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"CBO: Unemployment Will Remain Above 8 Percent Until 2014"

Bush’s fault. Though to be fair, the Arab Spring, the Japanese earthquake / tsunami / nuclear armageddon (with the attendant rise of zombie cheerleaders and giant insect wars), and Justin Bieber’s pro-life bombshell had a lot to do with it.

Honestly. Any mortal leader can only do so much in the face of such unprecedented obstacles — and a demi-god, well, even He’s going to need an additional term as President to fix the problems that his demi-godness (and thank Christ we had him here when all this went down, or things would have gotten really shitty) has heretofore only been able to battle valiantly, if not forcefully enough at times, to something of an existential standstill.

Praise be to Him.

27 Replies to “"CBO: Unemployment Will Remain Above 8 Percent Until 2014"”

  1. happyfeet says:

    he’s got the moves like jagger he’s got the moves like jagger

  2. A fine scotch says:

    Jeff, I don’t know if you looked at the CBO report, but the situation is WORSE than presented. See page 4 of the .PDF file (page titled “Notes”).

    The “forecast described in this report does not reflect any other developments since early July, including the recent swings in financial markets and the annual revision to the national income and product accounts (compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis). Incorporating that recent news and economic data would have led CBO to temper its near-term forecast for economic growth.”

    Translation: the projections in that document are too high, growth will be lower, and deficits/debt will likely be higher.

  3. Jeff G. says:

    Well, afs, that’s to be expected. I just assume we all know that government projections are rosy, and that the actual news is always far worse.

  4. LTC John says:

    #2 and #3 – then I wonder if some should loudly discuss the findings in this report – then when things ineveitably get worse than the rosy projections therein, roll the report up and swat O! on the nose with it.

    Say, remember when “thor” used to keep dropping “O! The man is too strong” type remarks all the time? Heh.

  5. Carin says:

    Obama did inherit an apocalypse. I hears some woman say so on Fox news this morning.

  6. geoffb says:

    The free enterprise system has lifted more people out of poverty than all the government anti-poverty programs combined’ Marco Rubio

    Heresy.

  7. Carin says:

    ay, remember when “thor” used to keep dropping “O! The man is too strong” type remarks all the time? Heh.

    Thor lost his mind somewhere early in 08.

  8. motionview says:

    At some point in the near future, probably during his upcoming DemagogueToDeath Tour in support of MoneyHemorrhage 2.0, Barack Obama will say something along the lines of this from the Misery Tour first Town Hall

    Basically what we need to do is we need to cut about $4 trillion over the next 10 years. Now, that sounds like a big number — it is a big number. But if we were able to, as I proposed, cut about $2 trillion in spending, if folks who could best afford it — millionaires and billionaires — were willing to eliminate some of the loopholes that they take advantage of in the tax code and do a little bit more, and if we were willing to take on some of the long-term costs that we have on health care — if we do those things, we could solve this problem tomorrow. I put a deal before the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, that would have solved this problem. And he walked away because his belief was we can’t ask anything of millionaires and billionaires and big corporations in order to close our deficit.

    He makes bullshit claims like this because he has these fantasy, silly-assumption CBO analyses as backup. So when he says this next time, could someone in the MBM possibly inquire as to which of these elements needed to make his math work he supports?
    1. Certain provisions of the 2010 tax act, including extensions of lower rates and expanded credits and deductions originally enacted in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), expire at the end of 2012;
    2. The two-year extension of provisions designed to limit the reach of the alternative minimum tax, extensions of emergency unemployment compensation, and the one-year reduction in the payroll tax all expire at the end of 2011;
    3. Sharp reductions in Medicare’s payment rates for physicians’ services take effect at the end of 2011;
    4. Funding for discretionary spending declines over time in real terms, in accordance with the caps established under the Budget Control Act; and
    5. Additional deficit reduction totaling $1.2 trillion over the 2012–2021 period will be implemented as required under the Budget Control Act.
    Just the tax increase on the wealthy, right?

  9. JHoward says:

    Theory: Every president in American history has had his term’s results hung around his neck.

    Speaking of the construction of an entire national narrative, that is except one.

    Confirm? Deny? Anyone?

  10. LTC John says:

    Carin,

    Quite so….but would anyone be running around trying to make such remarks/arguments now? Those on the leftish side of the blogosphere commenting crew seem to be angry, bitter and finger-pointy now – not so much “O!” or “Hope” or “I am going to get free gas and my mortgage paid for!” any more.

  11. LTC John says:

    JHoward – remember when Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry were proclaiming the 2004 economy worse than Hoover’s? Me neither.

    Well, maybe they had to do so to counter GWB’s constant complaining about the Clinton bubble burst, inheriting the weak defense establishment and enemies everywhere, etc. Man, that guy could blame!

  12. ThomasD says:

    Obaa didn’t inherent anything – he asked for the job. If, arguendo, all of this is Bush’s fault then why didn’t the sooperjeenyus see it coming? And why hasn’t he been able to do anything about it in the last three years?

    Obama and his Congress had two full years to change anything they disagreed with. They could have undone everything of the prior eight years, yet they left it almost entirely intact and only added more crap. Their acceptance of what came before means they own every bit of it.

    Of course, given that it is only going to get worse over the next 1 1/2 years, any potential improvement will demand something heroic (at least so far as DC politics is concerned, especially if the Senate remains open to filibuster) which does cause me to question the sanity of anyone seriously persuing the office…

  13. serr8d says:

    Piss be in His boots.

  14. McGehee says:

    There’s one particularly case of unemployment that needs to be 100% by 2014. IYKWIMAITYD.

  15. proudvastrightwingconspirator says:

    THE STRAIGHT POOP OUR ECONOMY & GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM:

    The folks who are getting free shit, don’t like the folks who are paying for the free shit, because the folks who are paying for the free shit, can no longer afford to pay for both the free shit and their own shit.

    And, the folks who are paying for the free shit want the free shit to stop, or at least slow down.
    While the folks who are getting the free shit, want even MORE free shit on top of the free shit they’re getting already
    Now, the government that is forcing people to PAY for the free shit, has told the people who are RECEIVING the free shit,
    that the people who are PAYING for the free shit, are being mean, prejudiced and racist for not wanting to give them even MORE free shit.

    So, the people who are GETTING lots of free shit already are convinced they need to HATE the people who are PAYING for their free shit because they are selfish & racist for not giving them MORE free shit.

    They are promised more free shit if they will just vote for the politicians who will force the people who pay for the free shit to give them even more free shit. But, when the free shit stops they riot, burn, steal and commit mayhem, just like in England recently.

    So, if the government can’t provide the FREE shit, they will simply bypass the middleman and go take the shit they need from whom ever has it.
    How shitty is that?

  16. JD says:

    I think the MFM and the obambi campaign are trying to really lower expectations, so if somehow the economy turns, even if just a little, they can claim some miraculous victory.

  17. cranky-d says:

    I’m thinking that the CBO expects Obama to be re-elected then. I predict unemployment will be over 9% until he leaves office, and depending on how much damage he does during that time, perhaps a lot longer.

    It’s much easier to destroy than it is to create.

  18. WillB says:

    I think I can clear up some of the confusion around the unemployment issue.

    When they said the stimulus would keep unemployment from reaching 8%, you probably thought that they meant it would not get as high as 8%.

    An easy mistake to make.

  19. VekTor says:

    You left out one of the truly watershed events that Obama has faced as a “headwind”, preventing much-needed progress on repairing the current “soft patch”… the emergence of Perry as a popular force.

    To be fair to Obama, of course, the timeline is quite clear. Obama definitely inherited Perry from the previous administration, and the impacts are by now quite well-known.

    “I Kissed A Girl” was released in June of 2008, and by September of that same year, the current crisis was in full bloom, with the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) being shepherded into place before the election even took place, and it’s been downhill from there.

    And just when the President finally has made progress on getting things sorted out, Perry tweets about praying(!) for… I’m sorry, I can’t even say it. Why can’t Obama catch a break?

  20. newrouter says:

    vektor baracky can’t “catch a break” because he never played t-ball. ax frank davis.

  21. zino3 says:

    LTC John,

    Do we EVER believe what he government forecasts?

    The numbers are always WRONG, by a good margin. It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.

    TLD

  22. serr8d says:

    VecTor, your comment stands as one unsolved. It must’ve been 4:20 somewhere…

  23. Danger says:

    “and thank Christ we had him here when all this went down, or things would have gotten really shitty”

    Gutfeld had a great line today irt this obama spin:

    (paraphrased) “It’s like an arsonist burning down your house but claiming he saved you from slipping in the bathtub.”

  24. Slartibartfast says:

    KMSOG.

    It’s the new black.

    Oh. Christ, did I really just do that?

  25. zino3 says:

    Yup, Slarti, you did.

    and, at least, I thank you for that. Always good to start off the day with a belly-laugh.

  26. A fine scotch says:

    Thanks, Slart! I hadn’t seen that in a while. Great way to start out the day (and fun song to have stuck in my head)! I get to smile thinking about it while my liberal friends just think I’m singing a song they like.

  27. Slartibartfast says:

    I think referring to Obama as Son Of God is even better than Dear Leader. Dear Leader was already worn out when the inventive class started using it on Bush.

    Anyway, glad to have handed out a few chuckles, even if it was in a highly RAAAAACIST!!! way.

Comments are closed.