Obama inherited an economy that lost 750,000 jobs in his first month in office.

[kentuck]

If he had not turned that around, we could have lost over 27 million jobs in the last 3 years.

There was no guarantee that it could be turned around. After all, the stock market was dropping like a rock, eventually getting down into the 6000's. The banks had collapsed and the world economy was teetering on the edge of the abyss.
That is no exaggeration. It was not a "normal" recession.

But we did not lose 27 million jobs. In fact, the Obama Administration has created almost 2 million new jobs. It's true that many states have cut police, fireman, and teachers in efforts to balance their budgets and those jobs are adversely affecting the unemployment rate.

To say that it could have been worse is true. The voters will have to decide if they think the Republicans could have done better at stopping and turning around the trend of losing a possible 27 million jobs. Mitt Romney is saying that he could have done a better job at turning around the depression which his Party mostly created. When pressed, Romney admits that he would continue the same policies of George W Bush that got us into this economic catastrophe. The voters need to go into the voting booths with their eyes wide open.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. When they refer to it as Obama's Bailtout ,with just

seconds left ShrubCo pulled the shit we eat now!!!! http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/03/news/economy/house_friday_bailout/index.htm

[spanone]

2. it' amazing, watching the republican debates, NO ONE has uttered the word 'bush'

[opihimoimoi]

3. Silence of the Lambs time....denial/silence is best for the loser GOPers when it comes to W

[kentuck]

4. But when they talk about the economy and jobs...

their solutions are identical to those of George W Bush. They would do away with what little regulations have been passed. They would repeal the Dodd-Frank bill. They would do away with the Consumers Bureau that was created to protect consumers from big banks and credit card companies. They would continue to cut taxes on the wealthy. They would continue to spend more and more on defense. Identical to George W Bush in every respect.

[DCBob]

5. Its almost as if they want to create the same environment that created the financial meltdown.

clueless lunatics.

[kentuck]

7. There is a pattern here since the days of Reagan...

The Repubs screw up the economy with large deficits and debt and the Democrats clean up their mess, then they waltz in to a recovering or healthy economy and screw it up all over again. Clinton actually cleaned up the Reagan-Bush mess and balanced the budget and then George W Bush blew everything to hell. Obama has started to clean up his disaster and the economy is starting to look better and here they come again, ready to fuck up everything once again.

[DCBob]

10. Yes, that does appear to the be the trend the past few decades.

But the media seems to ignore that fact.

[spanone]

17. de-regulation and lower taxes is all they offer...they forget about the $700 billion bu$h* bailout

U.S. President George W. Bush, saying "our entire economy is in danger," urged Congress to approve his administration's $700 billion bailout proposal.

"We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis, and the federal government is responding with decisive actions," Bush said in a televised address Wednesday night from the White House.

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-09-24/politics/bush.bailout_1_bailout-proposal-rescue-plan-mortgage-related-securities?_s=PM OLITICS

[zbdent]

13. Bush? Who's this "Bush" you're talking about?

There was only Clinton and Democrats ... there never was a "Bush" ...

(oh, and in case you need it ... :sarcasm

[AZ Progressive]

26. Republican hypocrites

They conveniently forget about the 8 years of Bush and how Bush, H.W. Bush, and Reagan made the deficit soar. They conveniently brainwash themselves into thinking that Obama caused the job losses and soaring deficit, when Obama came in when we were in jobs freefall and the deficit going out of control. We needed the stimulus bill to help avert crisis. Yes, Obama should have done much more than he has, and he should've used the American people to bully Congress, but he has done more than any Republican would have ever done, because any Republican would have just done tax cuts that would also benefit the rich, which is a waste of money. And yes, the Republicans would rather have more than a hundred million Americans suffer from the economy, financial terror, and uncertain futures by stonewalling what Obama and the Democrats wanted to pass to help the economy just so they would have a shot at getting the presidency this year.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. Obviously, the solution was to bail out the banksters, not do a thing about NAFTA, submit Free Trade

Agreements to Congress for South Korea, Columbia, and Panama, place all blame upon the Republicans while saying that Obama is powerless to take meaningful action because of the obstructionists Republicans, and seek Obama's re-election on the grounds that he is not Romney (or not Gingrich, or not Palin, etc.) and that he will do better after he is re-elected.

If that's not enough, maybe we can say that his Administration "created almost 2 million new jobs." Some potential voters may actually believe it.

One other thing that we can do is attack Democrats who would like him to do some of the things that he said that he would do during his 2008 campaign and start acting like a traditional Democrat instead of a "Centrist" (whatever that is).

[kentuck]

9. You can criticize Obama all you like...

but it does not change the fact that the economy was in the crapper big time when he took office. If he had done this or if he had done that, does not change the fact that the Republican policies are corrupt and bankrupt and terrible for our country.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. What you say about the Republicans is 100% correct. It's too bad that President Obama doesn't agree

It's too bad for us, unless you're in the 1% or one of the 1% supporters.

Do you have a good reason why he submitted the Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama to Congress? I haven't heard one yet. Saying that he's not Romney, or not Gingrich, or not whoever-the-Republican-front-runner is, is not going to cut it.

If you have a good reason, it would be interesting to hear it.

[kentuck]

22. I won't even try to guess...?

why the President has made some of the decisions he has made. I have disagreed with him in several instances, including the trade agreements. However, if you think there is not a dime's worth of difference between he and Romney or any of the Republican candidates, then it is you that is under a dangerous illusion. Unlike Bush, this President did not inherit a balanced budget with a projected surplus of $5 trillion dollars by 2011. Instead, he inherited a deficit of $1.2 trillion dollars, to which he has added about $300 billion dollars for each of the last 3 years. If you think the Republicans have the solutions to fixing our economy, then I think you are terribly misguided. You only have two choices - the Republican or Obama. That's the reality.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

24. A difference? Romney officially calls himself a Republican and expressly favors Republican policies

while running for office. He doesn't call himself a Centrist. And it is likely that he will stick with the policies that he favors even after the election is over.

You're wrong when you say that I have only two choices. I never have to vote for a Republican, nor do I have to vote for any Republican-lite. I don't have to do that at all, nor do you. I can choose to express my thoughts and seek to influence the President Obama and the words that he may say before the next election. If he wants to play the populist role and make us at least feel good until the next election, he can say the words that can do that. He doesn't have to really mean it, and we won't know until after the election whether he actually means what he says. But if he and his re-election team want my vote, he needs to start saying those words. Let him pretend for a while that he is an FDR-type Democrat, a Truman-type Democrat, a JFK-Democrat, or even an LBJ-type Democrat.

[uponit7771]

28. Obama has had an 80+ approval rating amongst liberal democrats, I choose to believe my own eyes and

...the facts about our imperfect democratic president

[AnotherMcIntosh]

30. If true, why are some people so agitated that not all liberals and progressives support Obama?

[uponit7771]

25. Those were agreed upon by Bush before Obama enetered office and were worse

...you guys really need to get your stories straight

[AnotherMcIntosh]

29. Bush II was involved in the Free Trade Agreements in 2007. Obama submitted them to Congress.

Is that not true?

Did President Obama not submit the Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama to Congress?

It's been in the news.

[geckosfeet]

11. Bailouts were a done deal before he took office.

And the republicans in congress even before the 2010's were obstructionists. Note also the senate minority leaders statements regarding obstructionist policy in order to make Obama a one termer.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

21. Yes, the "Bailouts were a done deal before he took office." Because he participated in voting for

the bailouts.

His voting in favor of the bailouts for the super-rich, like his vote in favor of telecom immunity for the telecoms that spied upon all of us for the Bush Administration, is a matter of public record.

[uponit7771]

27. WOW!!! So it's Obama's fault for voting for a measure that he was told would stop a deep

...depression!?!?!

He should've or could've know that it wouldn't

You guys are full of crap

[AnotherMcIntosh]

31. "full of crap" yourself. I'm now selecting the ignore button.

[Mr Dixon]

38. SMH

i Agree with you, i also think their are some GOP Hacks on this Board.

[geckosfeet]

37. What was he supposed to do - vote for economic collapse?

Your anti-Obama trolling is getting a bit obvious. He will be the democratic nominee. You would be better off openly supporting the candidate of your choice than coming here spewing nonsense about Obama.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

39. "anti-Obama trolling" = name calling. I'm now selecting the ignore button.

[geckosfeet]

41. Good lord.

Enjoy your button.

[FarLeftFist]

12. So, who are you voting for?

[geckosfeet]

8. It was a republicon set up of the highest order.

Throwing the country under the bus to undercut a democratic administration.

[bhikkhu]

14. About 2.7 million new jobs created so far

Which is very good. That current number from this article:

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2012/01/06/an-unexpected-boost-for-obama-on-jobs

Its also interesting to compare that to the initial predictions of the recession and how the stimulus spending should work as it happened; from before the inauguration: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-20/politics/obama.jobs_1_stimulus-plan-obama-camp-economic-team?_s=PM OLITICS

Nothing ever goes exactly like one wishes it would, and however predictable the repug obstruction was, its still a big obstacle to any progress; nevertheless, the numbers compare pretty well. Having heard the repug tales of the blind-sided miserable failure of administration policies since the inauguration, its good to look back and confirm that that was hardly the case. The recession was a huge hit, but we've been going in the right direction.

[Old and In the Way]

15. Job growth under Obama

[csziggy]

18. Are there charts showing how many jobs were destroyed by Republican governors?

Since I know that budget cutting has cost tens of thousands of jobs just in the Florida state and local governments. Without those unnecessary cuts (giving tax breaks to corporation driving budget cuts; turning away federal stimulus money for needed projects and to keep state and local government jobs), the unemployment rates would be lower than they are today.

I don't have those figures or the inclination to look them up, but I know this is true here and probably in other Republican controlled states.

[Old and In the Way]

19. Tried to Google State job growth since 2008, but couldn't find any charts.

Good question and it wouldn't surprise me if the Republican governors are working with their federal counterparts to blunt any job growth opportunities purely for partisan gain. It will be up to the voters to cut through the BS and understand how this Party is conspiring to depress the economy to enhance their electoral chances. Lets hope that they make the connection.

[csziggy]

35. The latest jobs report includes the figure of 280,000 government jobs lost in 2011

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

It refers back to this table: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm (government jobs are at the bottom)

Most of the government jobs lost were with local governments and most of those were in education. That is appalling.

[hfojvt]

23. the latest report said 280,000 jobs have been cut in State and local government

over the last year. One would have to dig into the BLS stats to find it in 2010 and 2009. It has not been only Republican Governors though. Supposed Democrats like Cuomo and Nixon (of Missouri, as the name of a Democrat this is even more ironic than Koch) have done much the same things. Even Sebelius, now HHS secretary only wanted to cut spending, saying that "tax increases would hurt Kansas families". (as if cutting 20,000 jobs in education doesn't hurt anyone, and a tax increase on the richest 5% isn't going to affect 95% of Kansas families)

Here's Cuomo cutting spending and blocking a tax increase on millionaires http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/154

[DeathToTheOil]

16. K'd & R'd

[EC]

32. And many of those States laying off people refused Federal funds in one

form or another. Like the high speed rail offers and other projects states refused. They caused their own shortages just so they could break unions to demand cuts to unionized workers.

[sad sally]

33. The hokus-pokus employment/unemployment numbers must always be believed - just like the belief

in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Our government has always had a difficult time telling its citizens the truth because we don't want the truth - we just want the good news, spare us reality.

President Obama didn't create the numbers system used - and yes, Bush & Co really screwed with the country. So what more Americans live in poverty, more children are hungry and homeless, at least there have been 2 million jobs created in three years.
####

In simple terms, the unemployment rate for any area is the number of area residents without a job and looking for work divided by the total number of area residents in the labor force. However, the methods used to produce this data are not so simple.

Attempting to contact every household, as is done in the decennial census, to count every person that is unemployed would be far too time consuming and costly. At the same time, counting only those persons filing claims for unemployment benefits does not account for all persons who don’t have a job and want to work. Consequently, other methods must be used.

The national unemployment rate is computed solely from a nationwide survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Residents of selected households are asked, among other questions, about their employment status. From their responses, the Bureau of Labor Statistics then estimates the size of the labor force – all people employed and unemployed – and the number of people who are jobless.

and Viola! - the magic numbers appear!

[opihimoimoi]

34. Pres OBAMA is this NATIONS HERO....we see it..the blind GOPers don't...Barrack saved our asses

big time...

just wait,,,the good news is still coming....by the tons....in droves....

The GOPers are finally telling us they ain't good for shit....

Obamas face will be chiseled on MT RUSHMORE yet

[Grateful for Hope]

36. K&R

[Romulox]

40. Wait. You are claiming 2 million net *new* jobs since Obama took office? Source, please? nt