Bush Administration Hides More Data, Shuts Down Website Tracking U.S. Economic Indicators

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/economic-indicators

Bush Administration Hides More Data, Shuts Down Website Tracking U.S. Economic Indicators

The U.S. economy is faltering. Family debt is on the rise, benefits are disappearing, the deficit is skyrocketing, and the mortgage crisis has worsened. Conservatives have attempted to deflect attention from the crisis, by blaming the media’s negative coverage and insisting the United States is not headed toward a recession, despite what economists are predicting.

The Bush administration’s latest move is to simply hide the data. Forbes has awarded EconomicIndicators.gov one of its “Best of the Web” awards. As Forbes explains, the government site provides an invaluable service to the public for accessing U.S. economic data:

This site is maintained by the Economics and Statistics Administration and combines data collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, like GDP and net imports and exports, and the Census Bureau, like retail sales and durable goods shipments. The site simply links to the relevant department’s Web site. This might not seem like a big deal, but doing it yourself–say, trying to find retail sales data on the Census Bureau’s site–is such an exercise in futility that it will convince you why this portal is necessary.

Yet the Bush administration has decided to shut down this site because of “budgetary constraints,” effective March 1:

- snip -

Economic Indicators is particularly useful because people can sign up to receive e-mails as soon as new economic data across government agencies becomes available. While the data will still be available online at various federal websites, it will be less readily accessible to members of the public.

MORE AT LINK

[End Of The Road]

1. Unbelievable. Truly I'm speechless (and textless).

[Jacobin]

2. I'm sure our watch dog journalists will be all over this in a minute

And the administration will be shamed into putting it back in operation. Or not.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Isn't the 2007 year-end data due to be released on Monday, March 3?

Oddly coincidental timing, isn't it.

[Jim__]

4. Why not? That's the way bush solves all his problems.

He just shoves his head up his ass so he can't see them. All gone!

[bobthedrummer]

5. M3 was basically gone at the end of 2004-the sources reporting that were ridiculed, then...

[bdamomma]

6. He is totally out of control.

he needs to be arrested.

[End Of The Road]

7. kick. n/t

[BentleyJD]

8. Impeach (good to be back)

NOW.
I really believe something has to be done, the moron gets more gets more brazen everyday.
Haven't posted for while. Have my third guide dog Lido now
take care
tony and guidedogLido

[tanyev]

9. There they go again, creating their own reality.

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Oh, my -- we mustn't know what's happening, now. An informed citizen can be a real pest, you know

Some unwashed peon might get the idea that Bush is a fuck up.

[Hissyspit]

11. .

[Rex]

12. They are just digging a deeper hole in which there is no way out.

Keep it up, idiot repukes. Just more damage done to the GOP...which is good. I just can't believe how utterly stupid these people are! I mean...SERIES! What dumbfucks.

[Samantha]

13. And the fact this decision comes at a time when Republicans are

predicted to lose by a landslide the upcoming 2008 Presidential election is totally a coincidence, right? One can't throw political economic spitballs at the Republican nominee if access to the literal spit has dried up.

Sam

[kineneb]

14. have feathers and pitchfork, need tar...

looks like BushCo will have to be tried in the "court of public opinion"...

so they hide the data, and the rest they do allow out is totally bogus... words escape me (probably good, or air would be blue)...