The 2008 employment numbers reinforce Barack Obama’s call Thursday for swift, bold action to stimulate the economy. The United States lost 2.6 million jobs last year, the largest drop since 1945. More than 1 million of those jobs have been lost in the past two months. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed, and the unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, the highest level in 16 years.
But the urgency for action doesn’t mean Congress should rubber-stamp a stimulus package. Lawmakers need to make sure that the spending is smart and really will boost the economy. For example, some lawmakers and economists argue that Obama’s plan to provide a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for every job created and, possibly, for jobs spared would be difficult to administer and could lead to abuse.
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30 Comments
need to act?
The government isn’t going to resolve this by throwing more money at the problem. OVERspending is what is causing this. We are so far in debt now, China is even baulking at taking more of our debt. Maybe we are getting a bad rep as a poor credit risk. Let’s see, I wonder what the USA credit rating is?
Government does not make jobs. People do. People running businesses. You know, those evil employers..
Why? What’s the rush? Fools rush in….
The fools rushed in when bush had to have money given to his banking buddies, insurance buddies, BIG business. Now that average people and businesses who can add jobs would be given tax relief everyone is seeing the folly in bush’s rush to action and screaming to slow down. This isn’t the same. This isn’t the folly bush rushed into, this is real true stimulus for average Americans and average companies.
“The fools rushed in when bush ”
Glad you made fools plural, because I count the MAJORITY *democrats in Congress who pushed – yes pushed the 700 billion (with THEIR changes).
Take a look at the campaign donations from recipients of the 700 billion and democrats names.
List is a long one.
Take a check up,
from the neck up.
See the mirror?
Libs gotta blame someone. Until that stops, we will get nowhere together.
*I can post many quotes from democrats with statements fully supporting the 700 bailout.
Fill the blog?
2.6 mil jobs lost last yr., and it’ll probably accelerate as the incompetence of the last admin. hits home.
“isn’t the folly bush rushed into, this is real true stimulus”
Linda I have some swampland in Florida I’d like to interest you in.
Blinded by the light.
An excellent time for alternative energy, and the jobs it will create. What with the gas problem in EU, via Russia shutting down the gas pipelines, and remembering OPEC cutting supplies in the seventies, one would think developing alternative energy sources would be a priority. But the Republicans have fought this tooth and nail in their supplication to the oil and auto industries.
Not only could alternative energy sources help clean the air in this country, as well as lakes, streams, oceans and forrests, it could employ millions. I’m saying this despite climate change, which, in my opinion, is not yet a proven man-made problem. We should be leaving this planet in better shape than we found it, unfortunalty, that is something we can’t be to proud of at this time. What other countries do is thier problem; ours is our problem. Kill two birds with one stone here: help the land, and employ people.
I agree. Congress (and even before this week when the Democratic Party increased their majority) was a little over half Democratic, and was complicit — all of them (the Democratic half and the Republican half), and they pushed bushco’s plan through.
The second half of that $700 billion dollar ‘bail out’ is now being looked at more closely. I don’t think it is going to be handed over without accountability of some sort.
But the future economic stimulus package is in the form of creating jobs, giving tax breaks.
“as the incompetence of the last admin. hits home”
Sorta like the first Bush Stimulus package (which went to nearly every American (including your average American Linda) which democrats were on the band wagon for?
Sorta like the 700 billion for banks (anyone remember the 700 Club, Hmmmm, I wonder) which democrats approved?
Sorta like the second highest record earmarks spending which democrats majority of 2008 approved?
Sorta like the 20 some appropriation acts congress FAILED to approve last year? (and wrapped up into one UNREAD huge omnibus appropriations in December they didn’t even have time to read.)
Sorta like the majority democrats who approved the war in Iraq (to be continued) as well as Afghanistan?
Yeah, tell me about your lilly white perfect democrats in Congress – when you talk about the Bush.
Quit blaming all the nations problems on one man. Heck, Bush must be some superman to do everything you blame on him.
American_Way,
I’m being very careful, as usual, with my money. I don’t see investments in swampland in Florida in my future. Hope you find a buyer if you continue to have the need to sell.
is in the form of creating jobs, giving tax breaks.
Tax breaks WAS in the first two Stimulus packages. Didn’t help. In fact, the markets went from year highs in July to the second worst crash ever.
So trickle up is going to work this time (third time attempted)? More free money, issued without a revenue source, causing more debt for our grandchildren will help THIS time? This time it’s holy because Obama did it? Again, I have some swampland….
And tell me Linda, since the first 700 Billion was a waste and being wasted and did NOT help the economy – how will the next stimulus create 3 million jobs?
If you DON’T know, by golly SHOULDN’T you know? Shouldn’t the Stimulus be understood and open to the public to know?
Your posts remind me of why the koolaid phrase even began…
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT!
Even though we were aware much earlier of the recession (some are already saying depression), bushco was able to fudge the numbers and cook the books for almost a full year after the “official” definition of recession was met. Wonder how badly other numbers are also being fudged and adjusted in order to cover up the true depth and seriousness of bush’s failures?
I remember all of us on the blog — eveeel Libaruls along with Conservatives — being against the checks sent to us. I don’ have the same memories of those as you do, American_Way. I know what my opinion was and still is.
The second half of bush’s stupid plan to give his BIG business buddies $700 billion, which all of Congress was complicit with and rushed to approve, hasn’t been spent. In fact, is undergoing much-needed scrutiny. And, giving that to BIG business wasn’t successful.
Obama has better plans than bushco.
Linda you are off topic now, in your rage against Bush. Doesn’t address the current frantic rush to pass another trillion dollar IOU.
Not that I care, but if you can link President Bush being involved personally I may read it. I’m more interested in the future and this discussion.
Bush wasn’t my hero, but he is almost gone. Time for the new leadership to step UP. What’s the trillion going to do for America? Hmmm? Any ideas or links to details?
Remember what Harry Truman said when he was president:
“The buck stopped on FDR”
No wait. Sorry that’s what today’s democrats are saying.
You can use “the” google as well as I can. And, I know from experience that links you find will be credible, ones I find won’t be.
As for your statement, “Linda you are off topic now…,” please reread from the top to discover who began a conversation about what had been done in the past. I think you’ll find it in the first post to this thread under your nic.
bushco was able to fudge the numbers and cook the books for almost a full year after the “official” definition of recession was met.
I saw yesterday that our illustrious VP stated that they didn’t see this economic disaster coming.
Uh huh.
Fleetwood,
The unemployment rate came in higher than expected?
That’s strange, they’re usually “spot on”.
Time for a new New Deal.
We have wrong thinking in this country.
There is no shortage of work to be done. There is no shortage of wealth or other ways to compensate it.
Where we have gone wrong is in institutionalizing one person employing (using) another to make money.
“I saw yesterday that our illustrious VP stated that they didn’t see this economic disaster coming.”
—-
American_Way,
There’s you potential customer for that swampland in Florida! Guess you have land to sell at a less than opportune time and cheney can’t see beyond the end of his nose. A match made in heaven!
#
BlueJay
Posted January 9, 2009 at 12:48 pm | Permalink
We have wrong thinking in this country.
There is no shortage of work to be done. There is no shortage of wealth or other ways to compensate it.
Where we have gone wrong is in institutionalizing one person employing (using) another to make money.
___________________
It sounds like you are promoting socialism comrade.
The bailout wasn’t a bad idea, it was the implementation and execution that was bushed up. When the top people at the treasury can’t implement basic accounting and business concepts and controls, of course there’ll be no accountability.
Dems were pushing for another rebate stimulus, bush kept saying, “Lets wait until the last one has a chance”, of course we were already in the middle of a recession at the time.
Boeing cutting 4500 people in Seattle, at least most of them will be in overhead functions and not cut into production workers.
Time to get your ‘Victory Gardens’ ready and sharpen up those bartering skills. :)
After taking over Canadian National Railways, the new Amerian owners removed the two large Canadian Flags that had hung for decades in the workshops at Winnipeg, Manitoba. The workers protested the removal at the time, but were told they were just going to be cleaned however the flags have not been retuned, the new US owners saying it was a shame to have them hanging in a dirty place anyway. The local Member of Parliament has supplied the workers with hardhat decals, pins and other replicas of the Maple Leaf but the new owners will not reinstated the Maple Leaf. When interviewed the new owner said he was an ex US serviceman who respectes his flag, quotes the Globe and Mail. In addtion the employees are beng encouraged to refer to their employer not as Canadian National Railway, but CNR. Just another nail in the coffin of Americas’ image abroad not to mention lack of management skills. PS :So far the month 10 Canadian infantrymen have been killed in Afghanistan.
I wasn’t a Bushco “failure”. It was a bankster (and those that they own) victory. And both “sides” are owned.
Will you still keep your heads in the sand?
Soon or later, folks are gonna have to face reality.
Sursum,
That’s just globalism, it’s all good.
And Cheney never thought in his wildest dreams, that anyone would fly planes into buildings.
Yes, we can now see that the WE position on Illegal Aliens is needed. We are in dire need of another 12 to 15 million people to do the work we wont do.
What a group of F***tards.
But get ready for the next push for legalizing some more Ethno Victims Groups (EVG’s) to vote for the Dems. Reading that the big push will soon start for another Amnesty fight.
Obama renewables plan more ambitious than appears
-snip-
Obama asked Congress on Thursday “to act without delay” to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity “smart grid.”
An Obama aide on Friday said the administration would seek to add 20 gigawatts (GW) or more of wind power and 4 GW of geothermal and solar power in the next three years, doubling the nation’s current renewable power base of 24 GW through loan guarantees and, eventually, national renewable energy requirements.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/behindTheScenes/idUKTRE5086Y220090109?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
comparing raw numbers (2.6 million) of unemployed to 1945 figures is without merit. There are over 300 million people in this country today, there were about 139 million living here in 1945.
Lest anyone get upset in thiking I am minimizing the impact of 7.2% unemployment, I am not. But, the media act of comparing raw numbers with something over 60 years ago does not make any sense whatsoever.