People always have their excuses. Now that I think more about it, I think Herbert Hoover was the last President who wasn't out of touch with reality.
Dave in MPLS
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Yeah, knowing ALL the words used (and the context in which they were used) is kinda important. It's not an excuse to clarify a statement or point out willful misrepresentations.
IN THE CONTEXT THAT IT WAS USED, "The private sector is fine." was referring to JOB LOSSES, not overall general health. In comparison to job losses in the public sector, the private sector is indeed "doing fine", i.e. adding jobs (which it has been doing for what, 40 straight months or something?) I would call adding jobs as doing fine relative to shedding them.
IN THE CONTEXT THAT IT WAS USED, "The private sector is fine." was referring to JOB LOSSES, not overall general health. In comparison to job losses in the public sector, the private sector is indeed "doing fine", i.e. adding jobs (which it has been doing for what, 40 straight months or something?) I would call adding jobs as doing fine relative to shedding them.
This is a general rant not aimed at you, or the President, or Romney.
No one I know is seeing any new jobs except McDonald's and call centers. Part-time with no benefits. Everyone I know with a small business is not hiring because of the uncertainty of the health care bill ramifications and economy in general. Experienced people are being laid off in favor of cheaper new employees. Bank of America is laying off another 16000, I heard on the news last night. Unemployment is supposedly 8 point something nationwide, but that doesn't even include people not on unemployment because it ran out or was denied, and the underemployed who can't keep their heads above water. The economists can play with the numbers and revise them all they want, but the country is suffering! Look how many people just on this board who are losing their homes! And inflation! Pretending that energy and food costs aren't part of the economy by not including them in the inflation index doesn't mean that the costs have not soared. And what hurts the poorest? Rising food and energy costs, not the price of computers.
I see so much suffering, so many empty homes falling apart, so many people begging on the streets that they made a law you can only panhandle on Sundays here. I've been making and distributing sandwiches and stuff for the homeless for many years, and I'm horrified at the numbers I see now. And the embarrassment of the men, formerly construction workers supporting their families, now stoop-shouldered, eyes on the ground, hopelessly walking away, sandwich in hand.
Dave in MPLS
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The country isn't in great shape. That's probably one thing everyone agrees on, even if they can't agree on exactly who's to blame or what to do about it. That being said, my experience of the jobs situation differs somewhat from the one you describe. I'm currently unemployed, and have been for a while. The main job bank I check online daily is run by the state of Minnesota. As recently as a couple months ago when I searched all postings made in the previous 24 hours I would typically get 200 or so listings. Now I get 500+ every weekday. The majority are FT non-seasonal work. It does vary of course, I just checked this morning and today (but not previously this week) there are a number of PT listings rather than a relative handful. When I search with the keywords 'tech support' the results are not that different than what I have been seeing all along - half a dozen or so new listings a week. Unfortunately my field isn't seeing the boost some others apparently are.
beancounter
The Fire That Burns Within
Oddly enough, in certain sectors, employers are having a hard time finding qualified candidates.
But in my view that's the fault of the employers themselves. My wife is an admin assistant, and up until the past couple of years, she's always had the quaifications she needs for that type of work. But now some employers want Admins with expert Excel skills!!?? WTF?
Honestly, how many admins have strong excel skills (...much less expert skills). Employers are just asking too much in an effort to reduce the total number of heads they have to pay. Trying to get people who can wear many hats, even when the skill set they are asking for is (traditionally) incompatable.
But in my view that's the fault of the employers themselves. My wife is an admin assistant, and up until the past couple of years, she's always had the quaifications she needs for that type of work. But now some employers want Admins with expert Excel skills!!?? WTF?
Honestly, how many admins have strong excel skills (...much less expert skills). Employers are just asking too much in an effort to reduce the total number of heads they have to pay. Trying to get people who can wear many hats, even when the skill set they are asking for is (traditionally) incompatable.
IMO it's supply and demand. The reason they are asking for more skills than typical is probably because there are candidates out there looking for work with those skills. In normal times those people have jobs so aren't available. IDK why they'd post a job in the first place if their goal was to reduce the total number of heads they have to pay.
They are firing the people that have worked there for years, then hiring overqualified people who can do two jobs, and pay them less than they paid either person they're replacing. They kill two birds with one stone-- reduce the number of jobs and the pay. Since the new healthcare bill mandates insuring even part time employees, some businesses are combining a few part time positions into one full-time one. The new college graduates have it bad, I really feel for them. New degree in economics? Job at Subway. So depressing.
Two of my friends, long time really good RNs, were fired last week, so I'm especially bitter about it all.
Ahh, that makes more sense. Pretty sucky.
We're pretty isolated with the ups and downs where I live. No booms but no real bad busts either... just kind of plug along at the bottom.
beancounter
The Fire That Burns Within
But that's just it. Employers are having a hard time finding people with those skill sets, so if there are people out there with those skill sets, they are not readily available.
Well instead of hiring two people to do the needed work, they would only have to hire one.
Question: "What about the Republicans saying that you're blaming the Europeans for the failure of your own policies?"
"The truth of the matter is that, as I said we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last two -- 27 months; over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine.
He wasn't comparing it to the public sector. Considering the American population continues to increase millions of people per year and we're adding a small amount of jobs, I don't see how anyone can defend the comment.
Dave in MPLS
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All the words means ALL THE WORDS, including those after and before the 'gotcha'. The transcript continues:
Also, the question you started with was actually a follow up to earlier comments in the press conference. Guess what these comments dealt with?
There's a full transcript at Politifact
Also, the question you started with was actually a follow up to earlier comments in the press conference. Guess what these comments dealt with?
There's a full transcript at Politifact
I understand that. There's no reason with Obama's statement to believe he was making comparisons. It's all just speculation by people who want to make Obama look better than he is.
The problem with Presidents is they almost have to be out of touch with reality. They have to pretend a country that has constantly started wars is out for world peace(the United States), while a country that hasn't started a war in many decades poses a big threat to world peace(Iran). They have to pretend we have all of this oil that can last for many, many decades while experts say otherwise. If we acknowledged the problem of peak oil, we'd actually have to admit that there is a potential crisis in which the government has done little to nothing to address. We can't acknowledge that. I expect all Presidents to be out of touch with reality.
kibbleforlola
Lola Worshiper
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I just want to point out one thing: natural gas and oil are not the same thing. You seem to be confusing the two.
Other than that, Romney's an idiot who pays a lower tax percentage than many (most?) middle class families; and arguing with conspiracy theorists is not worth my time.
Other than that, Romney's an idiot who pays a lower tax percentage than many (most?) middle class families; and arguing with conspiracy theorists is not worth my time.
Dave in MPLS
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Other than the things he said. But believe what you want. It's obviously not a fact-based decision for you if those facts would interfere with your conception of reality.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/u...at-least-13-percent-in-income-taxes.html?_r=0
In saying that he paid a tax rate of at least 13 percent, Mr. Romney and his wife would still have had a higher income tax rate than most households. More than 46 percent of households did not pay any federal income tax in 2011 because their income was low enough that deductions and credits reduced their bill to zero. Even a typical household making $100,000 a year would pay closer to a 10 percent average federal income tax rate than a 15 percent rate, Congressional Budget office data suggest.
For many middle-class households, however, other taxes — like payroll taxes and state and local taxes — typically cause their total annual tax rate to rise to 20 percent of their income and higher. For Mr. Romney, these other taxes most likely had only a small effect on his total tax rate, because much of his income came from investments, which is generally taxed at a lower rate than wage income.
In 2011, Mr. Obama and his wife reported an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5 percent. In 2010, their rate was just over 26 percent."
_____________________________
And from: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-taxes-20120922,0,2927415.story
"He did, however, take a step toward rebutting allegations by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Romney had paid no federal taxes in some past years. The Romney campaign released a statement by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the accounting firm that has prepared his tax returns since 1990, saying that Romney had never had an effective tax rate of less than 13.66% during that period and had an average tax rate during the period of 20.2%."
I'm not a Romney lover, but being rich and successful doesn't make someone a bad person. He reduced his tax burden by contributing to charity. I look way more askance at politicians who leave office much richer than when they began serving.
kibbleforlola
Lola Worshiper
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^^^ You're right, being rich and successful does not make someone a bad person. Being a bad person makes you a bad person. Hiding money off shore, then taking advantage of the 2009 amnesty so he wouldn't go to club fed for tax evasion (which Romney most likely did) makes you a bad person. Making money off of the backs of your fellow countrymen without regard to their well being makes you a bad person. Mitt Romney is a bad person.
Also, paying tithe to the Mormon (or any, for that matter) church ≠ charity. Mitt Romney is terrible, full stop.
Also, paying tithe to the Mormon (or any, for that matter) church ≠ charity. Mitt Romney is terrible, full stop.
Spang
Foot Fetisher
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“The thing about not having much money is you have to take much more responsibility for your life. You can’t pay people to watch your kids or clean your house or fix your meals. You can’t necessarily afford a car or a washing machine or a home in a good school district. That’s what money buys you: goods and services that make your life easier. That’s what money has bought Romney, too. He’s a guy who sold his dad’s stock to pay for college, who built an elevator to ensure easier access to his multiple cars and who was able to support his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That’s great! That’s the dream. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to realize how difficult it is to focus on college when you’re also working full time, how much planning it takes to reliably commute to work without a car, or the agonizing choices faced by families in which both parents work and a child falls ill. The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it.” - Ezra Klein