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Edited on Tue Oct-16-07 12:12 PM by Atman
The news media's failure to ask questions about the "great economy" will be utimately more devastating to the country than their failure to pursue serious questions about the invasion of Iraq.
Each network trots out its own smiling bubblehead in the morning to tell 'Murkins how great they're doing, how great the economy is doing, how there is virtually no unemployment in the United States under The Glorious Leader. Everything is fucking ROSY, oh, except for that your home is worth less (or worthless), the dollar is sinking to unimaginable levels, seven more factories sent another 30,000 jobs to China or India, tens of billions of dollars are being charged to your kids and grandkids and great grandkids off-the-books to pay for endless war, shocking deficit levels.
But everything is rosy, right?
Can anyone ever remember the last time the monthly jobs report indicated a net GAIN in jobs? That is, job growth above 155,000, the number every economist worth his pocket protector acknowledges is needed to simply tread water? Even the lovely Erin Burnett on MSNBC/CNBC acknowledged this last week when she reported the "great jobs picture," nearly 110,000 new jobs, 45,000 short of the break-even point. Since when is yet another month below break-even considered "great?" Why, when they tell you it is, of course. Burnett admitted that it was way short of the break-even point, but said it was considered "great" because they expected worse. Thus is logic in the land of BushCo ass-kissers.
The previous month was even worse. In fact, if each month is falling below the "break even" point, doesn't it stand to reason that we are in fact way, way behind in the employment picture? If it requires 1,860,000 new jobs annually just to tread water, and we're falling short by tens of thousands every month, why hasn't Erin Burnett or any one of these people asked "how is the unemployment rate so low?"
BushCo has lied about everything else, we already know that. Why does anyone accept their word on something as important as economic figures? We know that early on in his term, the Bush administration began tinkering with the way it reports economic figures, much the way it distorts casualty figures in Iraq (ie; shot in the back of the head isn't insurgent violence, but shot in the front is; car bombs don't count, etc). Somewhere common sense has to come into play. How are these so-called economists able to report numbers which simply fly in the face of all reason?
The mortgage/housing market is a total time bomb. Millions and millions of people losing their homes is not and never has been indicative of a "great economy." A housing market implosion coupled with a subterranean dollar, a stratospheric debt and endless war cannot possibly, ever, at any time, be indicative of a "great economy" with record unemployment. Yet they continue to tell us it is.
Where were/are the warnings to consumers? Where were/are the questions to administration officials and economists? It's no different than the media's complicity in the invasion of Iraq by virtue of incessant cheerleading with nary a question of doubt ever being posed. Doing this to America in regards to Iraq was reprehensible and irresponsible. But we see their willingness to hoodwink the American people in order to shore up their own political favors with the administration simply knows no bounds.
Somewhat ironically, they do it at their peril as well as ours, because it is advertising that pays their bills. And any marketing person will tell you, while it is ultimately suicidal to do so, every bean counter cuts back the advertising budget first when the economy tanks (though, outsourcing has been a good stop-gap under BushCo). But what the hell, right? As long as the CEO and BOD are making seven figure incomes, everything is rosy, right?
Right?
Yeah, right.
:scared:
(Edited for minor typo, and clearer sub line) .
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