The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose to its highest level in close to six months, a fresh signal of a weak jobs market.
The number of new claims for jobless benefits rose 2,000 to 484,000 in the week ended August 7, the second straight increase, Labor Department data showed on Thursday.
"This is not a good number," said John Brady, an analyst at MF Global in Chicago. "Claims are going the wrong way. That has the market concerned."
The data comes two days after the Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the economy's health and said it would take steps to ensure its support for the fragile economic recovery does not wane.
U.S. stock index futures added to losses, while U.S. Treasury debt prices pared losses following the data. The jobless claims data is the latest in a series of releases which indicate the pace of the economic recovery is slowing.
Economists have been ratcheting down estimates for second-quarter economic growth after data on trade and inventories for June suggested it was not as strong as earlier thought.
The government estimated last month the economy advanced at a 2.4 percent annualized pace in the April-June quarter, far more slowly than the 3.7 percent pace of the first quarter, and now some economists believe the economy may have grown at less than half that rate.
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Showing posts with label economic recovery lies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economic recovery lies. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
WHY DOES ANYONE EVER BELIEVE THE LIES THAT COME OUT OF THIS PATHOLOGICAL LIAR'S MOUTH?
"Don't mistake activity for achievement."................Coach John Wooden
Shortly after he assumed office last year, the Pathological Liar-in-Chief instituted a pay freeze for top White House Aides earning more than $100,000, saying this would "restore that faith in government without which we cannot deliver the changes we were sent here to make."
According to an editorial in yesterday's Washington Examiner, under the Obama administration, the government is doing such a good job that it's decided to reward itself. Last year, Uncle Sam paid out $408 million in bonuses to 1.3 million federal workers, according to the Asbury Park Press, which obtained the information through a Freedom of Information Act request. That's about $80 million more than the previous year. About one in four federal workers received a bonus, and awards ranged from $25 to, in the case of one lucky State Department worker, $94,500.
That $408 million figure only counts bonuses that were handed out to about 65 percent of the federal work force. The FOI request didn't cover awards handed out by the Defense and Treasury departments, security agencies, the White House, Congress and various other federal agencies and commissions. In 2008, the last year information was available, the Department of Defense alone handed out $92 million in bonuses to its 687,000 employees.
Federal bonuses are being doled out liberally, even as federal salaries are exploding. From December 2007 through June 2009, the number of federal workers earning six figures increased from 14 to 19 percent. In 2008, average federal compensation, including pay and benefits, was $119,982 -- considerably more than the $59,909 average in the private sector, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the midst of a brutal economic downturn that saw millions of jobs lost and unemployment soar above 10 percent, the Office of Personnel Management data shows the federal workforce actually added nearly 100,000 jobs from December 2008 to December 2009.
In theory, introduction of bonuses and pay-for-performance measures in the federal workforce was a positive reform. However, this boom in federal bonuses suggests an "all carrot and no stick" approach to federal performance. For bureaucrats, job security is a non-issue, and they already earn twice as much as an average American just for showing up to work.
Shortly after he assumed office last year, Obama instituted a pay freeze for top White House Aides earning more than $100,000, saying this would "restore that faith in government without which we cannot deliver the changes we were sent here to make." The president made it clear that he knows egregious federal salaries are a problem, yet he's done little beyond this symbolic gesture to address the problem. Actually doing something to rein in the runaway federal bureaucracy would be change taxpayers can believe in.
Shortly after he assumed office last year, the Pathological Liar-in-Chief instituted a pay freeze for top White House Aides earning more than $100,000, saying this would "restore that faith in government without which we cannot deliver the changes we were sent here to make."
# # # # #
According to an editorial in yesterday's Washington Examiner, under the Obama administration, the government is doing such a good job that it's decided to reward itself. Last year, Uncle Sam paid out $408 million in bonuses to 1.3 million federal workers, according to the Asbury Park Press, which obtained the information through a Freedom of Information Act request. That's about $80 million more than the previous year. About one in four federal workers received a bonus, and awards ranged from $25 to, in the case of one lucky State Department worker, $94,500.That $408 million figure only counts bonuses that were handed out to about 65 percent of the federal work force. The FOI request didn't cover awards handed out by the Defense and Treasury departments, security agencies, the White House, Congress and various other federal agencies and commissions. In 2008, the last year information was available, the Department of Defense alone handed out $92 million in bonuses to its 687,000 employees.
Federal bonuses are being doled out liberally, even as federal salaries are exploding. From December 2007 through June 2009, the number of federal workers earning six figures increased from 14 to 19 percent. In 2008, average federal compensation, including pay and benefits, was $119,982 -- considerably more than the $59,909 average in the private sector, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the midst of a brutal economic downturn that saw millions of jobs lost and unemployment soar above 10 percent, the Office of Personnel Management data shows the federal workforce actually added nearly 100,000 jobs from December 2008 to December 2009.
In theory, introduction of bonuses and pay-for-performance measures in the federal workforce was a positive reform. However, this boom in federal bonuses suggests an "all carrot and no stick" approach to federal performance. For bureaucrats, job security is a non-issue, and they already earn twice as much as an average American just for showing up to work.
Shortly after he assumed office last year, Obama instituted a pay freeze for top White House Aides earning more than $100,000, saying this would "restore that faith in government without which we cannot deliver the changes we were sent here to make." The president made it clear that he knows egregious federal salaries are a problem, yet he's done little beyond this symbolic gesture to address the problem. Actually doing something to rein in the runaway federal bureaucracy would be change taxpayers can believe in.Thursday, February 18, 2010
Breaking Down Year One of the Stimulus (Lies and BS)
Thanks to Glenn Beck for this gem of wisdom:
February 17, 2010
Let's rewind the clocks to one year ago. America needed the stimulus package. We couldn't live without it. That's what our leaders were telling us then:
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI: Failure to act quickly can only lead to more job losses and more economic pain for Americans.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I don't believe that it's too late to change course. But it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits.
The situation could not be more serious. It's time to pass an economic recovery and reinvestment plan to get our economy moving.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This is about getting this out and spent in 18 months, to create 3.5 million jobs and to set — tee this up, so the rest of the good work that's being done here literally dropkicks us out of this recession and we begin to grow again.
Yes, America might not recover if we didn't borrow more money from places like China and then recklessly spend it. So, how has the plan worked out? Vice President Joe Biden had this glowing review:
BIDEN: This act, along with everything else we did, helped us avoid a depression. It also succeeded in saving or creating 2 million of jobs so far.
It was designed to have two stages to it. We've only been halfway through the act. The job creating portions are really loaded in the second half here and the major projects that are going to be being built but yes, they have gotten money's worth.
Two stages? Was the first stage just to waste our money? That's new to me. Did you know that? Well it's good to know that they didn't work on job creation in the first part, because unemployment has gone from 8.2 percent to 9.7 percent. And there was no intent to restore the economy either: America owes $1.6 trillion more today than we did a year ago.
Anyway, the president offered his assessment today:
OBAMA: The Recovery Act was never intended to save every job or restore our economy to full strength. No bill or government program can do that. Businesses are the true engines of growth. Businesses are the engines of job creation in this country.
Did I hear right? The president said that government can't restore the economy? That's weird, because I think it was about a year ago when he told America this:
OBAMA: The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life.
But now that it's not working, seems he's playing a different tune. Valerie Jarrett chalked the bad wrap on the stimulus over PR struggles: "It's hard to get out positive news stories when people tend to focus on what's going wrong as opposed to what's going well." She added that the administration has "not done a good enough job explaining" how the plan has helped people.
I can't take it anymore.
Mr. President, we can hear you! The American people can hear you! And you and the people who have done this to the American economy are about to hear from us.
Let's say you broke your leg. You go to the hospital and your leg is fixed. And you get back on your feet — you're feeling good. You don't need the doctor to say, "You don't have a broken leg anymore." Same with the stimulus: If it were actually helping people, Valerie, you wouldn't have to explain it better.
In fact, it's working so poorly that polls show that more people believe Elvis is alive than believe the stimulus actually worked.
That's how much of a disaster this thing has been. I mean, Joe Biden is in charge of it. What did you expect?
Only about a third of the stimulus money has been spent. Wait, I thought it was an emergency? Anyway, what about those lucky people who actually got money? Who are they? One lucky recipient was Serious Windows, a small window manufacturer. In a strange, unrelated coincidence, the VP of policy for Serious Windows happens to be married to Obama's weatherization "czar" Cathy Zoi.
Small world, huh?
And now, many of the places that received money from the stimulus package — like schools who were struggling — well, the money has dried up and now they are broke again. This wasn't about creating jobs. None have been "created," they just prolonged the inevitable and, in the process, wasted taxpayer money.
But that's not stopping the White House from coming out and saying that it saved us from another Great Depression. Really? I thought that was TARP's job.
No one will tell you the truth. You know, before they announced it, I was actually for some form of TARP and the reason was, if you can just hold off the collapse for a while, you can use that time to wake people up, help them to prepare. But they haven't used it for that. They've used it to convince us that everything is just dandy. We fixed that mess George W. Bush made, huh? And they are using it for the fundamental transformation of this country. Want something to pass? Don't worry about it; we'll jam it in the next stimulus. Congress is being circumvented and is becoming irrelevant.
Fundamental transformation or restoration; one of the two is heading our way.
I can't say it enough: prepare. Use this time wisely. While they argue over which jobs were "saved" and look for Elvis, save your money. Get out of debt. When a store is offering two for one, do what your grandparents did. Most importantly educate yourself. Know history, the Constitution.
If I'm wrong (and I hope I am) then no big deal. Better safe than sorry. When has that been bad in America? Ben Franklin would be proud. But I beg you to consider that the worst is not behind us. It's yet to begin.
February 17, 2010
Let's rewind the clocks to one year ago. America needed the stimulus package. We couldn't live without it. That's what our leaders were telling us then:
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI: Failure to act quickly can only lead to more job losses and more economic pain for Americans.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I don't believe that it's too late to change course. But it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits.
The situation could not be more serious. It's time to pass an economic recovery and reinvestment plan to get our economy moving.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This is about getting this out and spent in 18 months, to create 3.5 million jobs and to set — tee this up, so the rest of the good work that's being done here literally dropkicks us out of this recession and we begin to grow again.
Yes, America might not recover if we didn't borrow more money from places like China and then recklessly spend it. So, how has the plan worked out? Vice President Joe Biden had this glowing review:
BIDEN: This act, along with everything else we did, helped us avoid a depression. It also succeeded in saving or creating 2 million of jobs so far.
It was designed to have two stages to it. We've only been halfway through the act. The job creating portions are really loaded in the second half here and the major projects that are going to be being built but yes, they have gotten money's worth.
Two stages? Was the first stage just to waste our money? That's new to me. Did you know that? Well it's good to know that they didn't work on job creation in the first part, because unemployment has gone from 8.2 percent to 9.7 percent. And there was no intent to restore the economy either: America owes $1.6 trillion more today than we did a year ago.
Anyway, the president offered his assessment today:
OBAMA: The Recovery Act was never intended to save every job or restore our economy to full strength. No bill or government program can do that. Businesses are the true engines of growth. Businesses are the engines of job creation in this country.
Did I hear right? The president said that government can't restore the economy? That's weird, because I think it was about a year ago when he told America this:
OBAMA: The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life.
But now that it's not working, seems he's playing a different tune. Valerie Jarrett chalked the bad wrap on the stimulus over PR struggles: "It's hard to get out positive news stories when people tend to focus on what's going wrong as opposed to what's going well." She added that the administration has "not done a good enough job explaining" how the plan has helped people.
I can't take it anymore.
Mr. President, we can hear you! The American people can hear you! And you and the people who have done this to the American economy are about to hear from us.
Let's say you broke your leg. You go to the hospital and your leg is fixed. And you get back on your feet — you're feeling good. You don't need the doctor to say, "You don't have a broken leg anymore." Same with the stimulus: If it were actually helping people, Valerie, you wouldn't have to explain it better.
In fact, it's working so poorly that polls show that more people believe Elvis is alive than believe the stimulus actually worked.
That's how much of a disaster this thing has been. I mean, Joe Biden is in charge of it. What did you expect?
Only about a third of the stimulus money has been spent. Wait, I thought it was an emergency? Anyway, what about those lucky people who actually got money? Who are they? One lucky recipient was Serious Windows, a small window manufacturer. In a strange, unrelated coincidence, the VP of policy for Serious Windows happens to be married to Obama's weatherization "czar" Cathy Zoi.
Small world, huh?
And now, many of the places that received money from the stimulus package — like schools who were struggling — well, the money has dried up and now they are broke again. This wasn't about creating jobs. None have been "created," they just prolonged the inevitable and, in the process, wasted taxpayer money.
But that's not stopping the White House from coming out and saying that it saved us from another Great Depression. Really? I thought that was TARP's job.
No one will tell you the truth. You know, before they announced it, I was actually for some form of TARP and the reason was, if you can just hold off the collapse for a while, you can use that time to wake people up, help them to prepare. But they haven't used it for that. They've used it to convince us that everything is just dandy. We fixed that mess George W. Bush made, huh? And they are using it for the fundamental transformation of this country. Want something to pass? Don't worry about it; we'll jam it in the next stimulus. Congress is being circumvented and is becoming irrelevant.
Fundamental transformation or restoration; one of the two is heading our way.
I can't say it enough: prepare. Use this time wisely. While they argue over which jobs were "saved" and look for Elvis, save your money. Get out of debt. When a store is offering two for one, do what your grandparents did. Most importantly educate yourself. Know history, the Constitution.
If I'm wrong (and I hope I am) then no big deal. Better safe than sorry. When has that been bad in America? Ben Franklin would be proud. But I beg you to consider that the worst is not behind us. It's yet to begin.
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