Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The President's OTHER speech on the Economy from July 24, 2013 in Warrensburg, MO
The main speech will post at 2:30pm, today.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
In two videos, @Lawrence O'Donnell breaks down the REAL "IRS Scandal"...
Day 1: May 13, 2013:
Day 2: May 14, 2013:
Day 2: May 14, 2013:
Thursday, March 14, 2013
@RuthMarcus, Villagers and the evolution of media bull@#$%...
My distaste for Ruth Marcus goes back a while. So I guess I shouldn't have been completely surprised when yet again decided to act as the Chief Villager for a Newspaper run by nothing but Villagers when she wrote her latest (cough-cough) column.
After listing through some of the nasty comments House GOPers were tweeting as the President was speaking to them about reaching a Budget Deal, she quoted the President calmly assessing the situation with George Stephanopoulos:
One would think after all the Filibustering and insults (some of them actually racist) that have been hurled at this President from the start of his administration, a columnist might react with shock and surprise that the sitting President managed to keep his cool.
Instead, Ruth Marcus offered this:
Excuse me, but...I did not think it was anatomically possible for one's head to get that far up one's...--never mind.
I don't know how to tell Journalists this, because...I really thought they would have covered it in Journalism school, but...it's not your job to balance the argument.
I know you think that's your job. But let's be clear about what your job really is.
Your job is to present both sides of a story...
Your job is not necessarily to lend them equal weight, particularly when they don't deserve it.
Again, you don't elevate both sides into equality. We don't need you to do that. In fact, it's a really bad idea if you do do that.
If you're a columnist, as Ruth Marcus is, this is even more tricky. Why? Because, a columnist offers nothing but opinion. They don't do any actual reporting. They don't go digging around for facts anymore...they've been excused from that particular activity. In fact, they are paid a substantial salary to say only what they think. Even if what they think has no basis in reality, as Ruth Marcus clearly demonstrated today.
One would think that some measure of journalistic integrity would matter in a circumstance like this, but again...you'd be wrong. The Washington Post is more than capable of publishing utter complete bull@#$% so long as it fills column inches. After all they employ Jennifer Rubin, Marc Thiessen, Robert Samuelson, Richard Cohen...and Ruth Marcus.
(Hey, at least Ezra Klein -- and I know me some Liberals who hate him for some reason -- no idea why -- does actual work to preparing his pieces.)
One would think it would matter to the folks at the Washington Post that their own readers can smell this line of crap a mile off, but we don't matter of the folks at the Washington Post. Ruth Marcus has proved...once again...that the Villagers are talking only to other Villagers.
Which could explain why most newspapers are in trouble.
We need Newspapers and Magazines and Media in general, advocating for their audience, and not entertaining their damn selves.
For example...if someone...say like the President...presents something that is backed in fact, and his opposition presents something that is cloaked in bull@#$%...we kinda need Media to call out the bull@#$%.
But they're not.
They used to. But they're not.
I mean it happens...sometimes, but it sure as hell didn't happen today with Ruth Marcus.
Let me quote something a columnist said not too long ago:
That was from August 10, 2010. My goodness who wrote such a prescient piece?
C'mon, this is easy. This was Ruth Marcus...in a piece backing Robert Gibbs when he called out the Professional Left.
So what happened?
Apparently, Ruth Marcus...still employed by the Washington Post...has lost the ability...to count.
Ruth Marcus got lazy. She and the paper needed column inches to fill, and bull@#$% magically transpired.
When you say the President isn't showing leadership after showing in just a few short paragraphs that there's no one who's willing to be lead, we do wonder why the President is to blame, and not the Congress. And if you can't make that elementary of a call, it calls into question your ability to observe things...or any thing, for that matter.
I mean, I don't meant to tell Ruth Marcus in particular how to do her job, but I figured someone ought to.
After listing through some of the nasty comments House GOPers were tweeting as the President was speaking to them about reaching a Budget Deal, she quoted the President calmly assessing the situation with George Stephanopoulos:
Obama: “You know — I think whatever I’m for, it’s very hard for a Republican to also be for. I think they always have to be a little bit — you know, maintain some distance.”
One would think after all the Filibustering and insults (some of them actually racist) that have been hurled at this President from the start of his administration, a columnist might react with shock and surprise that the sitting President managed to keep his cool.
Instead, Ruth Marcus offered this:
The president has made this point before, and maybe he’s right. Yet this analysis leaves him in a distinctly unpresidential posture — not leaning in, but holding back.
Excuse me, but...I did not think it was anatomically possible for one's head to get that far up one's...--never mind.
I don't know how to tell Journalists this, because...I really thought they would have covered it in Journalism school, but...it's not your job to balance the argument.
I know you think that's your job. But let's be clear about what your job really is.
Your job is to present both sides of a story...
Your job is not necessarily to lend them equal weight, particularly when they don't deserve it.
Again, you don't elevate both sides into equality. We don't need you to do that. In fact, it's a really bad idea if you do do that.
If you're a columnist, as Ruth Marcus is, this is even more tricky. Why? Because, a columnist offers nothing but opinion. They don't do any actual reporting. They don't go digging around for facts anymore...they've been excused from that particular activity. In fact, they are paid a substantial salary to say only what they think. Even if what they think has no basis in reality, as Ruth Marcus clearly demonstrated today.
One would think that some measure of journalistic integrity would matter in a circumstance like this, but again...you'd be wrong. The Washington Post is more than capable of publishing utter complete bull@#$% so long as it fills column inches. After all they employ Jennifer Rubin, Marc Thiessen, Robert Samuelson, Richard Cohen...and Ruth Marcus.
(Hey, at least Ezra Klein -- and I know me some Liberals who hate him for some reason -- no idea why -- does actual work to preparing his pieces.)
One would think it would matter to the folks at the Washington Post that their own readers can smell this line of crap a mile off, but we don't matter of the folks at the Washington Post. Ruth Marcus has proved...once again...that the Villagers are talking only to other Villagers.
Which could explain why most newspapers are in trouble.
We need Newspapers and Magazines and Media in general, advocating for their audience, and not entertaining their damn selves.
For example...if someone...say like the President...presents something that is backed in fact, and his opposition presents something that is cloaked in bull@#$%...we kinda need Media to call out the bull@#$%.
But they're not.
They used to. But they're not.
I mean it happens...sometimes, but it sure as hell didn't happen today with Ruth Marcus.
Let me quote something a columnist said not too long ago:
Excuse me, but can these people not count to 60? Have they somehow failed to notice that Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have not exactly been playing nice? That while the left laments Obama's minor deviations from party orthodoxy, the right has been portraying him, with some success, as an out-of-control socialist?
That was from August 10, 2010. My goodness who wrote such a prescient piece?
C'mon, this is easy. This was Ruth Marcus...in a piece backing Robert Gibbs when he called out the Professional Left.
So what happened?
Apparently, Ruth Marcus...still employed by the Washington Post...has lost the ability...to count.
Ruth Marcus got lazy. She and the paper needed column inches to fill, and bull@#$% magically transpired.
When you say the President isn't showing leadership after showing in just a few short paragraphs that there's no one who's willing to be lead, we do wonder why the President is to blame, and not the Congress. And if you can't make that elementary of a call, it calls into question your ability to observe things...or any thing, for that matter.
I mean, I don't meant to tell Ruth Marcus in particular how to do her job, but I figured someone ought to.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
"These aren't the cuts you're looking for..." (VIDEO)
Here is the President's brief Press Conference on the Sequester:
That's right. He went with Jedi Mind Mend.
I was entertained no end. The rest of the Geek world was not, preferring instead to chastise my President for getting his franchises confused. (Yeah, like that's never happened to them.)
Leave it to the Geek Godather, Leonard freakin' Nimoy to put it all in perspective:
Yeah, baby, YEAH.
Also. It seems that the White House has chosen to OWN it (OWN IT, I say!!):
That's right. He went with Jedi Mind Mend.
I was entertained no end. The rest of the Geek world was not, preferring instead to chastise my President for getting his franchises confused. (Yeah, like that's never happened to them.)
Leave it to the Geek Godather, Leonard freakin' Nimoy to put it all in perspective:
Only a Vulcan mind meld will help with this congress. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) March 1, 2013
Yeah, baby, YEAH.
Also. It seems that the White House has chosen to OWN it (OWN IT, I say!!):
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Did President Obama drop a Prop. 8 hint on ABC 7 News in San Fran (VIDEO)
Via Greg Sargent (heck his whole piece comes from Greg Sargent):
In an interview with an ABC News affiliate in San Francisco, President Obama made his most extensive comments yet on the question of whether his administration will weigh in with a friend-of-the-court brief on the Proposition 8 case set to be heard by the Supreme Court. He said:
“The Solicitor General is still looking at this. I have to make sure that I’m not interjecting myself too much into this process, particularly when we’re not a party to the case. I can tell you, though, obviously, my personal view, which is that I think that same-sex couples should have the same rights and be treated like everybody else. And that’s something I feel very strongly about and my administration is acting on wherever we can.”This is more encouraging than not. It shows that the administration is very actively considering taking this step. What’s more, Obama reiterated the view, spelled out in his Inaugural Address, that full equality before the law is the ultimate goal of his administration, stressed that he feels “very strongly” about it, and underscored that his administration is acting to bring this about “wherever we can.” Obviously, filing a brief in the Prop 8 case — one that forcefully articulates the view that Prop 8 is unconstitutional — falls into that category. It is something his administration can, in fact, do. And since the Court gives weight to the views of Solicitors General, doing it could help bring about a broad Supreme Court ruling that would put state laws banning gay marriage on the road to extinction — bringing us closer to the full equality that Obama himself articulated as a paramount moral goal.
At the same time, by saying that this is something his Solicitor General is examining, even as he noted the need to avoid interjecting himself into the case, Obama was also signaling that this process is unfolding as it’s supposed to: With the Solicitor General making this determination independently, on the merits. An optimistic reading of this is that it could give the Solicitor General the breathing room he needs to expound on the administration’s views of Prop 8 even if gay marriage opponents will inevitably cast such a move as political.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Mr. "47 Percent" has made a lot of money destroying other people's lives (VIDEO)
The very embodiment of the American Dream versus a guy who's made a LOT of money destroying it for others.
Mr. President, it's not fair to compare plans when Governor Romney DOESN'T HAVE ONE... (VIDEO)
It's time for a new economic patriotism. Rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class. Read the President's plan. Compare it to Governor R--
--wait a minute, does Governor Romney even HAVE a plan? Last I checked, there were still "details" he had to "work out" with Congress. Details he didn't need to share with the likes of us.
Kinda like his Tax Returns.
Friday, September 21, 2012
The Daily Show COMPLETE and EXTENDED Interview with Bill Clinton (VIDEO)
Part 1: (The best part, with all the Economic and Middle Class stuff)
Part 2: (The Clinton Global Initiative, which is good too)
Part 2: (The Clinton Global Initiative, which is good too)
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
What the Federal Reserve did yesterday, in plain english...and why it's good news.
This is Ezra Klein's complete article: Here’s why everyone is so excited about what the Fed did yesterday.
I was going to use a snippet, but when Ezra's on his game, he's on his game, and there's nowhere good to cut, so to explain it all...you've got to read it all:
I was going to use a snippet, but when Ezra's on his game, he's on his game, and there's nowhere good to cut, so to explain it all...you've got to read it all:
I want to explain why everyone is so excited about what the Federal Reserve did yesterday. But I want to do it without using the words “quantitative easing,” because those words are almost designed to get you to give up and stop paying attention.
Imagine you got a choice of superpowers. You could be invisible, you could fly, you could be really strong, or you could create unlimited amounts of money. You might well choose the money one. The other ones are cool for a bit, but they’re not all that versatile, and they may well get you into trouble.
The best way to think about the Federal Reserve is that it basically has a superpower. It can create as much money as it wants. Real, American money.
And the Fed doesn’t need anybody’s permission. It’s not like when the president says he wants to do something, like the American Jobs Act, and you have to ask, “What does Congress think?” Or when John Boehner wants to pass something, and you have to ask, “Well, what does Harry Reid think?” Once the Board of Governors decides to move forward, they don’t need 60 votes in the Senate — they just do it. And that makes them incredibly powerful.
But, as Spider Man would say, with great power comes great responsibility. And so the Fed is very cautious in using its powers.
By law, it needs to try to keep unemployment and inflation low. Over the past two years or so, inflation has stayed low, and unemployment has been very, very high. But the Fed has not been doing all that much about it. It’s been hoping the situation would turn around of its own accord, or that Congress and the president would stop bickering and unleash more stimulus — anything so that the Fed didn’t have to further unleash its powers.
But it didn’t happen. And so, on Thursday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed had finally decided to do something about unemployment. Something big. Something that might actually work.
He said it was going to buy hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of government and housing bonds for as long as it takes to get the recovery back on a solid footing, and then keep buying them for as long as it takes to be absolutely certain the recovery will stay on a solid footing.
The way the Fed’s plan works — if it works — is that buying all these bonds will drive down long-term interest rates, which will give businesses and investors more incentive to spend now as opposed to sitting on their money waiting for later. It will make mortgages even cheaper, which should accelerate the housing market’s recovery.
But the other part of the plan, and this part is really important, is that Bernanke just sent a signal to businesses and investors and the market and everyone else that the Fed is going to use its powers in a big, unusual way to get the economy moving. That’s a hugely important statement to make.
Imagine a business trying to decide whether it should hire more workers. The basic question it needs to answer is whether people will be buying a lot more stuff next year than they’re buying this year. If business owners don’t see any good reason to think the economy will improve, then the answer is probably, “No, people aren’t going to be buying more stuff next year,” so there’s no need to hire more workers.
But if they think the recovery is going to come, if they think people will be buying more stuff, then they need the workers. They don’t want to be caught without enough product — then their competitors would get those sales.
The Fed is trying to influence that decision. Fed officials are saying: “We’re going to use all our power to make sure there are people out there buying your stuff. So go hire. Do it now. We’re behind you.”
Or you can think of it this way. The Federal Reserve is kind of like the economy’s tough, older brother. If the economy is having problems with some kids at school, and the tough, older brother seems distant, or uninterested, then the economy’s in trouble.
But if the tough, older brother makes it clear that he’ll be there to back up the economy, come what may, and even says that he’s going to go have a talk with some of these kids tomorrow, then the economy is going to be a lot more confident walking to school from now on. And right now, what the economy needs, more than anything, is confidence.
Now, as some of us learned when we were young, tough, older brothers aren’t invincible. And few economists believe that the Fed can solve our ongoing economic problems on its own. But it can do more to help then it’s doing now, and with the housing market beginning to come back and Europe appearing to stabilize, there’s a mounting argument that the conditions for a recovery are beginning to look pretty good. If there’s a policy dark spot here, it’s that Congress is still a mess, and there’s no clarity as to how they’ll bridge the fiscal cliff, or even if they’ll bridge the fiscal cliff. And then, of course, there’s the fundamental fact of the economy right now, which is that consumers are still digging out of debt and businesses remain skittish. Sometimes, even a big older brother isn’t enough to make you feel better.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
In Mitt Romney's world "Cars get the Elevator, and Workers get the shaft" (VIDEO)
Yeah, we know what you're sayin'.
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