Obama is in a mess!

[DippyDem]

[gkhouston]

1. You lost me at "recession is over". Many are still out of work. n/t

[DCKit]

2. While I agree (to a point), it takes a lot longer to fix the economy than it does to blow it up. nt

[gkhouston]

6. I agree, but saying "recession is over" makes it sound like "problem solved". "Recession ending,

job market improving" might be a better way to phrase this point.

[veganlush]

14. but recession is a real word,

with a real definition. A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters with negative GDP growth. The recession ended a long time ago. Words mean things.

[gkhouston]

24. I'm aware of the definition of "recession". Here's the thing: people care about jobs, not GDP.

When they say, "where are the jobs?" and the response is "Hey, the recession's over. GDP is up," that's an empty response to an urgent question. Saying that jobs are a lagging indicator is like saying we're turning a corner in Iraq, especially with the Republicans straining every nerve to kill job growth. Millions are under- or unemployed, and many of the vacant buildings once held by failed businesses remain unoccupied. That's what has meaning to voters, not GDP growth.

[mikekohr]

52. If We Want To Avoid The Pain Of Recovery, We Need To Quit Electing The Asshats That Cause Recessions

It took the most accomplished president in US history, Franklin Roosevelt, 8 years to get unemployment below pre-depression levels.
The George W. Bush gifted Great Recession was the greatest economic downturn since Hoover's Great Depression. Anyone that thought President Obama was going to sprinkle pixie dust over the country and erase the economic catastrofuck of Reagan/Bush/Bush in the wink of an eye has NO understanding of history.
9 of the last 10 recession have occured under Republican leadership. The top 3 economic collaspes occured under Republican leadership.
Quit electing Republicans.

source: History of Recession http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html

[DippyDem]

3. Recession=Job market going down. We are in slow recovery.

[BlueinOhio]

25. Today

On the news said consumer spending was up higher than expected. Besides what the republicans say our spending creates the jobs. Lets just make sure those jobs are in the USA and not China. Another thing with this post just think Obama and the democrats did it with the republicans fighting them tooth and nail the entire way. Boehner said he would block any jobs billl and that unemployment was not a concern for him and then this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/republican-jobs-bills_n_1687647.html

[freshwest]

40. When they say consumer buying is up, I wonder who it is. Although I live in a relatively prosperous

Area and there are some neighborhods nearby that have even more money to spend, everyone I know is cutting to the bone and reducing everything.

I would not say we are doing without as some are, still able to eat frugally and have a roof over our heads. Heck, we're on the internet, which is my sole luxury.

And I'm as content as I can be, more so than during the Bush years, although I've lost a third of my income and go without a lot of things others call necessities.

So what are people that are buying? Cars, electronics, appliances, homes, clothes, what?

[AllyCat]

43. What if they had done this with Repubican support? We'd be out of this and

on top of rankings...people working, debts down, home ownership restored and gaining, kids in good schools, colleges opening doors to more qualified applicants, businesses booming.

[BrainMann1]

47. Not love from the GOP

Even before Obama was in office the GOP said they will not work with this president. Get the facts straight, the GOP is not working with Obama and wants to go back to the politics that got us in trouble in the first place. The economy is moving slow and that's better than not moving at all.

[FatIrishBastard]

50. Hey, "Brain",

Did you miss the "What if", in AlleyCats' post? You know, the FIRST TWO WORDS?

[FatIrishBastard]

51. Woops...."Ally"

My bad

[AllyCat]

59. Huh? It was speculation on my part for the fantasy of "What would have happened if they had worked

together?" I know they aren't working with him and I believe I have my facts straight. Just dreaming...

[sendero]

31. That's true..

... as long as you understand that it is so slow as to be almost meaningless in terms of an actual recovery, then cool.

I don't blame Obama for this mess but to suggest it is improving in any meaningful way is simply incorrect.

[pnwmom]

4. Many have always, in any year, been out of work. But our economy is recovering

slowly -- too slowly, but it has been recovering.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. "Recession" is a technical term with a specific meaning

It is not a general catch-all phrase meaning "bad economic times." Or, maybe it is both, and you're using one meaning, and the chart is using another one.

[gkhouston]

7. I'm acquainted with the specific definition, but telling someone "hey, the economy's recovered"

when the jobs recovery is still struggling isn't very meaningful. The "jobs economy" used to be more tightly tied to the "money economy", so the former would follow the latter. Between outsourcing and the Republicans trying to block everything in sight, that's not as true of this recovery.

[sendero]

32. Yes it is..

... and that is why it is a meaningless moniker. We don't have GDP contraction because the Fed is pumping dollars into the economy but we most certainly do NOT have a recovery.

[bhikkhu]

37. 4 million private sector jobs created is a recovery by any definition

so we most certainly DO have a recovery.

28 straight months of job growth and what currently looks like an acceleration here (rather than a "slowing down" as Europe and Asia are in the midst of) = good news. If I didn't have a job myself I might not be celebrating, but I also wouldn't crap on an economy that has been moving steadily in the right direction, and I wouldn't pretend that 4 million new employed don't count fore anything.

[sendero]

46. When 17% of the would-be-working population...

....... are not, no it isn't. Sorry, I 'm not calling a duck a goose for the sake of politics. The economy is still hanging by a thread and 4 million jobs barely covers the new workers entering the workforce.

At the rate we are going it would take 20 years of the same results with nothing new going wrong to get to a "normal" employment scenario. Sorry, that is NOT a recovery.

I realize there are many around here who would play Republican word-games in a goofy effort to spin reality but tell it to the millions who are still suffering.

[bhikkhu]

58. Who is playing word games?

4 million new jobs created is a recovery.

If you want to play republican word games, how about we say there are only 142 million or so total jobs in the US, and 311 million people living here; that's a whopping 56% unemployment rate. Who are all these slackers!?!

The important thing is that we are moving in the right direction, which is more jobs. The existence of problems doesn't imply that things aren't getting better.

Fixating on a number that needs improvement and ignoring ongoing improvement is the RW talking point that is being used to discredit the efforts of the party and con people into another republican sweep. Remember 2010? Perhaps Romney and Ryan and Gingrich and so forth have ideas that will improve the numbers faster (no minimum wage, children and elderly working, unions gone, etc), but it will definitely be a change of direction!

[JohnnyRingo]

35. A recession is a fixed formula.

It's something like 2 or 3 straight months of receding GDP. That formula has been reversed, regardless the public sentiment of the economy and consumer confidence. One feeds the other and contributes to recessionary numbers, but we've sucessfully come out the other side.

Go to Wall Street and tell them there's a recession. Be careful you don't get run over by someone pushing a wheelbarrow full of cash.

[AllyCat]

42. Here in Wisconsin, that is also the case, but we have idiot Scott Walker to blame for that

Some areas are in worse shape than others.

[Raine1967]

8. I admit it... You got me! n/t

[PatSeg]

9. Nice summary of Obama's first term

[LittleGirl]

10. Brilliant

saved and bookmarked. Thanks

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. K&R

[Ikonoklast]

13. And you do not undertsand the meaning of the term, or the technical economic statistics

of what constitutes a recession.

Noted.

[justgamma]

15. It's not Obama saying this.

"The National Bureau of Economic Research announced on 20 September 2010 that the 2008/2009 recession ended in June 2009"

Your BS is noted.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

16. A Friend Posted This On His Facebook Page And Got This Pathetic RW Response

SOOOOOOOO much refutable garbage in here.

[maxsolomon]

26. But it has Truthyness

never mind that the credit downgrade is 100% the responsibility of the teabags in the house.

what's the 3rd war, anyway? libya? is iraq still in counted?

[Cha]

29. Two freaking words..

or 4..

[font size=large] REPUBLICON ASSHOLE CONGRESS, STUPID.[/font]

[Proles]

30. So he posts a weak least of problems

caused by a republican congress?

Many of those aren't even problems, but sketchy observations at best. What exactly are these "3 wars?" It's kind of ambiguous. I assume he's counting Afghanistan, Libya, and still Iraq.

And gas goes up and down... it's actually been going down now lately.

Edit: Just realized I had mostly parroted what Max wrote, but the points still stand lol

[rockingirl]

41. tell them to just go away

and tell them to get their head right back up their ass where it belongs!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

48. 3 wars?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

49. So much to refute? Most of this is true, isn't it? Except where'd they get 3 wars?

Unfortunate as it is, and as much progress as Obama has made to clean up their
mess...there are some down points. Now none may be his fault at all
but they still exist.

If they didn't exist, Obama might be 10 points ahead?

[treestar]

54. Oh well I guess the entire world began on 1/20/09

There was no prior history. Gawd created the world on that day.

What's wrong with more weeks of unemployment? Are they actually saying people should starve instead?

[B Calm]

56. I remember Gas $4.39 pg and Diesel $4.99 pg

four years ago. I would say the neo con doesn't remember facts very well. . .

[B Calm]

57. I drive a truck for a living and remember

the 5 dollar a gallon diesel fuel when Bush was president.

[cloudbase]

17. Bloody hell.

Let's just hang out the "Mission Accomplished" sign, then, shall we?

[Qutzupalotl]

18. Good, but I'd remove the $ from the DJIA. n/t

[Stewland]

19. There is still much to do.

Obama in his second term can push for campaign finance reform,single payer health care,close Gitmo,inact massive public works jobs bill,eliminate the tax cuts for the 1%, stop the massive destruction of environment and more. He is not running for election. We will see if he is self ruling or ruled by an elite shadow government. Time will tell. That he is not progressive on many fronts is telling.

[allan01]

20. re:Obama is in a mess!

this is great progress. but the economic upheavel that most people call a "recession" ( i am in the minority who all it a mild depression) isnt over . many are still unemplyed and so fourth.

[davidthegnome]

21. While I think he's moving us in the right direction..

There is much still to be done. The Recession is... technically over. However, if we look at the real employment numbers, National debt, student loan debt... the current state of our safety net... well, let's just say it's good to be optimistic, but cautiously optimistic, is, perhaps, best.

Remember, all that we have accomplished in the last few years will be quickly undone if Romney becomes President - with the possible exception of HCR, though that too would be in danger.

I'm not thrilled with everything about this Presidency, but overall I am content that some things have been accomplished. Obama is by far the lesser of two evils and it is possible that he could be a truly great President... I'll wait and vote and hope for a second term. We'll see what he can do with four more years.

[Bertha Venation]

22. The recession is over?

Who knew.

[maxsolomon]

27. Everyone who knows what a recession is.

we are in a period of very slow growth. but it is an expansion.

recession is not tied to a GDP or unemployment number.

[JDPriestly]

23. Sorry for the stupid question, but is there some way I can copy or dowload this

to use in campaigning?

I think it is excellent. With an additional question at the end of the column about what Obama inherited reading: Do we really want another Republican president? Or something similar.

[maxsolomon]

28. right click on the image

hit save

[Did I Just Type This]

33. The economy has not recovered one iota.

Forget about buzzwords and especially fictional descriptions. A "jobless recovery" is not an economic recovery. I am an investor and there is only one item you honestly need to watch, no joke it is that simple. The price of gold is the measuring stick for the global/U.S. economy status. The price of gold is STILL hovering around $1,575 to well over $1,600 an ounce. This is a big concern to investors, this means that investors, both domestic and foreign would rather dump their commodity investments into an inflated gold price rather than real estate and commercial bonds. Until this figure drops down to or below $667 dollars an ounce the economy is primed for an inevitable crash/correction. The adjusted and realistic price should be $450 an ounce, but the dollar has lost an incredible amount of value. Has anyone noticed that the Canadian dollar is equal to or greater than the value of the U.S. dollar. This is alarming, Canada has done nothing to increase it's value, this is all AA rating/deficit related. Canada has always (on a good day) been assumed to be between 25% AND 30% below the value of the USD.

[justgamma]

39. Maybe true, but

we got the dip in credit rating because the Repubs threatened that they would let the USA default on our obligations.

Also Canada never had to bail out their banks because they are smart enough to have regulations on their banks. Unlike the Repubs.

[JohnnyRingo]

34. Wrong reply. Please disregard

X

[iamthebandfanman]

36. Republicans cause depressions.

The Republicans had control of the House from 1917 until 1933, and the Senate from 1919 until 1933.
The great depression followed.
Republicans had control of the House from 1995 until 2007, and the Senate from 1995 until 2007 (with 50/50 split from 2001 until 2003, but Vice President breaks ties, and he was a republican).
The 'great recession' followed.

Im sure its just a coincidence.

[Loge23]

38. Hard to argue against Obama.

Clearly the situation is not even close to what we had at the end of the disastrous Bush administration.
The problem for many is the actually the problem that put us where we are today: the bubble.
The detractors think that since we haven't returned to a bubble economy that there is no real recovery.
Hope we never do return to a bubble, although in our present form of capitalism we surely will.

It has to be obvious to anyone who looks at the data and lives in this country that things have improved from 2008.
Not much, granted. But that's really not Obama's fault. His initiatives have been fiercely opposed by the loser party since day one.
I can find many reasons for my own disappointment in the past four years of the President's leadership but that number would pale against the alternative, or against the last administration. So freakin' what?! I'd rather move out of the country than be live through another Asshat Party president.

Barack Obama is our best choice. Support him. Vote for him. Be the change you want to occur.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

44. The DJIA isn't rated in $ is it? Aren't they points?

[B Calm]

45. The only ones with the balls

to do what is necessary is the Democrats. The REPUBLICANS screw up the system, then don't do anything to fix it. They sit on their asses and wait for the Democrats to take office to do what's needed to keep the country operating - then the REPUBLICANS that caused all the mess in the first place sit back on their fat pimply hemorrhoid asses and point their shit stained fingers at the totally innocent Democrats.

REPUBLICANS will have sex with animals and they jack off all the time with no lubrication while looking at MAD magazines! Sick SOBs! Since all the rich people are REPUBLICANS, the only ones left to bail out the country are the poor and middle class Democrats. If we got rid of all REPUBLICANS, we could put the system back on track as it was originally intended. As long as there are REPUBLICANS around to screw things up, us poor and middle class Democrats will have to pay the bills for the bills they run up. Screw the MFckng REPUBLICANS!!!! They are also the ones that invented credit cards and broke up Ma Bell. They also sit at the tip of the oil company's. They rule, and we poor Democrats suffer from them worm shit eating REPUBLICANS! If not for the REPUBLICANS, we would have clean air, the solar ice caps would not be melting, we would not be at war, would have no income tax at all, and would all retire millionaires!

Unfortunately, the only way these hard headed animal screwing MFer's to get the message, is to drop dead of obesity!!!! Then, God will enlighten them and only then will they see all the screwed up shit they have caused in this country.....to include War, Pestilence, Greed, Obesity, the Flu, and McDonald's.

[LWolf]

53. #s 1, 2, and 4

might be happening somewhere in the nation, but not in my region, and not where my friends and family live in various other states.

He certainly inherited a mess, but trying to spin "recovery" to those who haven't seen or experienced any recovery is not an effective talking point.

[B Calm]

55. Actually the DOW was in the 7,000 point range

when Bush was in office.

Anyone invested in the stock market would have to be an idiot to vote against Obama!