Washington Post:
The pile of economic data indicating that the worst of the recession is over just keeps growing. In the past few weeks, the government has reported that businesses last month shed the smallest number of jobs in nearly a year. The savings rate, after rising rapidly, held steady at levels not seen in at least five years. And from April to June, productivity surged to a six-year high.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
The only thing that will fix the economy is to let the free market do its magic. That won't happen until the Republicans are back in office. With the unsurprising way things are going (job less recovery, failed health care reform, etc.) we're going to see that happen in 2010. It can't come soon enough.
The only things working for Obama right now are his policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he stole those from the Bush Administration.
Wow...you really haven't been paying attention have you?
The free market DOES NOT WORK. It never has, but the impacts have been continually put off for decades by Republicans through the neglect of our infrastructure and the destruction of our environment.
You capitalists have done so much damage that even a complete move to socialism (which is NOT what Obama is doing) wouldn't save us now.
Your America is crumbling and it is your fault. We face chaos, disorder and social unrest and we can blame Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, G. W. Bush and YOU!
The one thing that sustained our economy and kept $ flowing, during the recession, was hippies trading in the #1 cash crop......
halting illegal immigration
Farmer's incomes
manufacturers
pharma
healthcare
green energy- [hemp-oil burns clean...,]
replacing the affects of de-foresta
jobs
app. $92 billion in savings /year if we ended prohibition, And 800,000 americans arrested fer weed each year could save tons from loss of production, because of incarceration and fines etc......,
You are correct. Hemp is a great overlooked resource, which was made illegal when plastic fibers became lucrative for the chemical industry. I am for legalization but many are not. My young daughter feels that it would produce too many "stoners" in our society that would fail to be productive.
lol. I have been successful at many tough jobs ,as a contractor for the cable tv construction and engineering 'build-up' since the early 80's. The best drews I supervised were always 'stoners'.
If you took people off anti-depressants and put them on medical marijuana, you would be cutting into the pharma industry. Not good.
Their medications have too many side-effects, and more often than we know, make people sic ker....,
Actually that would be fantastic! The pharma industry is killing our healthcare industry. I believe that we need to kill them first.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Stimulus money is and will be creating jobs and stimulating the economy. And, of course, it is difficult to always find worthwhile projects to fund where job losses have hit the hardest. That is mainly because the wise decision by the Administration to spend money on projects that needed funding anyway, and would not just create jobs, but would be an investment in our future. For example, a town where job losses are heavy might not need road and bridge repair and, therefore, it would not receive infrastructure funds. The same is true of places requiring clean-up of nuclear waste disposal sites. Those sites needed clean-up anyway. It just so happens that in those areas the unemployment was not the worst.
It was in the news yesterday that North Dakota has 9000 plus unfilled job openings. That's a lot for a small State.
I like that people are watching how the money is being spent but, thus far, I think the Administration is doing a good job. By year-end, we should see increase in employment. Other economic indicators are already looking good.
Keep on doing what you are doing, Mr. President. And do more of it.
There's every doubt in the world - just about the only thing commentators on the left and right agree is that the stimulus was small enough that it was ineffectual, but large enough that it helped create significant sticker shock. Around 10% of stimulus money has been doled out - if it's your contention that merely $70 billion dollars helped revert a huge depression, how could that depression have happened in the first place with an operating government budget of 3 trillion plus dollars?
A guy that I used to work with has a horse drawn wagon that he and his wife like to take out on "Sunday drives". He's got lights rigged up on it in case they get caught out in the twilight. They operate off of a battery that is charged by an alternator driven by the turning of one of the wheels. Just sayin'....
You are absolutely right. As a "Conservative Hippie", what happened to our ingenuity? When I was young we did everything. We made great music, went to the moon (in a decade), ended a war, ended discrimination (at least in law). We created. And now we are being told we can't do it? Of course we can do it. We have done it all before.
Yes we have and will do it again. We can achieve anything we put our minds to. We need to concentrate on solutions and stop allowing ourselves to be manipulated by our leaders and the MSM.
Stimulus was a complete waste.
Not according to all those highway workers west of my hometown , that have been rebuilding ,at least, 30 miles of highways and bridges. They tip good at the bar, too, and are helping stmulate the local economy as well. Pablo175 apparently lives in a cave or hole......
haha...um.
Tell me about it! The DOW is still declining, consumer confidence is lower than ever, housing is non-existence, job losses are steeper than ever.
Then again.....
Existing home sales are up.
When the rich have lots of money, what makes neocons think they would spend tax-cut $ to stimulate the economy? Anytime they hear of a recession they stop spending and horde what they got. [As conservatives, that is their nature]. The people spending the most [during recessions], and stimulating the most, are the one's who HAVE to spend everything just to survive week to week.
Tax-cuts for the wealthy ,in a time of 4 wa rs, [only 2 of which are necessary], was the stoopidest policy by any party, ever, and, at the same time, de-regulating the financial markets and banking industry, conservative and rightwing warmongering,lack of congressional leadership, has all created a perfect storm of conservative failures. Centrists are stabilizing things, but, not taking the neccessary steps, yet, to actually 'change' things. The most difficult times in our history, have always been the best time to enact major reforms, and I'm not seeing that yet. Until we start taking a more progressive approach to these issues they are going to continue to be a drain on this economy, and will only take that much longer to recover.
The greedy complain about taxes, but taxes are necessary to maintain society. The greedy would prefer to pay nothing at all and perhaps reinact slavery...
Was that last nite? Man, so busy......
Can't argue w/ that ! Seriously.
The most difficult times in our history, have always been the best time to enact major reforms,
Instead of patching up a broken financial system... we should have used the banking crisis to reform it into a sustainable one.i
This sentence is false.
So what else is new?
heh...,
GM has announces that the Volt will get 230 mpg.
This is the kind of exciting product that GM needs to turn things around.
I have never purchased a GM car (bought a Ford once), but I would happily buy a Volt, even at the expected $40 K price tag and even if gets half that advertized mpg.
More importantly, looks like the power plant and the batteries would be produced in the U.S., or at least the majority of parts. This meshes in well with the $2.6 Billion initiative the President just announced for R&D in battery technology. Hopefully, part of that R&D would be to reduce cost.
This is the kind of stuff that would revive the manufacturing sector. What is needed (and is not yet adequately addressed) is revision of our trade pacts and agreements (NAFTA included) with other countries. We definitely need to do that to make domestic products more competitive.
.
Great post.
Electricity still needs to be generated some how. Wind and Solar have yet to prove that they are an affordable or reliable source.
How about nuclear? Who is the party of no on that one?
Nuclear is fine, once safety issues (waste disposal and plant safety) are resolved. Also, nuclear is very expensive. Obama has not ruled out nuclear.
Wind and Solar are now viable and feasible.
No one has said "no" to nuclear. Except maybe the electric companies.
230 mpg - but only by traveling about 40 miles between recharges.
So not exactly 230 mpg on a sustained basis.
True. But even half that number is great. Also, no car produced even now is suitable for everyone.
And only 40 cents to recharge. Heck of a lot better than the $3 to replace one gallon of gas.
This truly is great news ...
A Japanese automaker has one that gets about 375 mpg ... (Mitsubishi?)
Now all we need to do is build a bunch of nuclear power plants and our energy problems will be essentially solved. Engineers at Los Alamos have "small town nukes" in development. Hopefully we can get your side onboard ...
http://www
(currently coal-fired power plants make 49% of the juice for these cars ... more in the northeast where they would be most efficient)
Nuclear is fine, once safety issues (waste disposal and plant safety) are resolved. Also, nuclear is very expensive. Obama has not ruled out nuclear.
I saw that on the nightly news. The problem is the price tag. How many Americans can afford a 40,000 vehicle? Many do, but many can't. We need affordability too.
There was a GM exec on the Ed show (or was it hardball) last night that said w/ dealer incentives the price would be more like $32,000. he also alluded that since this was the 1st generation
Nick Lowe -- All Men AreLiars:
http://www
Including Nick Lowe.
What Americans fail to understand that collectively we need to produce more than we consume. Our economy is based on 70% consumerism. How can that be good? We have all been sitting around Wall Streets banquet table getting fat. Too fat to move when they stopped bringing out the food. Now we are wondering who is going to cook.
We have the opportunity to make a new start. It's time for people to start making things with their hands again. Since the majority of the manufacturing jobs have been offshored, there will be openings for small business to step up and fill in the gaps with innovation. We need to look at our past strengths and modify them using today's technology to get us back to a sustainable existence.
agreed.
Hmm. We need to produce more than we consume? What do we do with the leftovers? And how can there even be an economy unless we have people consuming what is produced? And if we do not consume it all then we have produce left on the shelves which causes inventory backup and the laying off of workers.
Sell it, maybe? You think? I think this poster probably meant that we need to create/sell more things, instead of having an economy based on consuming.
I've been in and out this morning so I haven't been able to follow any disussions but I've seen several posts that show many of us are aware of attempts to re-inflate our bubble economy and the damage that will result in the next bust cycle. I'm glad that the information is out there and people are passing along their knowledge and views.
TheObscenityPrayer
http://www
Great song!
I have always liked his music.
He's a talented singer/songwriter.
In January, when Obama took the oath of office, our financial system was on the verge of collapse, all economic indicators were headed south, and we were losing somewhere between 600 thousand to a million jobs every month.
There was talk of depression.
Presently, our financial system is stable, most economic indicators are starting to go up and job losses have been dramatically reduced.
Not even those in the Administration claimed such progress this early.
What I find amazing is that dealing with the financial system and the economy is not all that the President has accomplished in these six months. Here are some of the accomplishments:
Stem cell order reversed.
SCHIP passed and signed into law
Ledbetter bill passed and signed into law.
Major Green energy initiatives started.
EPA rules revised to address Climate Change.
Executive order signed to protect large areas from drilling.
Car emission standards revised.
National Science Foundation funding boosted.
Stimulus bill passed, and already helping revive the economy.
Finacial system reform plan implemented.
Regulations on the way.
Gitmo closing ordered.
T0rture banned.
Iraq troop withdrawal ordered.
Afghanistan approach revised.
Direct negotiations with Iran on the way.
Negotiations with Syria in progress.
Disarmament talks with Russia re-started.
Travel restrictions lifted and normalization of relations with Cuba on the table.
Energy/Climate Change legislation passed the House, soon to be passed by Senate.
Healthcare legislation on the way.
And I’m sure that missed many items.
Do we have a President, or do we have a PRESIDENT!
I love it when you post that list of accomplishments.
Our president is doing good things for the American people on a daily basis.
Even we tend to forget how much has been done, and continues to get done. Mostly what we hear is bad news.
It just makes one's heart go a-flutter.
You forgot: "Economy in the tank. Blaming Boosh and passing a pork-laden "stimulus" package has not helped".
I truly appreciate that you take the time to post this info. It's benefical to all to see just what our president has been doing these past months.
It's not a complete list, but even this is impressive by any standards.
I don't agree with this list on all points, but an excellent list of what he has accomplished nonetheless.
ditto
Name a President or, for that matter any person, with whom you agreed 100% on all matters.
Think about it.
Obama's x-mas wish list.
Yet another meaningless comment from you.
Interesting - you can't reply to a post after a certain depth? When did that change happen?
I noticed it on some threads last week.
"As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of
other men. I have steadily endeavoured to keep my mind free so
as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I cannot
resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown
to be opposed to it". --Darwin
The comments here are just ridiculous. People need to drop their ideologies and adopt some common sense.
That's right. They should be more like me......,
I agree... there should be more like you.
And what would that common sense be?
The opposite of what you believe, for the most part.
Did you read the quote? I am referring to a willingness to abandon ideologies that fail to work in practice. Insanity is doing the same the repeatedly and expecting different result.
Did you read the quote? I am referring to a willingness to abandon ideologies that fail to work in practice. Insanity is doing the same the repeatedly and expecting different result.
What is common sense in your opinion?
Loading comments…
First Posted: 08-11-09 10:30 PM | Updated: 08-11-09 10:56 PM