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

[ckramer]

Source: tp

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:



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

[havocmom]

1. .

[snappyturtle]

2. OMG. My brain is in over drive anyway and now this.

:tinfoilhat:

The economy must be really bad but hiding the statistics from the public is nefarious. WHY would * do this?

[butterfly77]

12. They have been doing this and more for years,,,

haven't you been reading the posts on DU...This is why I am so surprised that some people believe that they will be able to work with the CONS they don't surprise me anymore. What makes me sick is that some of the Dems continue to go along with them while they stick together no matter what.

[BadgerKid]

3. Worst administration EVAR!

[damntexdem]

4. Close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and ...

all the bad stuff goes away. Cover your head with your blanket and the monsters can't get you. The best way to refute an argument is to shout "did not!"

Hey, I guess Dubya DID learn something growing up that he is applying today.

[paparush]

5. Bernanke testified TODAY..in public..that the economy is faltering. Why..

go through the steps to take down this stupd website?

[Uncle Joe]

6. They did it with climate information and now it's the economy and those Conservatives need

to wake the hell up and smell the coffee, the corporate media is the primary reason, these corrupt incompetents are in power to begin with.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. OMG, we must be headed towards a Second Great Depression.

[greyghost]

8. You can take that to the bank. eom

[Dover]

9. This is a good site

but don't know if they depend on the government site for their stats or not. If not, I wonder where they get them?

http://www.briefing.com/

[olddad56]

10. they pull them out of their ass.

[sce56]

17. In tech school we called those Brown Numbers

When you pulled from your A$$

[Deny and Shred]

11. They simply do not deal with bad news. Bunch of ostrichs

They ignore it all, and thanks to 2 co-equal, completely compliant branched of government, this strategy has basically worked.
The economy can't be swayed by the MSM, so they may have met their match.
Typical response, kill the messenger, in this case, the data.

[Sam Ervin jret]

13. This administration can not and/or will not deal with reality in any form.

And we are all paying for it.

Both literally and figuratively.

[high density]

14. Of course the budget for the site is probably what we pay KBR for one meal service in one cafeteria

over in Iraq. (If that)

[Lisa]

15. if you aren't looking at it, it doesn't exist!

Wow. Like global warming, and BSE.

[SarahB]

16. For those of you who still cling to the belief that the U.S economy is OK,

that the "recession" will be mild, and that the housing market will recover... well, this should be the final nail in THAT coffin.

[sendero]

18. When there are congressional hearings..

... about trying to do something about the monoline insurers, you know there's trouble.

They've been put on notice.

http://www.rttnews.com/sp/todaystop.asp?date=02/14/2008&item=49

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. Chocolate Rations are up folks....

Nothing Orwellian about this administration:sarcasm: