The Obamanation

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by morethanpretty

Economy recovering? No wai not with them stupid dems and Obama in charge...o wait...

See, these naysayers have this Big Bang theory for economic recovery. It should go from disaster to spectacular in 5 months. This slow move towards success is just piddly stuff: it won't add up.

So said the Hare to the Tortoise. By "Hare" I mean...ah well, you know. :p

[TheMercenary]

One month of job improvement still does not equal "millions of jobs". It is all politics folks. It is easy to make promises for things that can't be measured.

http://www.propublica.org/ion/stimul...w-for-sure-520

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

One month of job improvement still does not equal "millions of jobs". It is all politics folks. It is easy to make promises for things that can't be measured.

Its easy to call "game over - you lose" after one quarter of play (or six months into a 18-24 month program)...but its not objective.

[TheMercenary]

Ok, could you please document the number of jobs created that were "shovel ready" since the Stimulus Bill was approved?

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Ok, could you please document the number of jobs created that were "shovel ready" since the Stimulus Bill was approved?

Why,...the game is not over...its not even half time yet.

Objective people withhold judgement until a full picture is available.

And even in the short time to-date, the portions of the program to assist state/local governments and to extend unemployment benefits have had a significant impact.

[TheMercenary]

Because they promised to kick start the economy with "Shovel Ready" jobs.

And they defined it in this way:

The Committee’s Rebuild America proposal establishes aggressive, “shovel-ready” deadlines for the use of the economic recovery funds. These deadlines include a 90-day, use-it-or-lose-it requirement for a percentage of the funds. This aggressive mandate will produce a “quick hit” that will jump-start the economy and create a substantial number of new construction jobs by June.

http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...20projects.pdf

But yet, the jobless rate remains above 9%, and climbing.

Only ideologues and idiots would expect any program to turn the economy around on a dime.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Redux

Only ideologues and idiots would expect any program to turn the economy around on a dime.

This is what The Administration promised, as quoted in their own words. So you think the Obama administration is filled up with "ideologues and idiots"?

Nope...I think they misjudged the extent of the economic downtown and are facing the political consequences from the the ideologues and the idiots who were looking for any excuse to proclaim the program a failure before giving it a chance to fully kick-in.

It is comical how many Republican governors have complained about the program while at the same time handing out checks for projects.

[TheMercenary]

As defined by their short term goal of, "jump-start the economy and create a substantial number of new construction jobs by June", why yes, they have completely failed. To the tune of over 2 million job losses since Jan 09.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Redux

It is comical how many Republican governors have complained about the program while at the same time handing out checks for projects.

Money greases all politics. Another reason for the failure.

[richlevy]

Well, here's one example of change.

American Express and Discover will no longer bill customers who exceed their credit limits, according to company spokespeople. The creditors aren't eliminating the fees because they care about their customers. No, they're providing what American Banker calls "the first concrete examples of how a new law will restrict issuers' abilities to turn a profit." The new CARD Act that Congress passed in May requires consumers to opt-in before they can exceed their credit limits. Since overlimit fees, which can reach $39, aren't very profitable for creditors, they decided to ditch the fees altogether.

Before anyone comes to the defense of the credit card industry, there are two points to be made here. The law merely states that customers have to opt-in. This simply means that like in any normal business relationship, the customer must agree to a service that will cost him or her money. In other words the customer should be able to decide up front whether to have a card denied on each occasion when they are over their limit or be hit with a $39 charge each time, even if they make individual small purchases.

The second is that credit card companies have been lowering credit card limits without adequately informing customers. This means that even customers who diligently track their purchases may be surprised. At at possible $39 for each transaction, it could be a very large surprise.

The law does not prohibit the practice, it merely states that the customer must explicitly agree to the feature.

[TheMercenary]

I am more concerned that they are unilaterally removing an individuals access to previously available credit without notification. Although it should change now it says volumes about the shady business they run.

The credit card "bill of rights" while it could have done more was applauded by nearly all consumer organizations.

"This is probably the strongest piece of consumer legislation to pass Congress in a decade," said Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America.

"That's a big win," said Ed Mierzwinksi of US Public Interest Research Groups. "It gets rid of any 'gotcha" tricks."

"The bill picks up where the Fed's rules leave off, protecting all Americans from unjustified or excessive fees and stopping retroactive interest rate hikes that only bury struggling families in insurmountable debt..." said Lauren Saunders, Managing Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...ill-of-rights/

[TheMercenary]

They did good with that one.