Kathleen Parker on The Chris Matthews Show: You think the economy is bad? Blame the Democrats!
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
Chris Matthews actually asked an astute question of his panel on the Chris Matthews Show Sunday: Will the economy impact the election next year? (The assumption predicated on the idea that we're heading into a recession) Whether or not we're heading into a recession is really besides the point (hell, the last time we had one, many of these pundits were on TV denying that existed anyway), the fact is that people are feeling the crunch. Our dollars just don't go as far and a lot of people are really struggling. The sub-prime market is downright scary and home foreclosures are going through the roof. Few of us are really feeling any benefits of those vaunted tax cuts that the Republicans hold up as their ultimate trump card.
But if you're feeling the pain, my brothers and sisters, don't blame the President and the demonstrably failed approach of borrow and spend he's taken. Oh no. WaPo's Kathleen Parker** wants you to know that if you perceive the economy as being bad, it's probably because you're living in a blue state.
I think Joe is exactly right. It’s really a matter of perception because we hear $9 billion a month in Iraq and we got bridges collapsing. We got things like that seem like the economy is just falling apart, we can’t fix anything. But if you really look, if you want to go looking for problems, you can find them. And the best place to look is Michigan, where you just were. If you look at unemployment rates in this country, there at an all time low: 4%. But in Michigan, where Democrats have been in charge, they’re over 7%. So if you’re looking at places where the economy is doing poorly, the Democrats are in charge.
** Sorry, I got my conservative columnists confused. Thanks to Dennis for calling my attention to it.
Poor thing. Republicans never want to take responsibility
I live in a "red" state, Texas, and in one paper last week were articles about record setting new jobs, and new home foreclosures.
What a stretch. She's a real dim bulb.
Michigan... car job going overseas, because of Free Trade Agreements (yeah, Bill has to take some blame on that, but Bush has made it fashionable.)
Actually, these days I'm inclined to blame the Democrats I worked so hard to get elected as they have chosen to turn thier backs on the progressive movement. The Republicans are evil, the Dems are opportunistic and clueless.
Michigan...Michigan...that's where the auto industry used to be right?
Where they kept making giant boat sized cars even as more Americans started shifting to those evil "rice burners?" Because they never believed REAL Americans would want rice burners?
And after that fiasco, they never recovered as they should have?
And now the auto industry is in turmoil because they can't afford to be competitive, without apparently sacrificing health care?
And since people are so scared about losing their jobs nationwide they're not buying new cars anyway, saving every dime they can for when things go to Hell?
But the economy is just as bad working for working-class Americans as it is in every other state in the union?
Yeah, it's probably the Democrats fault.
OK. . .the republicans know how to keep people happy. borrow, borrow, borrow. . . it makes us feel well off ! Isn't life great ! To be responsible, we need money to balance the budget. The democrats are BAD ! They want to pay the debts !
Michigan has a Democratic Governor , but the state government majority is Republican, gee go figure she neglected to say that
Nicole-
That's not K-Lo from NRO. It's Kathleen Parker.
Check on what is happening in IDAHO....ALL REPUBLICAN IDAHO...land of "WIDE STANCE" CRAIG and "Sili"Sali...
then come tell me that it is "ALL the democrats fault"...seem to remember that AL GREENSPAN is a high mucky muck of the REPUBLICAN persuasion and is largely responsible for the catastrophe that is now befalling George W. "SPENDTHRIFT/CUT TAXES"BUSH!..and six plus years of fiscal irresponsibility....by ALL the beltway gangs of BOTH PARTIES, the major share of which belongs to NEOCONPHONYNOMICS!
People from Alan Greenspan to Richard Clarke sing Bubba's praises. Chris Rock calls him the first black president. Clinton goes overseas and he's showered with flowers and treated like a rock star. Russians like to think he was one of them. Romanians cheered Clinton in Transylvania when he was delivering bad news over their attempts to join NATO. Yasser Arafat and Shimon Perez was floored by his energy level, and apparent lack of need for sleep. Even Benjamin Netenyahu who was not a Clinton fan, felt the need to repetedly drop his name for an unsuccessful run for office. Now Gore has won Emmies, Oscars, and the Nobel Peace Prize.
Meanwhile boosh is congratulated if he can get through a speech without too many malapropisms and mispronunciations.
I don't think that is K-Lo
Yeah. Like the booming Mississippi economy. Or the "Alabama Miracle". Those are some real economic success stories, huh?
She's actually kind of right, though. Because most of the states are now trending bluer (even places like Kansas and the mountain west) she can make a statement like that and ignore the three or four hardcore states that will go red in the '08 election.
The "economy" is much like watching the slot machine players running out of money in Las Vegas.
Did Detroit become it's own country so that it's economy functions separately from the rest of the nation?
It's Clinton's fault.
/republican
Ok, my financial situation is bad because I live in a Blue State? That's good to know, as I've been blaming Dick Armey and the Bush administration as the primary architects of my financial downturn.
When did Texas get designated as a Blue State? When did Dick Armey and George Bush join the Democratic Party?
America: Um... Mr. Orwell, please wake up. We have a question for you. When you described doublespeak in your book "1984", you were being sarcastic right? You were simply showing how the tools of the machine try to twist reality to justify whatever they like right? You weren't intending to write a textbook for the future neoconservative speech in the 21st century were you?
Orwell: Neo-who? Are you serious? People are still doing that after my warning! If you tell me next that Americans are falling for it I'm rolling over in this coffin!
I thought something looked funny!
You made a bit of a boo-boo there. That's columnist Kathleen Parker, not K-Lo!
I laughed out loud when I heard her say that. What a load o'crap.
Of course, when the truth isn't on your side (and it rarely is when you're a con), you gotta lie to make your side look good...
Michigan, where the "Democrats are in charge." Uh-huh. I live in western MI, and we have a Democratic governor who did a marvelous job during her first term, dragging the millstone of a Republican state senate and house, trying valiantly to undo the damage wrought by the legislature and eight years of John Engler. The last election brought us a slim majority in the house, but we still have a Republican senate, so it is almost impossible to get anything done. The western part of the state is in incredibly bad shape, even though it is solidly Republican; we are hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs, and those that are left can only be held onto if you are willing to take 15 - 25% wage cuts. The Republican legislature sold out our water rights to the Great Lakes last year, they got rid of most forms of income for the state, and they have aggressively pursued the complete shutdown of the public education system in Michigan. But it's all the fault of Jennifer Granholm and the months-old slim Dem majority in the house. I don't know where Ms. Lopez lives, but if she lives in a red state, she better start looking over her shoulder -- it all catches up to you in the end, and the pugs do such a thorough job of screwing it up, it will take decades to straighten out.
I don't get it. So *WE* can bitch at the Democrats for giving dubya the last couple of war blank checks, but no-one else can? What a bunch of fucking hypocrites "we" are.
"If you look at unemployment rates in this country, there at an all time low: 4%."
And, if you buy that 4% I have a plot of land in Iraq to sell you. Those numbers are so bogus I'm suprised anyone actually looks at them anymore. Especially since the BLS states clearly that they along with the number of jobs created are based on the Birth/death model which means they are mostly hypothetical.
The CPI numbers are even more entertaining and just as bogus. They just simply take out of the count the sectors that are going up in price. Heck, if this keeps up the CPI will consist of only dog poop and they will say "Hey, dog poop hasn't risen in price so there is 0% inflation!" Meanwhile, prices for all other goods are shooting through the roof.
I love it when the 24%-ers try and pin everything on the Democratic Party and "liburals". So the fact that most of our tax dollars in Blue States get used for subsidies in Red States is in no way a sign that maybe the Red Staters are helping to suck our economy dry? Let alone supporting policies that blow billions if not trillions of our dollars on a bloody quagmire that makes us LESS safe. But somehow, a small economic indicator in Michigan (think GM and major car industries... not Democrats there) shows how it is all the Democratic Party's fault. I'm guessing these folks failed their college logic classes.
Some in Congress will tell you that $22 billion is not a lot of money. As business leaders, you know better. As a matter of fact, $22 billion is larger than the annual revenues of most Fortune 500 companies. The $22 billion is only for the first year. With every passing year the number gets bigger and bigger, and so over the next five years the increase in federal spending would add up to $205 billion. -Bush, on why he hates kids
President Bush plans to ask lawmakers next week to approve another massive spending measure — totaling nearly $200 billion — to fund the war through next year, Pentagon officials said.
It shouldn’t take a “CEO President” to figure out that $200 billion is greater than $22 billion.
American can't be expected to stand behind the republicans until they stop sodomizing her. Their idea of leadership is to stand very close behind and thrust, thrust, thrust the country ahead (they call it "going forward").
Just keep that spin coming, repugs, you'll spin yourselves right out of office. He he.
I live in MA, with a Democratic governor and a democratic legislature and our unemployment rate is around 4.4. How about that?
goatsage @ 5:
Look a little closer. The Democrats have not "turned their backs on the progressive movement." But go ahead and vote green, or stay at home or vote for Rudy and then don't bitch about the government you end up with.
Weaseldog @ 17:
Texas a "blue state"?...Come on, No Way Jose. With "good hair job" Perry as Gov. and
both the Senate and House in the hands of the Repigs(especially after the Tom DeLay
redistricting fiasco), Texas remains in the "Red" column; primarily because of the weathly
conservative, right wing folks in Dallas/Houston. The only Blue part of Texas to my
knowledge is here in Austin, where the residents have some brains...
I tend to agree her. The bad times are hitting the blue states. As far as the red states, they're used to being un- or underemployed, not being able to afford real houses, having no social services protection net and not enough cash to fix their teeth. So, yes, when people in the blue states are feeling the pinch, you know things are bad.
She needs to do her homework. The Democratic governor inherited those dismal figures from a reich-winger.
Maybe K-Lo should look at the national debt and see what her "fiscally Conservative" friends, (:lol:, sorry I just chuckle everytime I type that) have added on. When Bush took office in 2001 the national debt stood at roughly:
$5,716,070,587,057.36
Now its at:
$9,053,431,790,817.60
Hell, when Bush leaves office he and his "fiscally Conservative" friends (:lol:) will have doubled the national debt.
K Lo is totally ignorant if she doesn't realize that the governor of a state, or the President, cannot control the economy by himself. They need either the state legislature or the Congress to help pass legislation. The economy in Michigan is bad because the auto industry is in permanent decline - not because the leaders are Deomcrats !
When the economy was good in the 90's, it was the Repug congress & Ronald Reagan's policies that were the cause. With Repugs running everything, it's the Dems' fault?
What kind of convoluted logic is that?
The legacy of Shrub - "Never take responsibility for anything"!
What these wingnuts fail to mention is that the "Blue States" pay for the Red States! Places like Montana & Alaska live off New York & California!
IncatatusForSenate @ 21:
Well said.
I'm also here in western MI...and it's so convenient how the Republicans have forgotten about the ravages brought on by years of John TheChildEater Engler. On top of everything else, our infrastructure is crumbling because taxes have been cut and cut and cut again. Can't imagine why industry keeps leaving...
goatsage @ 5:
I have to agree with you a little...the repubs have gotten us into this mess, and the dems haven't done shit to stop them, save a few halfhearted attempts here and there...For a long time I was waiting for the other shoe to drop....kept thinkin that the dems were gonna do somethin about all this shit that the neo-cons are doin to us and the world...but no...they're just now gettin their backbone...like closing the barn door after all the horses have left....WHERE HAVE YOU FUCKIN DEMS BEEN THESE LAST 6 YEARS?!?! You have totally let the repubs ruin this country...I will vote 3rd party every chance I get, because as bad as this crop of repubs are....you dems are just as bad due to your inability to mobilize against the worst administration in Americas history....thanks alot...next time you vote yourselves a raise, pat yourself on the back, you earned it...assholes!
In Ohio,where Ken Blackwell made sure that the Brothers that didn`t like Bush couldn`t vote (see Greg Palast`s web site for further proof) under Taft(R) we saw thousands of $18 per hr +benifits disappear.Walmart and other pariahs came to the rescue with their rotten goods,rotten wages and no benifits;and this media whore,K-Lo,
thinks things are just ducky because the unemployment rate is around 5%.
Some people need to be bitch slapped,but I won`t say who.Use your imagination.
She's such a POS reich-wing factless loser. She failed to mention the high employment rates in:
KENTUCKY 5.6% (Ernie Fletcher (R))
SOUTH CAROLINA 5.6% (Mark Sanford (R))
MISSISSIPPI 5.9% (Haley Barbour (R))
ALASKA 6.3% (Sarah Palin (R))
ROFL Bush has only been in power for 7 years, but sure blame the Democrats when all else fails.
These people are braindead!!!!
Which candidate from either party has an inspiring economic plan?
NONE
That tells you right off that things are going to get worse before they get better.
This is what a fascist regime does when "dealing" with problems. They point at someone else and say "It's Their fault". The "they" can be any enemy, real or imagined. Just fill in the blank. If all goes well the sheeple are looking at the imagined 'bad guy' expecting them to stop causing the problem or even better, calling for the regime to make them stop. The regime can then ignore the actual problem while solving their own by pledging to get rid of the 'bad guys' who are causing all the trouble. Meanwhile everything stays exactly the same or more likely gets worse. Am I close?
The bush WH has spent more than ALL the previous presidents combined. Think about that for a minute. These people make me sick.
I guess
it still is clinton's
fault
heh...
We might eventually have a recession?
Yeah, the day the Gov publishes numbers based on real world data. So long as the Gov is free to invent economic indexes that are unrelated to reality, we won't have a recession.
We don't torture either, because our definition of torture is undefined.
These hard times are a problem of perception, not reality? I imagine folks sitting in the parlors enjoying ice cold lemonade during the depression said similar things.
If our leadership is in complete denial, then things can only continue to get worse.
I think this is shades of what 2008 will be like. But the Democrats have been in charge for a whole 2 years! So it's THEIR FAULT!
Nancy's impeachment is off the table bullshit fucked everything. That was and is the stupidest thing she could have done.
If you told all the murderers, rapists, bank robbers and such that there will be no consequences for your actions, do you think they would stop or accelerate?
She gave him a "get out of jail free" card and he's using it.
"But neverless, we shall continue to speak for the poor and disadvantaged, and talk to them about all the marvelous things they could do if they were already rich."
Ahhhh!So it`s Kathleen Parker.Well Joe Klein and Andrew Sullivan both seem to think the problem is one of perception.What country do these people live in?Dop they only look at the skewed numbers the Bush gang puts out.
As I continue to say ;short but sweet,but getting longer: Ruthless with No Truth;No Honor.
Some people need to be bitch slapped.Once again,use your imagination
dennis @ 9:
Argh. Advanced sleep deprivation may be leading to early onset Alzheimer's. My apologies.
This woman is lying! The unemployment rates in the US are not at a "all time low." The September 2007 unemployment rate is 4.7%. There were at least 37 months during the Clinton administration where the unemployment rate was below 4.7%! There were five months during 2000 when it was below 4%. I believe the all time low for unemployment rates was set in WWII of about 1-2%.
I believe that people who lie for a living have the effects show up in ill health.
Don't blame the Democrats!
BLAME THE DEMOCRATS AND THE REPUBLICANS
BOTH PARTIES HAVE FAILED US
I'm voting for Ron Paul because he's for a balanced budget and for the abolishment of our fiat currency.
I've read her off and on for years, and she is really not very bright.
The Reslugs just can't ever admit that they have screwed this country and continue to lie and screw us.
she is just another dumba**ed pundit who syas things she knows little about...I'm just curious, how come pundits " know everything about everything"......when will one just say, that's out of my area of in depth knowledge....I'm really just a stenographer...........
Nicole Belle @ 50:
Nicole,
Please don't beat yourself up over a mistake when it's so much easier to re-spin reality. To whit: No, I was right all along. K-Lo is short for Kathleen (Lo IQ) Parker.
That IS the GOP talking point, Right??
When GW came in thanks to the Supreme Court, it was "Since he's the last Pres., It's Clinton's fault!"
Now it's "Hey, the Democrats are the Majority since November! It's their Fault!!!"
Seems they need a new script, but for the 24%'ers, it works.
Besides, The Democrats ARE rolling over on just about every issue...
fascism @ 52:
And he is against the SCHIP program providing health insurance for children...Great guy huh?
"But if you really look, if you want to go looking for problems, you can find them."
Given that her worldview seems to consist of la-la-la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you economics, then it follows she is only looking as far as she needs to support her 'blame the Democrats' position.
The problem is that far too many people take this kind of crap as gospel truth and never fact check on their own. (That's both a problem with education as well as viewing the media as a 'trusted system.')
GOP talking points as fiscal policy is like counting on an expected windfall from Mr. Amajali Nabumamutu, son of the late king of Dooyoutinkimseksi.
Wow, the ignorant Reslugs never get tired of sending their Reslug whores out to lie for them.
Everytime the repugnacans take office the economy tanks. Reagan, major recession, Bush 1, major recession, Bush the idiot, recession started and it will be a barn burner.
ysbaddaden @ 2:
I would like to read that article, can you provide a link or at least the name of the paper?
Thanks.
g
Nicole Belle @ 50:
And too much weed?
g @ 62:
It was two articles in the same issue of the Dallas Morning News last week. My guess was the employment figures was in the front section and the foreclosures in the Business.
Doggiebobo @ 58:
He's also against the FDIC which means during a bank failure we'd be screwed.
Top 10 states in unemployment and their party affliction:
Michigan, 7.4%: Jennifer Granholm - D (US Senators, both Democratic)
Alaska, 6.43%: Sarah Palin - R (US Senators, both Republican)
Mississippi, 5.9%: Haley Barbour - R (US Senators, both Republican)
Ohio, 5.7%: Ted Strickland - D (US Senators, split)
South Carolina, 5.6%: Mark Sanford - R (US Senators, both Republican)
Kentucky 5.6%: Ernie Fletcher - R (US Senators, both Republican)
California, 5.5%: Arnold Schwarzenegger - R (US Senators, both Democratic)
Arkansas, 5.5%: Mike Beebe - D (US Senators, both Democratic)
Oregon, 5.4%: Ted Kulongoski - D (US Senators, split)
Illinois, 5.4%: Rod Blagojevich - D (US Senators, both Democratic)
Totals:
10 states with highest unemployment
5 Republican Governors, 5 Democratic Governors
10 Republican senators, 10 Democratic Senators
Seems just about even to me. Obviously Kathleen Parker hasn't done any research to backup her statements.
liberalNmoderation @ 37:
I agree, they may have a nasty surprize when we don't turn out to vote for Clinton for president. They are playing politics with the war. They could have stopped it, but no, they want it around as an election issue in 2008. Never mind hundreds of Billions of dollars borrowed to continue this war, never mind the hundreds of additional men dying in Iraq. I am so....disapointed in both parties I will only right in Kucinich.
Nicole Belle @ 50:
Pls don't apologize. I've never seen either one of them on TV before.
"So if you’re looking at places where the economy is doing poorly, the Democrats are in charge."
Last time I looked, Georgia was a Red State, and they don't have any water. What's the matter Sonny, no money to fix the infrastructue?
I live in the great state of Michigan and I can tell you why our unemployment is at 7%.
The Big Three, unlike Toyota, engaged in an SUV building and selling orgy that took off earlier this decade that never let up, despite rising gasoline prices, which has made the market for these vehicles tank. Thus the layoffs. Your common, run of the mill Greed prevailed over common sense and vision around the boardroom table. Being a tree-hugger, I don't own an SUV, but I can gaurantee you my next car will be a Prius.
It's not the governors fault that the decision makers at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were so greedy. So the high paying manufacturing jobs have come to an end, and every industry that supported the manufacture of the SUV is suffering or dead. And attached to every sick company is a bevy of workers who used to live well and now are either losing their homes, working at Walmart or Lowes, or moving out of Michigan. I live in an middle class neighborhood. There are several homes that have been repossessed or just plain abandoned in my subdivision. Home values have plummeted. There are members of my family who purchased homes six, seven years ago who now have mortgages that are worth much more than their houses are. And they all have big SUVs parked in their driveways because they're impossible to unload.
Hopefully, we will have leadership in Washington next year that will take our wonderful free market economy and give it the good bitch slapping it so desperately needs and desrves.
eom
Nathan King @ 66:
The Republicans never do the research to back up their statements. They just make things up then its repeated by others as fact. It drives me up the wall....
Michigan....where we have Detroit and all the republican outsourcing of what is left of the automobile industry. Oh hell yes, the Democrats are in charge of that alright.
"So if you’re looking at places where the economy is doing poorly, the Democrats are in charge."
Like Washington state. Dem senators in Congress, Dem gov, Dem legislature and the housing bubble still has not burst. Nor is it likely to, in the current economy, thanks to Microsoft, Boeing and a burgeoning bio-tech industry.
bad bad Dems and their careless money handling.
:roll:
Republicans pay on credit for their programs and tax cuts.
Democrats comein to balance the budget through taxes that should have been paid for as the republicans should have insisted on, but did not.
The republican debt was their after Nixon for Carter, It was there for Clinton after Reagan and Bush Sr.. And now is there for the Democrat that may take the Presidency after Bush Jr.
If we get another Republican in the Presidency in '08 the country will further its debt into bankruptcy.
Bush Jr is the Kenneth Lay of Presidents when it comes to CEO style of running the government.
DISCO INFERNO @ 3:
Sorry but She's a full blown c*nt, and that's a word I rarely use!
What another repug dumb broad.
Where does this bimbo think federal funds come from?
Moon @ 69:
No, it is Bill Clinton's fault that there is a drought in Georgia....and his fault too that the
devastating fires are burning in Malibu and other parts of Calif. snark
Pay attention dummies, Lousiana just through off the yoke.
The party of responsibility. Everything is everyone else's fault.
Tom Smith @ 71:
The Republicans never do the research to back up their statements. They just make things up then its repeated by others as fact. It drives me up the wall....
Me too. And it is the MSM(radio/tv/newprint) who NEVER challenge nor correct the
outlandish misinformation/lies given by the Repigs.
67 dropkick Says:
I agree, they may have a nasty surprize when we don’t turn out to vote for Clinton for president.
Puleeeze. Let's not cut off our noses to spite our faces. I don't want to spend the next eight years with a bunch of lunatics in the Administration. We should try our best to support the candidate we most agree with, but if that choice is not the nominee, staying home from the general election doesn't always accomplish that task either. A few names to remind you why not voting is not an option: Dead Eye Dick, Rummy, Gonzo, Condi "I've accomplished nothing" Rice, and let's not forget John Bolton, plus the Judicial Bench. We are not just electing a President here, we are electing the future of this country.
L.A. Confidential @ 14:
I could never, not in a million years, have come up with a metaphor this apt. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. You nailed it exactly.
Okay,
I have lived in Michigan all my life (31 years) and this is what I have seen. A destruction of solid middle class jobs. First it started in Detroit, then it went to Flint, then it has gone to Lansing, the last big manufacturing town in the state.
The first part of the deal is this. Reagan broke the union. People stopped supporting progressive ideals and unions.
Second, our automakers started "outsourcing" production of components. Chrysler outsources 70% of it's production. They didn't necessarily outsource overseas. They would find smaller local companies like, Kelsey-Hayes/Lucas-Varity/TRW automotive. These smaller companies were not unionized and paid marginal wages compared to the price of the product,i.e. $40 brake drum equaled $9 start pay/$14 top wage. By not unionizing as well, workers were at the mercy of company whim, to hire and fire at will; to deny raises, deny benefits. So wages never grew much. And due to the size of the companies they would either go bankrupt quickly or merged with larger companies and wages were subsequently cut as reorganization occurred. The big 3 also could say a supplier was under performing and without notice cancel a contract. These new suppliers built fancy new buildings outside of Flint, Detroit and Lansing to show off to investors (and fool the public) they were solid companies and received enormous tax breaks and tax rebates where the lost revenue would not equal what was gained in employment (no such thing as a tax break, only a tax shift. This time from corporations to the working class). With all this fancy hiring, people had faith to begin to spend, and prices rose, especially homes.
Then we got a governor that was a prelude to the George Bush regime. He cut all kinds of social programs and continued his assault on taxes on corporations and high income earners. He especially helped home-owners by saying that you could write off property taxes on your primary residence, whatever you chose that to be. He also cut property taxes and shifted the cost to the sales tax.
And then there was NAFTA. This helped everyone who manufactured. Small shops that built washing machines and the like found out either cut wages, move to Mexico, or go bankrupt. Some moved, some chose the other two options.
In 1990, the Lansing paper reported there were 28,000 GM workers in Lansing. Today, they report 6,000.
And then Wal-Mart moved. We have a company here called Meijer, credited for inventing the all in one shopping store; food, clothes,toys, everything. They set up their distribution here in Lansing in the 1960s. Due to the shortage of labor, they had to unionize and hire at comparable wages and benefits to that of the auto companies. Cashiers making $16 an hour. They are very popular due to reasons they should be; good selection/quality, customer service, local company. Now they are being threatened by Wal-Mart. They are struggling to compete. And the workers suffer.
Bush killed the dollar by adding 3 trillion to the debt and Parker blames the Democrats
We have Toyota here in Kentucky. It is non-union but pays well if you can work for $12-13 bucks an hour for the three to four years it takes to get on full-time. We also have the Ford plant in Louisville that is union I believe.....they are closing sections of it every 6 months or so. Ford and Toyota both are feeding from the public trough, and our legislature just voted to give, GIVE 300 million to Peabody coal so that it MAY build a coal gasifacation plant. I thought coal gasification went out in the 70's aaaarrrrgggg gotta go take my meds. Then it's off to Wal-mart were you can make ohhh 7-8 bucks anhour. No wonder my wife and I both work two jobs. May find us both dead before 60 but we sure made some corporations some money!
*also, they cut federal taxes...soooo the state and local taxes have to be raised, right?
Also, Clinton signed NAFTA, after it was initiated and fast-tracked by George Bush Sr, in December before Clinton took office....look it up.
The "unemployment rate" only takes into account people who are receiving unemployment checks. Once their checks run out they are no longer counted as being unemployed.
The "unemployment rate" means nothing in looking at the big picture of those who are unemployed.
I think republicans have some sort of contest going on between
them...to see which one of them can say the most idiotic thing.
Nathan King @ 66:
Excellent research, but you should have included the state legislatures (i.e. who holds the majority in the State Senate and House) instead of the US.
Educated but not brainwashed @ 78:
That's why any politician, regardless of party, who ignores the people should be kicked out.
Blanco was a fixture, and I'm sorry she had a D in front of her name.
Dana @ 88:
They must be tired of herr dubyah winning this contest all the time.
tHeGaMeOfLiFe @ 87:
Exactly...you beat me to it...
"Educated" but not brainwashed @ 78:
R O F L, especially considering the moniker it is using.
And the award goes to . . . . Kathleen Parker for the dumbest words uttered last Sunday! Looking at unemployment rates to determine the health of the economy is like looking only at the stock market to determine how we're doing as a nation. Everybody knows that unemployment numbers are gamed, just as everybody knows that the Dow tells us little more than how the investing class is doing.
Moon @ 81:
Thank you.
These repug trolls crawl from beneath the rocks and backdoor dems all the time.
No matter what the topic is they will through in how bad the dems are. But they fail to understand or believe the repugs are doing the fuck-up dance.
dennis @ 9:
Very well then, let's call this one K-Slow.
What's up with the doooh? expression.
It might be cute if she was 20.
Now she just looks like william krystolnacht in drag with gas.
For someone who lives in VA-DC-MD area, she forgot to mention runaway tax cuts and fiscal failures under governor Jim Gilmore (R) in VA which sagged its economy, which is then balanced and its economy considerably improved under governor Mark Warner (D). Bah !!!
Obviously Kathleen Parker is an idiot.
And no one needs to "really...go looking for problems" in either her reporting or her analysis. It is all too obvious.
What a maroon!
God is that woman detached
Control over MI is split between Dems and Reps. Granholm is Democrat, the legislature is Repbulican. But the larger issue in Michigan is the loss of industrial jobs.
If people buy this woman's "analysis," they's buy anything. She's pretty much speaking to an irrational, ideological minority who have never cared much for facts in the first place.
I think the more we let these out of touch windbags blow their hot air, the better.
Several years ago I suggested that Kathleen Parker stop writing and open a boutique, any kind of boutique. It became both pointless and irritating to read her columns. One of her gripes about the blogs was that there was no supervision. No paying of "dues" to achieve significance as an analyst. I suspect she believes that today. Parker is nothing more than a hall monitor with money and connections.
Rusty Shackleford @ 16:
What, you lettin' Jimmy Carter off the hook? /snark/
Look at Florida. Jeb Bush was in charge. The economy in Florida is imploding.
Dr. Matt @ 89:
Dr. Matt @ 89:
I agree, but I was short on time and the US Senate numbers were easy to compile. Michigan's legislature is split. The Senate is in Republican hands, the House is with the democrats. Alaska has more Republicans in both the state Senate and House, but the status in the Senate is a little strange... some Republicans have joined with Democrats to form the ruling majority (how in the world do I count that?!). I think it's extremely clear that her statement is a complete fabrication without going further. Even in Michigan (which was the state referenced) the Republicans still have a majority in the Senate, so it's not as if the Democrats are in complete control. Plus... as many people have said, certain problems in the auto industry are why Michigan is in such a sorry state. I can't see how that has anything to do with R vs. D's track record on unemployment.
She appears to be saying that the economy is healthy, and if it is not, the Democrats are to blame. That is not only incorrect, it is essentially a straw man argument. Something Bush uses a lot to non-answer a question.
EP3 @ 83:
Interesting. They built a Meijer store in my town here in Illinois, and it seems to be competing with Wally World pretty well. Overall, prices are competitive with Wal-Mart, and the quality is better in my opinion. I much prefer the shopping experience at Meijer, and judging by the half empty parking at Wal-Mart, I think they have made some inroads. Of course, this may not be true at other Meijer locations, but they are doing well here.
I will do almost anything to avoid setting foot in Wal-Mart ever again.........thank goodness for a nice alternative!
Oh so obvious...but oh so appropriate. My apologies to Dan Akroyd.
"Kathleen, you ignorant slut....."
Doggiebobo @ 58:
Yes, but i'll bet money he would not have vetoed it.
What a dope she is.
Dems are in charge, but it's not easy to undo 12 years of Republicant fiscal irresponsibility... funny thing: when Dems are in charge bad things are blamed on them, and good things attributed to their predecessors... when Republicants are in charge, they are credited with good things, and all bad things are blamed on Dems previously in charge...
The American economy has real fundamental problems due to incredibly bad management on a grand scale and that is the best she can come up with.
Hack
Dear god..
What a room full of parasites...
Nary a straight answer or a correct response from any of them... they are all fucking idiotic nut bags.. and that harpy with 30 seconds left of fame just made the rest of them look halfway normal..
There is more then a recession coming you goddamn stupid fucking retarded fellow americans.
Unless we start cracking our asses on finding and implementing alternative sources of energy to supplant the coming oil supply collapse... We are going into the long night.
And we are never getting out of it.
Wake up people...
rduke @ 112:
George Carlin for President!
Was that clip edited or did not one jack-off on that panel say to the WaPo tool, "Hey wait a minute...What did you just say?"
Oh, silly me. Who was there to speak up for truth?....Which six/seven (++) figure talking head?? Nobody there has any idea that its not "perception" but "reality" out here in the trenches.
"What recession?"
"My portfolio's fine."
"Blame the Democrats".
Guillotine!!!
Screw Hardball!!!!
Look at the panel. A Conservative Blond WaPo, a Wall Street Babe, a Centri-Con (a Demo that is so Centrist that he's Conservative, i.e. Joe Klien, Hilliary Clinton), and a gay Conservative blogger.
What do you expect? Not a Progressive in the bunch.
She makes this guy look intelligent:
http://www.eui.eu/Personal/Researchers/malamud/Alfred%20E.%20Neuman%2
In case you were wondering it was Dan Quayle's political inspiration
Alfred E. Neumann.
Gotta love their misrepresantation of broad trends for political purposes. Michigan has been tanking in fits and starts for 30 plus years. A little something called the american auto industry isnt doing so well. Good place to buy a house right now though..heh.
For the Republicans...
Worst Enemy by Deicide
You are not a friend of mine, spare the fucking gospel time
Try to turn the world around, lord's direction has you down
Adolescent intellect, fearful of this crucifix
Is the bliss of what you gain worth a lifetime here in pain?
Every day is nothing new, another bible verse for you
Couldn't deal what life has dealt, it's always blaming someone else
Fool yourself, you think he cares
Contradiction, it is there
Wither from the inside out
Destiny with god in doubt
On the cross he died for sin
Look around, what did he win?
Preach your hell and you will see
You are your worst enemy
The lord is dead, jesus, where have you gone?
Retreat to greed, indeed, you are his son
Prepare for death, confess, is it pretend?
Killing yourselves for god, he is your friend?
All you life a testament, walking ornament of him
Is forgiveness what you need, give in to hymn too easily
Indecision you behold, live in torment as you're told
Sanctify this will of god by everything you've ever done
Will you ever know defeat, blinded by the agony
Never sure of what you feel, the world you live in is not real
Fool yourself, you think he cares
Contradiction it is there
Wither from the inside out
Destiny with god in doubt
On the cross he died for sin
Look around, what did he win?
Preach your hell and you will see
You are your worst enemy
The lord is dead, jesus, where have you gone?
Retreat to greed, indeed, you are his son
Prepare for death, confess, is it pretend?
Killing yourselves for god, he is your friend?
Granholm is struggling to fix what Engler did prior to her coming into office. He did multiple tax cuts, which did not help the state. Granholm also held true this year to not allow the Statehouse to pass a quick-fix budget (not carrying over debt to the following year) that the Republicans have been doing for quite some time.
The sad thing is that working at a Higher Education institution, I hear constantly about having to be leaner; however, we can't be any leaner than we are right now. I am doing the job of three different people so that the money can be put elsewhere and the Republicans don't care.
No wonder you have low unemployment, lower middle classes have to have two jobs to suppoert them...
Dems are in charge big time in NYC and the economy here and the housing market is through the roof, perhaps the strongest in the country. The same for deep blue lee-brul San Francisco and for Boston.
What's in like in red states where the Republicans in charge? Not so good.
This bitch must be on more drugs than Rush Limpballs.
http://theprogressivepost.blogspot.com/2007/10/fuzzy.html
ralph @ 7:
This is where I always pop in with this:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
$9,058,171,492,932.32
The estimated population of the United States is 303,327,080
so each citizen's share of this debt is $29,862.72.
Someone's gotta pay it back. Who do you think that will be? You, your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren, or all of the above, and then some?
That supid Parker bitch has a newspaper collumn that is featured in the right wing rag my town is stuck with.
Most of her rants are just about as unintelligent as that crack.
I was born and raised in a strong middle class family in Michigan. I live in california now. i just got back from detroit visiting my family and friends. they are poor. they have no alternatives for employment because the only game in town is big auto. the state's economy is not (nor was it ever) diverse enough to handle what the big three have done to my home state. people do not want to buy american cars because they suck at fuel efficiency. as far as i know big oil wants detroit to keep on pumping out gas guzzlers. and i'm sure the auto execs with ties and investments in big oil could care less. they're running their buisnesses on the cheap, outsouring everything. all the jobs that kept the state and its middle class afloat are gone. at the side of the roads i witnessed numerous sign holders waving signs for car washes, deals on garden supplies and pet food. they are doing this in 80+ degree weather. my friends are getting laid off left and right and they can barely afford to pay their mortgages and bills. this has nothing to do with democrat jennifer granholm, michigan's first female governor. the state's legislature is riddled with corporate fat cats that keep the poor poor and the rich rich. i would say that the 12 years of governor john engler (fat dutch) and his cronies prior to granholm is what got michigan into such a mess. engler is very good friends with the bushies. his time in office saw pay outs to the big three, construction and dow chemical. they pollute, waste and rob the citizens of their educations, jobs and dignity. granholm cares, she's doint her best fighting the corporatocracy that really runs the state.
She lied.
The lowest unemployment rate was when Clinton was still in office at 3.8% in April of 2000.
The current rate is 4.7%. The lowest unemployment rate Bush has seen was the day he took over from Clinton.
See for yourself at the Bureau of Labor Statistics
did you hear Joe Klien? "Universal health insurance would have a liberating effect" on entreprenours and big business. Truth from a blind hog! He found an acorn there.
Yeah like a trillion dollar war with out raising taxes isn't going to have an adverse affect on the economy. LOL! Oh all in your mind! Really so when did a $18/k Mustang become a $30/k car? hmmm?
"I’m voting for Ron Paul because he’s for a balanced budget and for the abolishment of our fiat currency."
"And he is against the SCHIP program providing health insurance for children…Great guy huh?"
I laugh at your total misunderstanding of a free market. Go ahead, let the federal government run our healthcare, you'll see how well that works out! Just like everything else the federal government does right!!!
Ah wait, nevermind! LOL
Pete Bogs @ 110:
------------
And vice versa. It is all about partisan cheerleading.
I'm from Michigan, unemployed, and Kathleen Parker can go Cheney herself...HARD. I am old enough to remember Engler and the smoking pile of pig plop he turned this state into like some magic show by a street hustler. Don't kid yourself Kathleen, when a Democrat has to clean up Bush's mess that isn't on them, it's on you and all of the neo-con enablers who have sold this country out and turned lady liberty into the streets to turn tricks for your profit and amusement.
People like you give shit a bad name!
Oh yeah...that's it.....right there, baby. Tax me a little more.....YESSS! MMMMM.....feels so goooood....
I'm so tired of these fucking lying whores. Who let them think they could speak for the rest of us?
The pundits cannot be trusted. Period.
Tired stupid bitch. Does she think the rest of us are as stupid as the repugs? Bush barely staunched the flow of his first recession by starting a war. Nothing like a trillion dollars floating around to stimulate something. Even so, he is way negative on the job side. You will hear right wing echo chambers telling you there were 5 million jobs created in this administration. What they don't tell you is that's not a net number. It's the gross number. So if you don't subtract all the jobs lost, then you can say that 5 million people became employed in the last 7 years. Just ignore the jobs lost.
A total of 3.2 million—one in six factory jobs—have disappeared since the start of 2000. Guess which state is a big factory state? Hmmm. That's nothing, the jobs that were "created" in the last 7 years: 1.8 million new jobs in health care, 1.3 million in government, 800,000 jobs were created in construction. That means the lean efficient government that Clinton/Gore handed over was stuffed full of useless repug shit bags. The managed "health" care organizations have been padding their rolls with more useless positions in an attempt to buy a better image when a democratic candidate wins in '08. And guess where those 800K construction jobs are headed now that nobody is building office space or housing anymore. High paying computer and engineering jobs are being sold out to "off shore" (cheap-untrained-indian) companies. So what's left? People selling useless shit made in China to people who have two jobs and 100K in credit card debt. Anyone see the problem with that model?
solid @ 106:
Good for you. Please don't let me confuse you. Many people in my area enjoy shopping Meijer versus Wal-Mart. But over the last 8 years every corner of Lansing has had a Wal-Mart built. Wal-Mart will continue to under-cut Meijer until the wages start to suffer.
VegasRage @ 129:
Well sir, I don't know about Mustangs but before GM stopped making the Camaro, you could get a Z28 for 20k, with the employee discount 18k, which would run as fast as a corvette. Nobody bought them but GM is bringing it back but now it will start at 28k. That's my main example of how GM will redesign a car or bring back a nameplate and tack on thousands for the name.
EP3 @ 83:
IncatatusForSenate @ 21:
You're wrong about one thing-it was 12 years of Engler.
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