But so what? Obama is gaining ground among women voters and overtaking Romney in swing states.
And here you thought issues and performance mattered. Silly, politically-engaged Hobbits.
If substance mattered even near as much as “polish,” predictability, hair, or a willingness to keep to the managed script written for you by the status quo political class, you think the GOP Party establishment would be pushing Mitt Romney?
It is to laugh.
Anyway, for the record, James Glassman, JP Morgan:
A useful way to assess the challenge for the US economy is to ask, How many jobs would need to be created to recover the ground lost in this last recession. Focusing only on official unemployment, currently 12,806,000 million are classified as officially unemployed. In a normal, fully-employed economy, the unemployment rate would be expected to be 4.5 to 5.0 percent. In that case, the natural number of unemployed people would be 7 to 8 million, respectively. So, for the unemployment rate to fall from 8.3 percent to 4.5 to 5.0 percent, the economy would need employ 6 million to 5 million people, respectively, of those who currently are unemployed.
What about the larger picture that includes the hidden unemployed? How many jobs are needed to restore the ratio of employed people to the total population back to where it was in 2007, prior to the economic downturn. Under normal circumstances, there would be 153,000,000 jobs, including parttime jobs that people hold voluntarily. Currently, however, the number of full-time jobs and those who are holding part-time jobs voluntarily stand at 138,189,000.
Explains James Pethokoukis:
In other words, to restore the job market to the state it was in back in 2007, before the recession, would require the creation of 14.8 million jobs in today’s terms, a daunting task to say the least.
Daunting for a President or an administration that wants such job creation. This Administration has nurtured the expansion of the dependency class and has brought the country statistically near to the tipping point, where those on government aid outnumber those who remain independent and self-sufficient. After which it plans to rely on class and racial warfare to distract and deflect from the jobs issue — promising the champion each grievance group against the “rich” or the “racists” and “sexists” and “homophobes,” etc.
Divide and conquer is the strategy. And the GOP plans to fight it by offering a less ideological and more business-friendly version of big government progressivism.
Good luck with all that.
Silly blogger: Everybody knows elections are decided by the price of gas.
There are five real jobs to be had in my city, and 30 different “staffing” companies desperately posting the same five jobs, and recycling older postings, thus it looks like 150-500 jobs available in my town. See how we’re recovering?
Nota bene:
“PETHOKOUKIS: If Obamacare gets thrown out, we could have clear field for healthcare reform in 2013. Do you have favor limiting or phasing out the tax exclusion for employer-provided healthcare, which analysts say contributes to the third-party payment problem which drives up healthcare costs? ROMNEY: My tax plan is lowering the marginal rates across the board by 20%. And I indicated that I would also limit deductions and exclusions, particularly for those at the higher-income levels. My principle is that high-income individuals will pay the same share of the government’s revenue that they pay today. So contrary to Vice President Biden and President Obama, I am not cutting taxes for the rich. I am maintaining the progressivity in the code.”
So let’s recap. Mitt is asked about Medicare. And instead of answering the question, he declares first that he wants to lower taxes across the board, then in a few words changes his mind and says he will keep the existing disproportionately high rates on the high income earners, for the sake of Progressivity. And no answer on Medicare.
Who couldn’t be excited about this guy?
Whoever he is.
Sorry, “asked about heathcare reform generally”
This android keyboard blows
He’s Everyman, George! Who do you want him to be? He can do that!
Bill Clinton was on the news this morning saying Romney can’t win the election. Something about the etch-a-sketch strategy won’t work.
On the other hand, he claimed that he missed Hilliary and was happy she is talking about leaving the Obama administration, so, you know, he’s still a world class liar…
BTW here is that Pethokoukis interview with The Pompadour of Respectability.
http://blog.american.com/2012/03/romney-speaks-my-qa-with-republican-presidential-contender-mitt-romney/
Doesn’t even begin to tell the horror.
That graph is a snippet of one I saw a few days ago, but darned if I can find the link (cant remember if it was Zero Hedge or AEI)
but I’ve recreated it here:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=69N
Compared to other economic downturns since the 40’s this one is sure looks different. It would appear that the economic impact of Obama administration, coming on top of a recession, has forced the economy out of a 50 year pattern.
We are, in a sense, off the map. Here be dragons.
That graph is a snippet of one I saw a few days ago… I’ve recreated it here
You can hear my *gulp* from the other end of the intertubes.
SHUT UP AND FALL IN LINE! ARE YOU A TRAITOR? YOU WANT TO LIVE WITH FOUR MORE YEARS OF STICKING IT TO THE “RICH”?
Oh, wait —
Anyone else looking forward to four years of Serious Republican Pundocracy praising
Bush 41 LiteRomney to the skies, no matter how profligate the policy?I can give you dozens of reasons for ABO, but precious few for Ann Coulter’s boyfriend.
It’s at Zero Hedge , ThomasD.
That few is indeed precious, George.
I can only think of one:
Romney might, just might, mind you, exceed our exceedingly low expectations.
When will we stop calling it “the great recession” and start calling it a depression?
I give it two months after the next election.
It will, of course, require huge government involvement to guide us back to prosperity…
“It will, of course, require huge government involvement to guide us back to prosperity…”
Or worse. Think only what the left believes got the nation out of the Great Depression.
Oh, that was if Romney is elected. If Obama is reelected, it will be declared a depression at his inauguration, and require huge government involvement to guide us back to prosperity.
It’s not a depression Lee, it’s the end of the business cycle as we know it!
You can’t fall down again if first you don’t get back up.
I read that on the bottom of a barstool once.
If memory serves, the line was “2 million jobs saved or created.”
Soooo, if we’re still down 15 million jobs, then I guess we have to move all of the “created jobs” to the “saved category.”
At the low low price of $500,000 per job saved. Of course, there are those who might question the methodology used to ascertain what, exactly, constitutes a “saved” job.