Open Thread (11/6/2009)

Posted November 6th, 2009 at 07:24 AM by IlliniPundit
in

Friday, November 6, 2009.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Glock21's picture
On November 6th, 2009 at 08:03 AM, Glock21 said:

 Ouch:

 

 

--

Glock21 Op/Ed

On November 6th, 2009 at 08:15 AM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

seasonally adjusted U-6 rose from 17% to 17.5%

redstatewannabe's picture
On November 6th, 2009 at 09:08 AM, redstatewannabe said:

the main thing it shows - economic projections are educated guesses, not science.  The only thing we can say with close to certainty is that any new gov't program will cost much more than the Congress estimates.

On November 6th, 2009 at 09:12 AM, moongrrl (not verified) said:

It's just like when Regan was president.

On November 6th, 2009 at 09:18 AM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

It's just like when Regan was president.

Regan was once a cabinet member.    He was never president

On November 6th, 2009 at 09:39 AM, moongrrl (not verified) said:

Oh, my, EXCUSE ME ye olde grammar police.

"Reagan".

I will punish myself accordingly. :-)

Kevin Sandefur's picture
On November 6th, 2009 at 09:55 AM, Kevin Sandefur said:

So if we're back into Reagan territory on unemployment, does this mean that Obama is now the bestest Republican president, like, ever?  :-)

redstatewannabe's picture
On November 6th, 2009 at 10:01 AM, redstatewannabe said:

Reagan said "Tear down this wall", Obama wouldn't even go over for the anniversary.

On November 6th, 2009 at 10:19 AM, Anonymous said:

You guys think this is funny, but trust me, things are fundamentally far worse now than they were in '83. Obama, Bush, and Congress have blown hundreds of billions of dollars and have barely made a dent in the unemployment situation. For a lot of people, this is a very serious situtation, and they have to sit back and watch Obama and Bush bail out their top donors (Goldman, JPM, Citi, et al) while the middle class is crushed and kicked while they're down. It's really pathetic that you would make light of this situation and/or play partisan politics. NEITHER party is getting it done these days. The next few elections we all need to clean house or we are all going to be on the dole.

On November 6th, 2009 at 10:28 AM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

Also, it is not accurate to compare the current 10.2% number to the 1983 number. In 1983 the way unemployment was calculated was more analogous to the way the U-6 unemployment number is calculated today. The unemployment situation today is far worse with seasonally adjusted U-6 rate at 17.5%. Both parties have prodded the BLS into this kind of underreporting because of the enourmous loss in manufacturing jobs this country has sustained over the past 4 decades. Other things have been done to massage the numbers as well. In the past 10 years manufacturing jobs have also been classified as fast food assembly. That's right, if you work at McD's and make the fried and burgers that is now considered a manufacturing job in the US of A. Welcome to the collapse of the middle class.

On November 6th, 2009 at 10:39 AM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

Additionally, in the early 80's interest rates for borrowing were in the teens.  Today they are effectively 0%.  In 1983 all that had to be done was drop interest rates and it fueled a huge recovery--since the savings rate was so high again they effectively just had to discourage savings a bit by offering a lower interest rate, and you get a big economic recovery.

 

This is not the case today.  We do not have that leverage.  The savings rate is still very low having just recently climbed from a NEGATIVE amount to slightly positive.  We have a long way to go before americans are able to save enough to fuel another economic recovery.  In the mean time unemployment will continue to climb and the economy will continue to deteriorate.

Glock21's picture
On November 6th, 2009 at 11:08 AM, Glock21 said:

"You guys think this is funny..."

 

I don't think anybody thinks it is funny. Just because people make lighthearted remarks in tough situations doesn't mean that they think the tough situation is a joke. Sometimes 'gallows humor' is the only thing left when all you have left to look forward to is the noose.

 

--

Glock21 Op/Ed

On November 7th, 2009 at 10:07 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

From the New York Times coverage of the health bill:

"A Republican alternative bill was rejected 258 to 175. Representative Timothy Johnson, of Illinois, was the only Republican to vote against his party’s plan."

Great! Thank you Tim Johnson for the backbone.

On November 7th, 2009 at 11:07 PM, ThoughtPolice said:

Maybe he forgot to move a paper clip after the last vote...

On November 8th, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Poor Richard said:

"A Republican alternative bill was rejected 258 to 175. Representative Timothy Johnson, of Illinois, was the only Republican to vote against his party’s plan."

I know he sometimes marches to a different beat but this is a surprise given his past comments.  Has he issued a statement explaining his vote?