So Much for Mitt Romney’s Debate Bump
By louisehartmann
New jobs numbers released today show the economy added 114,000 jobs in September. The Department of Labor also said the economy added 86,000 more jobs than previously estimated in July and August. Most promising for President Obama’s re-election hopes, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1% down to 7.8% - the lowest it’s been since President Obama took office in January of 2009. The number of unemployed Americans – now at 12.1 million – is also at its lowest level since January of 2009.
The optics of this new report look good for President Obama – but thirty years of Reaganomics are still presenting deep structural problems with our economy. The U-6 unemployment rate – which includes those who are no longer looking for work or are underemployed – is at 14.7%. And it’s true that many of the new jobs being created each month are low-wage service sector jobs – instead of good paying manufacturing jobs.
If we’re ever going to see a robust economic recovery – we need to begin rolling back the Reagan Revolution by making the wealthy pay their fair, regulating Wall Street and corporate America, strengthening the Social Safety net, ditching so-called Free Trade, and investing in American infrastructure once again.
Comments
#2
I agree with Patti, plus he even told Jim he would fire him! oh there's no reason to have PBS, wow! and Jim sat there where i would have set him straight! Imagine a president that would fire Big Bird? I think Romney showed his uglyness there n obviously his followers who are just as black-hearted would not agree n in fact didn't catch that! ha!
I'm also one of the 47% but my take is that the debates showed our president being as non agressive as he could be as we all know that Fox & those kinds of easily led fearful viewers would have pounced on him as a rowdy black dude defenfing the rest of us so called 'losers' instead of our capable, intelligeant leader who has performed as well as could be expected- even better than, considering all he's been up against. I find it incredible that so many people are willing to buy into all the ignorant views spewed out by the corporate media that is so clearly not on our side, hello? They don't bite the hand that feeds them! It's too bad all these peeps are willing to elect a man who is so ready n willing 2 get rid of programs that are helping the masses deal with all the poverty caused by the cutbacks Reagan started.
My life is so full also, i sit around being depressed about how the so called responsible peeps around me are scared n destructive as clumsy,heartless children who never see how peeps like me n others around them need more help, not less. It's embarrassing 2 need help in our society where we are only valued for our personnel wealth by so many, usually our families! sad truth is all you good folks who have lost loved ones, don't speak to them anymore because of some fight over money. . . . you are the ones that are allowing this nightmare society to excist, to continue to torture so many who will rise up one day, i guarantee you that! people are fed up! I've been patient, i'm intelligant, i believe in resolving issues threw non-violence but not everyone is like me, some people are going to simply not take this and we are starting to see more and more people lose it and will continue to as these madmen merchant of death have their way with our planet n people!
#3
From the moment the "debate" began I was stunned. Romney had diarrhea of the mouth and Jim Lehrer could not handle his "job." I thought long and hard about what I would have done had I been President Obama. Instead of trying to say anything or even try to argue with a man who lies faster than the speed of light I would have:
At my first opportunity, stopped everything and stated: This is not a debate. Governor, you are running your mouth and Mr. Lehrer, you are not moderating. Governor Romney, when you are ready to participate in a real debate where you can speak truthfully and with civility, I'll be happy to return. Until then, I have better things to do. Governor, you have the podium, go ahead and run your mouth for 90 minutes and say as many untruths as you like. (at this point the president would have just walked off the stage and left.)
This would have been the most presidential thing he could have done.
These debates need to be turned over to a younger set of moderators. The old geezers have seen their day. Romney needs a muzzle. How anyone could think he won, I'll never understand. The president did miss many opportunities, perhaps he just "checked out." the minute Romney started talking.
#4
I saw Obama on msnbc today (afte the debate) actually talking like a liberal. It gives me hope to hear the president say "top down economics is what got us into this mess in the first please." Maybe, if we vote out the obstructionists, Obama will start to fix the underlying economic problems (by starting us on the road to a bottom up economy)..
#5
What advantage would Obama realize if he had "argued" lies? He was obviously holding back his anger. He gave Romney enough rope to hang himself by sticking to the agenda. Today, we see that Romney was all set to have a large audience hear his lame excuse about the 47% comments. Obama didn't give him a chance and Romney ran to FOX to tell his new tale. If Romney wins, it'll be through Election Fraud, I have NO doubt!! With LOTS of Preferred Shares in Diebold and his old buddies from Bain now owning Scytl and historical proof of using the machines to "flip" the results. Watch and see! I don't see enough people volunteering to Protect the Vote - being trained to Verify the Count...that is not good. The finish line is the Actual Verified Count. Now, some 17 states will not use exit polls. It just gets worse every week.
#6
The Romney comment that sticks most in my craw is the one where he scolded the president as a being like lying teenager. Guys like Romney defile both the office and the country.
#7
Yes, #4 that type of "boldly take-command of an out-of-control situation," is what the Left MUST learn do do. We are way out-financed by big-money; so we gotta remove the power of big-money -- rather than simply continue begging for spare-change. I've not had one solicitation, that included a plan for either using the donation, or for post-winning programs. They all follow the identical format: "The Repugs are attacking, send $3 or $9 or $12."
We gave the (Radio/TV) spectrum media-monopolies away under Reagan' deregulation and now simply don't have access to commercial media-outlets across the nation -- we gotta find ways to break outta-that-box.
For years now, The Left has been behind the curve, playing catch-up, "reacting" defensively while being lead hither and yon by the Right -- rather than aggressively taking an independent lead.
If there is any hope for the reforms Thom mentions, there simply must be the Legislative Votes to do so. And unfortunately that goes way beyond a simple majority -- when you deduct the "Blue-Dog-Dems" and the increasing Legislators who have been bought and paid-for, and now owe primary alegiance to their patrons. We need a landslide to break-even.
#8
Good news ! I agree that 30 + years of Regonomics Plus Nixon replacing the gold stadard for the dollar with a petroleum standard has caused us a huge economic problem. Business owners both large and small would rather purchase technology and robotics than hire wage earners. Technology in for instance graphics, typsetting, ad agencies and design firms and overwhelmingly Photography has destroyed countless millions of collage educated, professionals (high wage earners) out of their traditional job-stressed those who kept their jobs with additional work load, and opened the door for corporate minds to force estimate and bids in the econmic basement by manipulating contractors against one another.
I suspect this has happended across the board with other industries as well. Machining technology has been replaced by CNC technology. ETC. Millions upon millions of good paying occupations have been replaced by technology and software and new jobs were not created to replace the ones obsoleted . Fact ! I believe most Americans understand there are not enough jobs and that right now is most likely the good old days compared to job creation of the future. We are undergoing a huge socially changing revolution and things will never be the same again. An economic nation cannot undertake massive extermination and outsourcing of jobs and create new ones simultaneously. Not possible. Human greed is a big factor. Emotional addiction to succeed over others is a social disease that is very distructive. We have encouraged a society that rewards those who win at all cost and refuse the responsibility by enacting and promoting austerity. Modern society is at a crossroads of chosing between a new way of life and economy that encourages a sustainable existance for as many as possible or continue a course of survival of the financially fittest . I believewe may have to resort to job rationing and job sharing in the future in order to keep things at least somewhat fair. Either that or every worker will have to become a freelance professional. I just don't see any more shelter under corporate brick and mortar.
#9
I've never witnessed an election like this one with Mitt Romney. He vacillates on every issue. Mitt Romney acts as though it is a foregone conculsion that he will be President. I'm afraid that Mitt Romney will win the election through election fraud, voter suppression, and the changing of the votes with the Diebold voting machines. It has been announced that 19 states will not use Election Exit Polling and we will have no way of kowing if the election was honest which make me even more suspicious.
#10
Does anyone think that Obama's poor debate proformance was a very sneaky political strategy? The Obama campaign knew if he won that would be the death of Mitt. The RNC and its donors then would shift a lot of money to House and Senate races. Obama has enough of a lead to withstand 1 bad debate. If you watched Obama today he was a different person.
#11
We had a good employment report, but there is much still to do. We have to create lots more jobs if we are to fill the gap that was created during the Bush years. What follows is my take on the whole problem.
Iit all comes down to "how do you create jobs and thus demand and growth"?
One aspect of this problem is little discussed and that is, how did the number of unemployed get to be so large? That is the real elephant in the unemployment waiting room.
The answer is in the unemployment that grew during the first decade of the 21st century. During the 8 years of the Bush presidency, only 4.5 million private sector jobs were created, fewer than were created under Obama during the past 30 months. Because of the crash of 2008, all the jobs created during the Bush years were lost, plus about 2 million more, so that by the end of the decade we were about 5 million jobs in the hole.
But that was only a small part of the problem. It is generally understood that it takes about 125,000 to150,000 jobs per month to keep up with the number of new people that enter into the job market each month. Over 10 years that amounts to 15 to 18 million jobs that were not filled, or a total of 20 to 23 million unemployed that were added to the roles by 2010. You can see that adding 4.5 million jobs is barely making a dent in that number. And, of course, as these people are without work for longer and longer periods, they use up their saving and become more and more destitute, which accounts for the increase in the number of people in povery and on food stamps.
How to Create 10 - 15 million Jobs Without Increasing The Deficit
Until we create a significant number of jobs so that people begin paying taxes and having the funds to buy goods and services, rather than receiving unemployment payments and other benefits, we will not work our way out of the recession we are in. The 4.5 million private sector jobs that have been created during the past 30 months is a good start, but there are no major efforts being proposed that will likely increase the rate of job growth. The proposal defined below is designed to achieve the job growth we need while not increasing our deficit and debt but instead, if implemented it would begin the process of significantly reducing the deficit and in time, the debt as well.
Why Job Growth is the Key
The causes for the high unemployment are many, including the financial crash that occurred in 2008, the out sourcing of manufacturing jobs for more than a decade, the higher efficiency achieved as a result of applying automation to many jobs that were previously done manually, and the fact that employers have found ways of producing their goods and services more efficiently with fewer employees. The result is that up to 23 million potential workers are now out of work.
What Can We Do To Create Jobs
There is no shortage of work that must be done to move our country into a better competitive position. Our electric grid needs updating so that power transmission is more efficient, there are fewer black outs and brown outs, more renewable energy sources are incorporated, more of the power lines are moved underground, to prevent electrocutions and fires, and the grid made less vulnerable to cyber attack. Our broadband network needs to be expanded to cover more of our population and made faster, so that it better accommodates the coming extensive use of cloud processing. Many of our school buildings need better weatherization to save energy and rewiring to accommodate new technology. Much software needs to be written to make better use of technology and improve the learning ability of all of our children. Finally, we know about the need to upgrade our roads and bridges.
How do we pay for all of this work?
The answer lies in the trillion plus profit dollars that are being held overseas by major corporations because they don't want to pay the taxes they would owe if they brought the money in. The companies that have this money include companies like General Electric, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Caterpillar, etc.
Suppose the government made a deal with them that they could bring in $100,000, tax free, for each job they created and suppose the job creation was not just willy-nilly, but that they submitted proposals for the work they would do. The companies doing these projects could make a profit on the work as it's being done and could also collect fees in later years taken out of the saving that come from the increased efficiency of the improved systems. Included, as a job, would be any job training that would be required because the workers being trained would be paid.
If all of the trillion dollars were invested in this way, it would create 10 million jobs on these projects and probably another 5 million jobs in the industries that are peripheral to the primary work. As the work progressed over time and additional funds were required beyond the original $100,000, the companies could invest those funds or the Government could provide the money as they would under any Government contract. Eventual profits would go either to the company or come back to the Government, depending on which had provided the additional funds.
This kind of major effort would allow the nation to return to prosperity and the deficits to shrink and soon disappear.
#12
Republican leaders in the House and Senate (and Governor Romney) don't care about the economy. They don't care about jobs or the men and women fighting for freedom in Afghanistan. They only care about power. They want to control all branches of government to make the government serve the needs of the plutocrats. They do not care about jobs. If they did they would have passed Obama's jobs program. They do not care about the middle class, if they did they would pass fair tax plans and think of ways to improve the Affordable Care Act. The truth is they only care about power. They want the White House and the country be damned. If they gave a *hit about the middle class they would be reasonable people. They would not spend their energy denying folks the opportunity to caste their ballot at election time. They know they have losing ideas, but that is beside the point for them. They only care about being in the White House where they can help the people who purchased their services. Remember the secret meeting that Darth Vader (aka Richard Cheney) had in the White House with oil and gas company executives. They want more of that kind of meeting of the people who matter. Those who say there is no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats have not been paying attention. The Republican Party is owned lock, stock, and barrel by the plutocrats. They like war because war makes the plutocrats rich. They detest health care services because it only helps the poor and they do not care about poor people. They pretend to love the military. However they do not love the men and women in the military, they only love the bullets, bombs, and missles that make money for the plutocrats.
This rant may seem a bit negative but I believe this explanation makes more sense than any other explanation of the behavior of John Boehner and Mitch McConnel over the past three years. If they really cared about jobs and the middle class they had ample opportunities to do something positive. Instead, they stonewalled. They chose that path because their theory was if the economy is in the dumpster then they can walk into the White House. If millions of Americans had to suffer for them to get their coveted spot then so be it. These are heartless folks who only care about power.
#13
Dear Michael8, you are right on. Romney was comparing the president of the United States to a teenage boy. Romney has no shame and no good judgment. If Romney is elected president the world leaders would be ashamed to stand next to him. They would fear he would stab them in the back. Romney has no idea what he believes in, whatever comes to mind spurts out of his mouth without a thinking process. I used to think that George W. Bush was as bad as it could get; Romney would certainly establish new lows.
#14
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. TIME TO RELAX AND STOP THINKING ABOUT THE THINGS WE CAN NOT CHANGE IN THE NEXT 48 HOURS! I AGREE WITH ALL THE COMMENTS MADE TODAY AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR A COLD ONE. GO HUG YOUR KID(S), WIFE OR WHOM EVER MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD. SMILE, WE ONLY GO AROUND ONCE AND THEN IT WILL BE TIME TO SAY GOOD BYE FOR A WHILE....WE CAN START TO WORRY ABOUT LIFE ON MONDAY BECAUSE IT WILL START ALL OVER AGAIN !
#15
The economy will not recover until, those who have taken the money from it, put it back, which means that business needs to be heavily taxed, but given write-offs for hiring and building/improving infrastructure. And wealthy families, who gained their riches from the worker's labor and consumerism and taxes, need to pay their FAIR share. Money is NOT the property of the wealthy--it is a TOOL in the economy and is part of the might and standing of the United States.
It doesn't get any more elementary than this: well-paid/employed workers = monied consumers = long-term profit for business = strong economy and strong country
#16
Romney, the Canary Island Cuckoo, challenging Big Bird has to be the best and only truth established in this debate. It is with a laugh and a chuckle as I sit here contemplating where Romney is coming from. And Romney is one tough Cuckoo Bird. From my view this wild stab at Public Broadcasting by Romney shows the dedication that the Republican Party has to fundamentals in education basic to elements of opportunity. How in the world can a culture evolve or even have a gold age without education. The world including America is at the brink of an historical time as millions are preparing to retire to be the largest consumer society in recorded history. Or the largest oversight community ever to exist.
Besides busting the unions while lying off teachers across the country, the Republican’s in lock step with many, many intellectuals’ curbed and divided education for a long time via the so called “K” system. It was not long ago Reagan with the entire Republican Party wanted to eliminate the Federal Education Department which does seem preposterous with the background of huge educational grants pipelined by our military into the University System. Indeed, over the decades the Congress the Senate and business appropriate money for all kinds of research with development projects through educational grants by the Air Force, Navy, Army, etc. Moreover those very connected siblings and friends have always got the insider advantage to the leading edge studies or developments. Americans have to think about these inside advantages that have always existed while in progress now with your patriotic tax money.
Long ago my study for an engineering degree was an adventure. For an interval I found myself in a Calculus math class with all Iranians and Iraqis. It was unforgettable; the language spoken was very charming and attractive at the time. However the instructor, a borrow out professor from IIT made an extraordinary comment that the calculus was taught wrong the last semester. Sheesh. Reflecting back it was more rote and crunch then the dimensionalism it should have been. And now the same book used in that calculus class can be downloaded in PDF format for free. Moreover popular Physics books are online.
All that shows that there is a progressive movement which makes me speculates that perhaps within ten years a young average High School Grad could achieve undergraduate level knowledge.
With that said compulsary education in America should now include the two years of college. At least that much.
Moreover this could very well be implemented via the Postal System approach, which is established in the Constitution, done were all citizens are connected via fiber optic in a new level of internet.
You have mail via not the old hard copy but through an electronic water mark specifically, like a social security number, made for the individual citizen. The Caveat, this system which “could be” regulated for legal purposes preventing schemes and fraud. Then daily government documentation could be distributed easy, business, security, medical, law, science and education research and development also distributed easier. However, would have NO PORNO, Hollywood, and or the regular now as we know it free market internet. Leave the porno people there in that free speech or money dimension. The job possibilities are incredible, perhaps no bound.
#17
Magalowmaniac, It sounds like you would like to censure free speech on the internet by dictating what information could be distributed. That makes you no different then the right-wing nut job church goers who want to tell us what to think and do. I may not agree with much of the information that is displayed on the internet, but that does not mean I have the right to restrict the information shared no matter what the content is. We criticize China and other authoritarian (Islamic) countries for determinig what will be published and what won't. So why do you think you have the right to do the same ? Free speech is just that, free speech. That is why we have seperation of religion from the state. Have a good and free speech weekend.
#18
We gotta get real. I never heard so many absolutely pitiful and sorry assed rationalizations in all my life. It's no wonder our side gets the livin' daylights kicked out of it all the time.. We can't even face unpleasant realities.
We give occasion for incurable optimism. When the president loses reelection in November we can now say he did it intentionally as a "rope a dope" strategy and that he'll really come out swinging in 2016.
One basic problem with the "rope a dope" theory is that early voting had already started before the debate and by the time of the second debate a substantial part of the electorate will have already voted.
Also, the first was the most important debate for several reasons. It was the Economy debate and there won't be another chance to reargue the same issues. In addition, most Americans don't have the concentration span to watch three debates. Only political nerds like us do that. Most Americans will garner a first impression from one debate and vote accordingly.
Thus a poll of 532 undecided voters taken immediately after the debate showed 70% now supporting Romney with some saying things like, "Romney is a business man who knows how to run an economy, whereas, it is clear from the debate that Obama knows NOTHING about economics." If the purpose of a debate is to persuade the public of your capability over your opponent then Obama failed miserably and Romney was masterful and wiped the floor with Obama.
Sure he was a bully, sure he lied and sure the moderator was cheating for him but Romney won over the audience. It doesn't matter that they were mainly LIVs. He didn't win academically but he won politically. If Obama is running for the most powerful office in the world he can't need to be sheltered from dishonest debating opponents and only be able to prevail when everybody's playing nice. If he can't debate he can't be president.
He could have very easily won. All he had to do was open his mouth.
#19
I do believe that President Obama was stunned by the Romney deluge of lies and 180 reversals. But he needs to confront the Romney lies before they take root. My fear is that many Americans do not follow current events and have no idea that Romney flips positions every few days and that there is zero chance he would fulfill any of these false promises.
I am also wondering why there is not more discussion of the about-to-expire Bush tax cuts. I believe this is the major driver in the the Repiglican efforts to steal this election. They are scared to death that they might have to pay a few more cents in taxes.
Also, other than Thom, no one has mentioned the "Mormon conspiracy". This is far more realistic than the TeaBagger "muslim conspiracy", since Romney really is a Mormon leader and Obama is NOT a Muslim. Of course, even if he was Muslim, what's the big deal?
#20
114,000 jobs is not unusual for the Obama Administration. A year ago 200,000 and 150,000 new jobs a month was common.
Last month's numbers were average for Obama's term and there is no conspiracy just because an election is coming.
#21
An infrastructure program - as was proposed in a bill written and brought to Congress by the Obama administration and was rejected by Congress even when the President broke it up in parts and tried to get each part passed individually - is the way. The infrastructure needs to be repaired and upgraded anyway and when people are employed they spend money and other people are employed. Each dollar of direct spending by the government is four times as effective as a dollar of tax cuts for job creation concludes economists' studies (EPI).
Drilling on public land (national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges ) and using fossil fuels is environmentally unsound. Climate Cange is fast reaching a point of no return and only a very small part of our land is natural and wild and once destroyed is irreplaceable.
The assertions that Romney made about Obama's investment in Green Energy were found to be among the many false claims of the night.
There is more than one way to create jobs.
#22
In addition to all of the great steps listed in the blog, I would add that we need to put corporations under the control of the employees......"have them managed by both the workers and consumers." Extremely large industries, like energy, might require some type of government ownership or control, but the main goal would be to keep the economy under the control of , "We the People." Let's have some prosperity for the people doing all of the work, instead of just for the parasites like Romoney!
#23
Surprise, it's October!
Remember the day before the debate when Karl Rove and the Republicans were already gloating about winning it? They were saying that after the following night it'll be all over. Romney will have bounded right over Obama and pulled way ahead of him. He will be gone, we won't be able to touch him anymore. The election will be in his pocket.
We all thought they were crazy and sorry assed. Now I wonder what they knew that everybody else didn't. When we got to the debate the moderator was fudging everything for Romney and Obama was taking a dive.
First, I thought some of John Perkins' friends, the "economic hit men", might have paid Barack Obama a visit. Then, I thought it must've been a mental health issue. I thought Obama was pushed past his limit and was quitting. I thought we might have the fir suicide in the White House. Now I think Karl Rove's got it fixed.
One thing's for sure, though. He was throwing away his presidential career that night it's just a question of "why?".
#24
And parasites like Romney, too.
You're talking socialism, friend!
New Dealers, like Sen. Paul Douglas from Illinois, who was a mentor to the current Illinois senator, Dick Durbin, always insisted that "natural monopolies" like utility companies should be publicly (governmentally) owned and operated by the government at cost.
#25
I haven't heard anyone in the news catch that Romney admitted to shipping jobs to China. When Obama mentioned that corporations can get a tax break for moving their opperations overseas, Romney gave a doubtful look and said that he has done a alot of business and never got a tax break for moving factories out of the US.
#26
He did it on many occasions. In the Republican Congress just after 9/11 an "economic stimulus" package waspassed and signed by W that gave tax breaks to corporations for their overseas operations. There are tax credits given to a corporation that operates overseas where they can deduct from their U.S. tax liability any taxes`they paid to a foreign government. There some other such breaks as well.
#27
The Mitt Romney Anthem,
(Sung to the tune of "I Pity the Poor Immigrant," by Bob Dylan)
I pity Mitt the billionaire
who wants to steal your home
who has a big ol' family
and yet is so alone.
That man who with bain capital cheats
who lies with every breath
who steals from everyone he meets
and has reason to fear his death.
I pity Mitt the billionaire
whose only strength is hypocricy
whose heaven is in upper Belair
and who covets everything he sees.
Who eats from other peoples' plates
who giggles to see them suffer
who is in love with wealth as hate
and uses money as his buffer.
I pity Mitt the billionaire
who tramples through the world
who sits on gold within his lair
and leaves the poor out in the cold.
Whose visions of a brutal ragnarok
must never come to pass
who helped put America in hock
and who talks out of his ass.
(Maybe that's why Mormons wear that magical fiberglass underwear...)
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Here's another take on the debate. Obama simply was the guy (me) who is shocked at the behavior of a loud-mouthed bully. He (as I would) expected there would be rules, but the "cop on the beat" didn't enforce any rules at all.
To me, Romney came across as the bully he is, not letting the moderator moderate, talking too fast, taking up most of the time, underhandedly slipping in all kinds of the dog whitles you mentioned yesterday, Thom. Romney looking at the President so much made me think of a robot programmed to look at the heat source on the other side of the stage. (I'm a sci-fi fan.)
I'm very sorry about the science report you mentioned this week that people react more to the coverage of a debate than to the substance. (By the way, I love your geekie science reports.) But this is part of the pattern that our fellow American's have shown in many areas. Walmart junk looks pretty and is cheap so quality and durability or substance don't matter.
Probably many of those 80 million watching then listened to the newzak and feel Romney "won" the debate (again with the sports connection).
Like most of us 47% and many in the other 48% I have a very full , demanding life. It gives me little time to think, much less think about the politics of our country. That is why I treasure you and all of left-wing talk radio. You keep me informed as I wash dishes and clothes, and sweep up the mess on my floors.
Thanks for letting me talk.
Sincerely, Patti Martin (Portland, OR)