of job growth (as Wasserman-Schultz herself set the parameters of her claim), that would predict a growth of almost 5 million jobs — which puts Wasserman-Schultz’s argument in the ballpark. However, it’s worth pointing out that the numbers on private employment, excluding government employment, don’t look nearly as good. At one time during the Bush years, private employment had expanded by almost 4 million, reaching its peak in December 2007. That was true despite dealing with a couple of recessionary periods during the first term of his presidency. The resulting collapse wiped out all of those gains, however, and left Bush with a deficit of 673,000 jobs. In contrast, Obama has lost over 3.3 million jobs in private employment since the start of his term on top of what was lost in the final year of the Bush presidency. In 2010, private employment has only climbed by 483,000 jobs. At that rate, it will take 28 months to restore just the private-sector jobs lost during the Obama administration — and another 32 months to get back to the peak of private employment during the Bush years. That also doesn’t account for population growth, either. An employment level of 115,574,000 private-sector jobs in December 2007 will not be the equivalent of having that number in 2016. In short, Wasserman-Schultz may be technically correct in this claim, thanks to aggressive government expansion and hiring, but it’s a seriously misleading argument. (h/t: HA reader Yossi Kudan)
Finally: The photo op that America’s been waiting for; Video: BP buses in workers to clean beach for Obama May 29, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , add a commentby Allahpundit
The good stuff starts about halfway through, when O does his “I’m engaged, see?” pose by stooping down to poke at the tar balls on the beach. I want this photo blown up to poster size and available for framing so that I can remind myself, in my moments of doubt, that he really does care.
Via JWF, here’s a detail that … won’t surprise you in the least, actually:
Perhaps you saw news footage of President Obama in Grand Isle, La., on Friday and thought things didn’t look all that bad. Well, there may have been a reason for that: The town was evidently swarmed by an army of temp workers to spruce it up for the president and the national news crews following him.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts, whose district encompasses Grand Isle, told Yahoo! News that BP bused in “hundreds” of temporary workers to clean up local beaches. And as soon as the president was en route back to Washington, the workers were clearing out of Grand Isle too, Roberts said.
“The level of cleanup and cooperation we’ve gotten from BP in the past is in no way consistent to the effort shown on the island today,” Roberts said by telephone. “As soon as the president left, they were immediately put back on the buses and sent home.”
They actually use the term “Potemkin-style backdrop” to describe what happened. While on the scene, Obama said, “BP is the responsible party for this disaster. But as I said yesterday and as I repeated in the meeting we just left, I ultimately take responsibility for solving this crisis. I’m the president, and the buck stops with me.” Does that mean the phony backdrop is his responsibility too? Considering that he’s already using a phony timeline to defend the feds’ response after BP’s rig first exploded, I’m going to go ahead and vote “yes.”
“Top kill” is proceeding apace, meanwhile, but it’ll be another day or two before we know if it worked. Exit question: Who’s that guy over Obama’s left shoulder in this video? He looks awfully shady.
Update: Ah, here’s that Potemkin-style backdrop now. And this wasn’t the only one. Tapper tells me that they were up to the same shenanigans on the beach where the media was headquartered, no doubt desperate to convince the cameras that the coastline wasn’t in quite as bad shape as has been claimed. Click the image to watch.
GOP Moves to Repeal Obamacare – Dems Lie About It’s Popularity May 28, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 1 comment so farby Jim Hoff
Nearly two-thirds of Americans want Obamacare repealed. Democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill down America’s throat in March.
Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill to repeal it.
The Hill reported:
House Republican leaders introduced a bill Thursday to repeal and replace the sweeping healthcare law adopted in late March.
According to Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the measure would repeal the current law and replace it with the alternative the minority party offered to the original healthcare legislation last November.
“As unpopular as this healthcare bill is today, it’s at the height of its popularity,” Blunt said. “The more the American people know about it, the more concerns they are going to have, and the more they are going to look at alternatives.”Chances are slim Republicans could get their measure to the floor, given the Democratic majorities in the chamber, but it could make a useful campaign tool for the party.
The vote on healthcare reform has become a political issue in a year rife with anti-incumbent sentiment.
Tea Party activists opposed the legislation and protested on Capitol Hill during the March vote, shouting, “Kill the bill.”
Several Democratic candidates in conservative-leaning districts have said they would not have voted for the bill, while unions are withholding support from some Democratic incumbents who voted against the legislation.
A Gallup poll taken earlier this month found that healthcare is still in the Top Five list of voters’ concerns. Another Gallup poll found that voters are “no less concerned about paying the costs of a serious illness or accident, or normal healthcare costs, than they were last year.”
In all, 20 GOP lawmakers co-sponsored the repeal-and-replace bill, including House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), GOP conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) and Blunt.
An aide for Assistant to the Speaker Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said that the “repeal Repubs” would create a boon for the health insurance industry.
“Repeal Repubs are out of step with the majority of Americans who want to give the reform bill a chance to work. If the GOP gets their way, they would actually strip individuals and families of important rights and benefits and add to the deficit they created. This is a healthcare bill only insurance companies would love,” Van Hollen spokesman Doug Thornell said.
Good for the GOP.
They ought to keep introducing repeal bills weekly until November and hold a press conference after every vote.
Obama’s counterterror advisor: We’re not at war with “jihadists” May 28, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , add a commentby Allahpundit
The Foxies are airing a truncated version of this showcasing the part where Brennan says “jihad is a legitimate tenet of Islam,” but this longer version, via the Right Scoop, is truer to his point. There’s actually nothing here you haven’t heard a thousand times before in other guises. The U.S. wants to limit Al Qaeda’s recruiting pool to whatever extent possible so it emphasizes a distinction between “false Muslims” who blow things up and “real Muslims” who don’t. In so doing, it has to reconcile two goals: (1) convincing impressionable young members of the ummah that we don’t hate their faith and (2) addressing the fact that, according to the Koran, jihad is a legitimate tenet of Islam. The obvious rhetorical move? Arguing that “jihad” refers only to a peaceful internal spiritual struggle etc etc and that anyone who reads it a tad more aggressively not only doesn’t know what he’s talking about but is actually offending the faith. For the same reason, you sometimes hear Middle Eastern pols refer to terrorists as “takfiris” rather than “jihadis.” The former is pejorative while the latter isn’t.
Again: These are all standard Bush-era diplo-talking points, and they’ll remain standard talking points under President Palin or Romney or Rubio or whoever for the simple reason that the U.S. isn’t about to ask a billion Muslims to renounce the Koran over the repulsive idea of holy war. The only thing that’s somewhat unusual here is his use of the word “legitimate” to describe jihad. I think he means legitimate according to Muslims, not in the abstract sense, but this guy’s enough of a pandering tool to make me wonder. Not only does he occasionally refer to Jerusalem by its Palestinian revanchist name “al-Quds,” he’s also the one who recently advocated reaching out to, er, “moderate elements” of Hezbollah. Imagine how surprised they’ll be when they find out they’ve misunderstood what “jihad” means.
It’s America’s Turn to Speak Out May 27, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 1 comment so farby Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
The Democrat majority isn’t listening, but House Republicans will. That’s why we’re launching America Speaking Out; an unprecedented initiative of engagement with the American people that will lead to a governing policy agenda for America. Through the use of cutting-edge technology, town hall meetings, and old-fashioned conversation, America Speaking Out will surely become one of the largest online conversations ever about how to get back to a smaller, smarter, more accountable government. This initiative will lead to vital communication with the American people about the serious challenges that they’re waiting for Congress to address.
Washington Democrats have been ramming their own one-sided agenda through Congress. And, throughout the past year, they have repeatedly gone behind closed doors and choked off opportunities for honest and transparent debate. But, my Republican colleagues and I are ready for an exchange of ideas that will restore the bonds of trust between Americans and their elected leaders.
We have to show the American people that we know what’s at stake this year. In the face of failed leadership by Congressional Democrats, House Republicans must produce a vision for a better America that will return our national government to the common sense and common values of everyday Americans. And we’re looking to the American people to help us.
Over the coming months, we will be using this conversation to build on our long-standing belief in a smaller and more accountable government. We’ll incorporate your ideas as we develop policy solutions and concrete plans for reforming the way Washington works.
So, let’s get started America. America Speaking Out is ready to roll and we’re ready for a dialogue which gets the People’s House back to the people’s business.
