In Republican world, the vote just concluded in the House was designed to put Democrats in a rhetorical box and somehow whip up support for the GOP in the fall elections.
But in the real world, one of the most unpopular congresses in history just spent ten wasted hours on a bill that has no effect. It’s a good thing we solved the Iraq war, terrorism, unemployment, health care, etc. so we have so much free time to waste.
I believe it does have an effect: it clearly demonstrates to all observers that the government still in power intends to prosecute the war in Iraq until the country is stabilized. Setting aside for a moment the issue of whether the resolution was the right thing or the wrong thing, imagine what our enemies in Iraq and elsewhere would have thought had the resolution failed. Such a failure would have been a de facto endorsement of Nancy Pilosi’s position, as spoken on the House floor: “Stay the course? I don’t think so Mr. President. It’s time to face the facts…”
I would argue that it’s the best time Congress has spent in quite a while. The issues they would have taken up instead (immigration & spending) are what’s made this Congress so unpopular in the first place.
Oh, and I guess you didn’t get the memo: unemployment? Pretty much solved thanks to the Bush tax cuts.
Seriously, are you kidding? 4.6% is below what economists have always considered as “full employment.” It also happens to be the same rate we had during 1998. You might remember that period being described as”the greatest economy in the history of the Country”.
There’s PLENTY of things to bash this Congress for. But unemployment? Not one of them.
There s PLENTY of things to bash this Congress for. But unemployment? Not one of them.
Oh, I agree with you on that. I just wasn’t sure how you equated it to Bush’s tax cuts is all. Essentially unchanged means unchanged, yes?
From your link, Farris:
Both the number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment
rate (4.6 percent) were essentially unchanged in May.
Not sure I follow your logic, sorry.
Coming up on Monday, Congress spends the entire day debating a non-binding resolution that says killing kittens with a hammer is bad (Dr. Frist).
/snark
Unemployment is solved. And you wonder why the right polls badly on that.
Do we really need any more evidence that the 4.6% unemployment rate is pure bs than the fact that the month to month employment data on new jobs routinely falls well below the minimum number required just to keep pace with the expanding job pool? How can unemployment be stable if we aren’t creating enough jobs to keep up with new workers? Let’s not forget the other more subtle ways the number gets fudged, i.e. tossing out “discouraged” workers who are no longer looking for work (meaning they aren’t collecting unemployment and consequently aren’t checking the “looking for work” box) and the inclusion of part-time and “self-employed” individuals (”consultants” as they are almost always called) regardless of actual income (or actual emploment, since anyone, regardless of actual workload, can call themselves a consultant). The real unemployment rate is almost undoubtedly several points higher.
Speaking of income, that’s another factor that undercuts the ridiculous notion that unemployment has been solved. Productivity is up, way up, but the average real wage has fallen. Is the idea being put forward that people should consider themselves lucky just to have a job and should shut their traps when they can’t pay their bills or afford insurance? Didn’t the Soviet Union have 100% employment, at least as they defined it? So what if you are doing back breaking labor for no money, you gotta job, right?
Fun statistics…
and more…
http://www.epinet.org/policy/pm110 (and yeah, still more)
This is one of those stupid talking points that I can’t believe people still debate like it has any merit (like the Iran nuclear threat malarky).
First of all, SaveFarris, nice diversionary tactic. What unemployment has to do with an up or down vote on whether we’ll prevail on the war on terror, I don’t know. Maybe in your twisted skull they are connected. I presume you connected Saddam and Al Queda – anything is possible. The fact is that this is proving to be the least effective two years of Congress in the history of our country, perhaps even going back to 1848-1850.
The problem is that I haven’t really seen anything from the Democrats that would make me want to vote for them in November, either. The Republican majority is bad, yes, but it seems that, lately, the entire Congress is just so out of touch with it’s citizens, they all should take a hike.
I’m not entirely convinced that, if I cast my vote for a Democrat and they win a majority, things will suddenly change in Washington. We’re still going to have the Republicans running up ridiculous social issues and the Democrats crying out “impeachment”.
I only wish there was a way we could vote in a third party voting bloc to give the Congress some sort of balance of power that would force them to actually compromise and get something done for a change. Until that happens, I’m afraid that petty squabbling and ego stroking will be the norm in the DC area.
I think we should all make a pact right here and now, that each and every one of us will not vote for an incumbent this year, regardless of party.
VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT!
Or as jack Nichloson said, “THIS TOWN NEEDS AN ENEMA!”
The fact is that the American people view the Iraq war as the most important issue, above all others, in the United States.
Look for troop withdrawals around Labor Day, and another Republican Congress.
Expect the MSM, and the left side of the blogosphere, to attribute those Republican victories to everything but the Democratic “cut ‘n’ run” attitude.
“Look for troop withdrawals around Labor Day, and another Republican Congress.”
Staging a ticker-tape parade for returning troops will not change the day to day carnage in Iraq. That’s your poll problem. Parades and photo ops can’t fix that problem.
Bill…
and the inclusion of part-time and self-employed individuals ( consultants as they are almost always called) regardless of actual income (or actual emploment, since anyone, regardless of actual workload, can call themselves a consultant)
So if someone describes themselves as a consultant, and their income is below a certain threshold, you think those people should be counted as “unemployed?”
“But the American people are much more upbeat then the MSM. But you knew that, didn t you?”
News to me, since most polls are showing a majority now think that Iraq was a mistake and that the troops should be withdrawn either immediately or as soon as possible (as Oliver’s latest postings show). It is the MSM that keeps licking Bush’s boots on the photo ops. Not the people. But you knew that, didn’t you?
Staging a ticker-tape parade for returning troops will not change the day to day carnage in Iraq.
Even the MSM will be unable to resist the footage of soldiers coming home. Sure, they’ll try to taint it with, “Even as America celebrates the homecoming of their troops, the conflict in Iraq still continues.”
But the American people are much more upbeat then the MSM.
But you knew that, didn’t you?
He who laughs last, etc.
I love it!
Only in twisted GOP skulls could an unemployment rate that is a clear 10-15% higher than what Bush got in his hand from Bill Clinton be a winner for them. And this is eevn after the BLS changed their jobs-counting methods and models, under pressure from the White House. ( See the BLS” extensive explanations of their job-numbers adjustments made due to the “Business Birth-Death Cycle starting early this year.
Bush finishes his first term without having created a single new job, the tax cuts continue to produce LESS annual revenue per year despite modest GDP growth than what Bush got handed to him from Bill Clinton, and all GOP flacks, media whores, and operative talk about is how GREAT this Bush Economy is, and how it’s the MSM’s fault that Americans don’t believe it for a minute.
EVERY poll for years now has given the GOP failing grades on Economic issues, and yet they keep going to the people with more of this “supply-side and tax cuts work” bullshit.
It’s unreal. The GOP has no ideas, no vision for America’s future, no way to govern other than by opening the Treasury to the rich and to Corporations so that they’ll maintain the campaign coffers overflowing with contributions.
And yes, this farce of an Iraq “non-binding resolution” has been looked at and scoped out by Americans for the cheap stunt the GOP made it into.
There’s been no progress made on anything other than increasing the partisanship and deepening the divide between the GOP and the people of this country.
I LOVE Boehner, I LOVE Frist. They are exactly representative products of the corrupt, incompetent, removed-from-reality system the GOP has created.
Go to it, GOP guys. Show Americans EXACTLY what you think of them, and how you intend to represent their views in Congress, LOL!!
Cyberian, I’m not sure, but I thing you don’t like Republicans…
Am I right?
Frank, PLEASE!
I SAID I loved Frist, and Boehner, didn’t I?
LOL!!
You can add Denny Hastert to my list of beloved Rethuglycans after his recent outrageous graft was exposed in the news.
He’s collected millions by making sure a new interstate highway was earmarked near land he controls, and is desperately stonewalling as he looks for a way out.