Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Invisible Jobs

The title refers to the fact that the article made the web version but never appeared in my printed copy.

“We are going to have a very jobless recovery’’

Then it is NOT a RECOVERY!

See
: Economic Recovery Canceled

"White House will tout stimulus; But jobless report may be an issue" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times | August 5, 2009

WASHINGTON - The White House is making a major push this week to convince Americans that President Obama’s policies are helping to bring the nation out of the recession. But a four-letter word - jobs - might well get in the way.

With poll numbers showing that support for Obama’s handling of the economy has declined, the president and other top administration officials - Vice President Joe Biden, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke - will hit the road today in a coordinated show of force.

They will try to make the case, as the president said Saturday in his weekly address, that “in the last few months, the economy has done measurably better than expected.’’

They have some statistics to back them up. Figures released last week showed that the economy contracted more slowly in the second quarter than many economists had expected, a development suggesting that the downturn might be bottoming out. And after a two-year slide, home prices are showing signs of stabilizing in some cities.

It's the same old set of damn lies I report on every day!

But those reports are likely to be overshadowed. Data to be released Friday are expected to show that unemployment, 9.5 percent in June, rose again in July, perhaps to more than 10 percent for the first time since 1983.

For Americans, double-digit unemployment could be a psychological threshold with political ramifications for Obama.

“The problem he is going to have this week and going forward is that we are going to have a very jobless recovery,’’ said Bruce Bartlett, a Treasury official under the first President Bush who has been critical of both Democratic and Republican handling of the economy. “What good does it do you to know the economy is growing if you’re not sharing in that growth through employment?’’

Obama, Biden, and the Cabinet secretaries will try to answer that. Officials say they will make a carefully calibrated pitch intended to convince Americans that the administration inherited an economy in free fall and that its $787 billion stimulus package prevented another Great Depression. They will caution that the road to recovery could be long.

Sorry, but we ain't buying the bullshit anymore. Georgie wrecked it for you!

Related: Obama Looks Backward

“Let’s be very clear on this,’’ said Jared Bernstein, the top economic adviser to Biden. “Stabilizing or carving out a bottom on these trends just means you’re poised for recovery. It doesn’t mean you’re back. That’s a much better place to be in than free fall, but until we see a robust recovery in housing markets, housing prices, in jobs and family income, we’re not anywhere near out of the woods.’’

Tell it to the puke economists that fill my business pages with the recession is over talk.
And the choice of words again.... like a WTC tower on 9/11?

Related:
Biden Passes the Buck Back to Bush

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