Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Or it would be if we had a media in this country that actually reported on the facts rather than the
"controversy"

That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

cameroncrazy1984: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Or it would be if we had a media in this country that actually reported on the facts rather than the
"controversy"

Well evidenced by the reviews of Obama's speech. It was clear and fact-based - they natter on about length and tone and how it "felt."

loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

cameroncrazy1984: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

I thought that was the joke?

If you can't find a job, you're just lazy. If I can't find a job, it's a recession.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

You act like the GOP has not mastered the art of cognitive dissonance.

They dodge facts better than Neo dodges bullets.

loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

It's only news to you due to your inability to read TFA and to understand basic economics.

The Depression has begun?

I_C_Weener: The Depression has begun?

See? Another Republican who has mastered the art of ignoring reality.

meat0918: cameroncrazy1984: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

I thought that was the joke?

If you can't find a job, you're just lazy. If I can't find a job, it's a recession.

For reals.

Actually if you can't find a job it's because you don't want to go into sales. Sore dake.

cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: The Depression has begun?

See? Another Republican who has mastered the art of ignoring reality.

See? Another Democrat who can't take a joke.

timujin: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

It's only news to you due to your inability to read TFA and to understand basic economics.

What? It was a news article. Doesn't that mean the poster to whom you responded was right?

Or were you responding not to the facts, but the tone of the speech?

I_C_Weener: cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: The Depression has begun?

See? Another Republican who has mastered the art of ignoring reality.

See? Another Democrat who can't take a joke.

Oh, I'm sorry that was supposed to be a joke? You better work on your content and delivery.

cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: The Depression has begun?

See? Another Republican who has mastered the art of ignoring reality.

See? Another Democrat who can't take a joke.

Oh, I'm sorry that was supposed to be a joke? You better work on your content and delivery.

And in an election year, you might want to grow a thicker skin and not assume every comment not in lock step with your considerable political opinion on a website is an insult to your oh so mighty intellect.

Or, you know, relax. Try decaf. The economy is recovering. Stop being so negative all the time.

2nd slowest recovery ever! great job! It's not like economies are cyclical. Wait long enough and you can credit any economic plan with recovery.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

The slow part is what they are calling not fine. And most of the people probably agree with them.

cameroncrazy1984: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Or it would be if we had a media in this country that actually reported on the facts rather than the
"controversy"

Republicans only believe approved facts from approved sources. Reality isn't either one of those.

So, what are the odds that someone will spin this as cities and states are only doing better in spite of prezdidents 0bangos policies?

commieprogressive: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

The slow part is what they are calling not fine. And most of the people probably agree with them.

Obviously, the solution is to cut taxes for the rich, spend more on the military, and spend nothing on anything else! THAT will fix America up!

/oh, and lots of legislation about women and their hoo-hahs.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Would you claim a Cancer patient is fine once a tumor shrinks just a tiny bit. After all, the indicators are positive. It doesn't mean the treatment is always working or even working well. Just because indicators are moving in a certain direction does not mean all is hunky dory. Sorry, you don't get to claim that.

commieprogressive: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

The slow part is what they are calling not fine. And most of the people probably agree with them.

Right, but they're not countering with a plan. They're countering with something that economists call a terrible idea, and agree will make things WORSE. That's the issue - no data supports the Republicans, only ideology. Data supports slow growth over shrinkage.

This was clearly a lie, as there was no mention of how many bongos remain to be farted.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

And when has the gop base cared about facts?

loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Maybe if you weren't waiting for the government to hand out jobs you'd be off your fat arse working. Party of Personal Responsibility^TM

Wangiss: meat0918: cameroncrazy1984: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

I thought that was the joke?

If you can't find a job, you're just lazy. If I can't find a job, it's a recession.

For reals.

Actually if you can't find a job it's because you don't want to go into sales. Sore dake.

Telemarketing scams aren't really sales, you know.

MyRandomName: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Would you claim a Cancer patient is fine once a tumor shrinks just a tiny bit. After all, the indicators are positive. It doesn't mean the treatment is always working or even working well. Just because indicators are moving in a certain direction does not mean all is hunky dory. Sorry, you don't get to claim that.

Do you not understand the difference between "getting better" and "all is hunky dory"? Nobody is claiming the latter. Only that improvement is good, and data shows improvement. Also, Romney is suggesting nothing that will even give SLOW improvement.

LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

No it isn't. Your assumptions are facts are relevant to politics, the public is capable of determining the facts and finally Democrats are capable of counterarguments. Each of these assumptions are wrong. The Democrats immediately walked that line back and called it a gaffe. They could have taken it head on with facts as you suggest but as you know, the Democrats are stupid pussies. It is by no means a risky maneuver to put the (D)'s on the defensive on the economy.

I_C_Weener: And in an election year, you might want to grow a thicker skin and not assume every comment not in lock step with your considerable political opinion on a website is an insult to your oh so mighty intellect.

I think he's saying your political opinion has a fat ass.

commieprogressive: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

The slow part is what they are calling not fine. And most of the people probably agree with them.

The "slow" part actually coincides with the "theory" that the Depression Era spending worsened the Depression, or at least extended it. And people do wonder, what if we'd just done it like a band-aid...pulled it off fast and hoped for a quick painful recession instead of a long, drawn out recession/shallow recovery.

But none of that takes into account that the world economy is crumbling and neither Obama, nor Republicans, nor Democrats, nor even Bush have any control over that.

cameroncrazy1984: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

Counter anecdote: my girlfriend's startup business is doing so well that she quit her job last week to work on it full time. Therefore the business climate is well suited for new shoots of growth for all people in all fields.

lennavan: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

No it isn't. Your assumptions are facts are relevant to politics, the public is capable of determining the facts and finally Democrats are capable of counterarguments. Each of these assumptions are wrong. The Democrats immediately walked that line back and called it a gaffe. They could have taken it head on with facts as you suggest but as you know, the Democrats are stupid pussies. It is by no means a risky maneuver to put the (D)'s on the defensive on the economy.

sad but true.

What would stimulate the economy is more tax cuts for job creators and more defense spending.
If we could cut education and infrastructure spending further, that would be great.

Jubeebee: cameroncrazy1984: loveblondieo: That's news to me and the rest of us on unemployment.

Anecdotal evidence is a KIND of evidence, right? Ignore the numbers, we're still in a recession because you can't find a job.

Counter anecdote: my girlfriend's startup business is doing so well that she quit her job last week to work on it full time. Therefore the business climate is well suited for new shoots of growth for all people in all fields.

Counter-supporting argument: My income has quadrupled since Obama became president. The country is doing 4 times as awesome as it ever was!

ghare: commieprogressive: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

The slow part is what they are calling not fine. And most of the people probably agree with them.

Obviously, the solution is to cut taxes for the rich, spend more on the military, and spend nothing on anything else! THAT will fix America up!

/oh, and lots of legislation about women and their hoo-hahs.

That is their thinking. If Romney does get elected, I can't wait to hear him explain the slow growth that he will have since I doubt his policies will fix it.

cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: cameroncrazy1984: I_C_Weener: The Depression has begun?

See? Another Republican who has mastered the art of ignoring reality.

See? Another Democrat who can't take a joke.

Oh, I'm sorry that was supposed to be a joke? You better work on your content and delivery.

People are lining up around the block for his special brand of comedy:

Perception and Reality are two very different things. Only one of them matters in the popularity contest we call a presidential election.

Now we can move on, the economy is no longer a political issue.

gulogulo: I_C_Weener: And in an election year, you might want to grow a thicker skin and not assume every comment not in lock step with your considerable political opinion on a website is an insult to your oh so mighty intellect.

I think he's saying your political opinion has a fat ass.

I am definitely not saying "considerate".

Didn't first-time jobless claims go up by 9,000 this past week?

o5iiawah: Didn't first-time jobless claims go up by 9,000 this past week?

What would it matter if it did? The number, out of the larger context, is rather meaningless. Especially when the larger numbers indicate improvement.

o5iiawah: Didn't first-time jobless claims go up by 9,000 this past week?

Up by 6,000. Down by 9,000 the week prior.

I_C_Weener: gulogulo: I_C_Weener: And in an election year, you might want to grow a thicker skin and not assume every comment not in lock step with your considerable political opinion on a website is an insult to your oh so mighty intellect.

I think he's saying your political opinion has a fat ass.

I am definitely not saying "considerate".

Or considered.

I_C_Weener: But none of that takes into account that the world economy is crumbling

"Crumbling" is not the same as "stagnant". "Crumbling" would come into play if a major European economy like Spain defaulted on its debt, which is pretty unlikely.

The biggest problem that the world is facing is finding a way to stimulate growth.

MyRandomName: 2nd slowest recovery ever! great job! It's not like economies are cyclical. Wait long enough and you can credit any economic plan with recovery.

Or alternately, you can hope for a quick short dramatic event, that pulls the metrics below where they would be fundamentally. Emotion as opposed to physical Supply/Demand interaction. Like maybe like an attack on a American city or something.

Then as the shock wears off, it goes back up to the basic market level, but looks like a recovery. Especially with the "Recession = 2 quarters of contraction) definition. You can still be contracted post trauma compared to pretrauma. But its still an upward trend from the bottom, so you can claim 'the recession is over'.

MyRandomName: 2nd slowest recovery ever! great job! It's not like economies are cyclical. Wait long enough and you can credit any economic plan with recovery.

after the 2nd largest economic collapse in history. Which was caused under the Bush administration.

Sorry but the largest collapse took a much much longer time to recover and got worse because of Hoover.

Lando Lincoln: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

You act like the GOP has not mastered the art of cognitive dissonance.

They dodge facts better than Neo dodges bullets.

In the last month, the biggest GOP supporters at my job have claimed:
Obama has killed oil production in the US.
Obama has killed coal production in the US.
Obama and "the liberals" are responsible for Medicare Part-D.

(another great one from that conversation: always carry a gun with you if you have to travel to Virginia and any state north of that because the Liberals have fired so many cops that all those states are so dangerous crime infested hell holes because the liberals don't want to arrest any criminals and now you can't travel through Virginia and Pennsylvania and New York without getting raped robbed and murdered because of the liberals hating guns)

MyRandomName: LasersHurt: Interesting that the Romney campaign is doubling down on the "the economy isn't fine" line of attack when indicators are all positive, if slow. It's a risky maneuver to put yourself on the opposite side of hard data.

Would you claim a Cancer patient is fine once a tumor shrinks just a tiny bit. After all, the indicators are positive. It doesn't mean the treatment is always working or even working well. Just because indicators are moving in a certain direction does not mean all is hunky dory. Sorry, you don't get to claim that.

Good analogy, lets extend it. When Dr. Obama took over, the tumor was caused by a lack of white blood cells. The tumor was growing at a rate of over half a million cells per month. Ever since Dr. Obama took over and began treatment with a drug that boosts white blood cells to attack the tumor, the tumor has seen 27 straight months of shrinking. This last month the tumor shrank by 69,000 tumor cells.

But there is more to cancer than simply the tumor. Your immune system is a great readout of how you're doing and indeed as we discussed your white blood cells can directly attack and destroy the tumor. Your immune system and your white blood cell count is at record level highs in a good way. Your immune system has never seen these kinds of levels of profits white blood cells in your entire life.

Now tell me, if your white blood cell count is at record high levels yet your tumor isn't shrinking as fast, don't you start to wonder about WTF is going on with your white blood cells? Perhaps the problem isn't with Dr. Obama, he has fixed your white blood cells, perhaps your white blood cells are farked up. So we image and it turns out all of your white blood cells have accumulated elsewhere, like in your fat cats stores, where they could never aid the tumor because your fat cats just holds on to them and stores there forever. Maybe, just maybe we need another type of treatment that forces those white blood cells to locate to the location where they can actually do some good. Maybe we should purify those white blood cells and inject directly into the tumor. Redistribute the white blood cells if you will.

I love that analogy, thanks.

MyRandomName: 2nd slowest recovery ever! great job! It's not like economies are cyclical. Wait long enough and you can credit any economic plan with recovery.


So, now the talking point isn't that the economy is bad, but it's not moving fast enough for your undeclared metric. You should probably advise Romney that he's been lying during his speeches. Or perhaps you should advise the GOP House they aren't doing enough.