"Corporate profits have risen 58 percent since mid-2009" and "corporate profits set a post World War II record last year."
And it still isn't enough for the money junkies?
We know why the American people are unhappy:
"On Obama’s ‘worst day,’ an opening for Romney" by Matt Viser and Michael Kranish | Globe Staff, June 02, 2012
WASHINGTON - The announcement that the unemployment rate had risen slightly, along with a batch of other largely negative economic news, boosted Mitt Romney’s presidential hopes and may have dealt President Obama the worst day so far in his reelection bid, analysts said Friday.
While the analysts cautioned that the dismal new jobs report and the rise in the unemployment rate from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent might prove to be a blip in a trend line that had been slowly improving for months, it comes as many voters are forming opinions about the race and about Romney’s qualifications to turn around the economy.
If historical trends are a guide, the numbers bode poorly for Obama
unless things turn around by late summer. President Reagan was in
office when the rate reached 10.8 percent, but by this time in Reagan’s
reelection bid, the rate had dropped to 7.4 percent, and he won
reelection.
After a winter in which job gains seemed to be bolstering the president, the report that the US economy produced only 69,000 jobs in May - the poorest showing in a year - surprised most observers and caused fresh worries about a fragile economy. The economic outlook is further complicated by European political and economic strife.
Even more troubling than the unemployment rate for Obama could be this week’s revision in the growth rate of the gross domestic product for the first quarter from 2.2 percent to 1.9 percent.
That means the government lied to you, reader.
A president seeking reelection has historically needed to head into the fall with a GDP growth rate over 3 percent to have a good chance at victory, according to professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia.
“This is Obama’s worst day yet in the 2012 campaign,’’ he said.
Even before the economic numbers were announced, Romney was rising in the polls. The latest Gallup Poll found the race in a statistical tie, with Romney leading by 46 percent to 45 percent. The survey said Obama had a favorability rate of 45 percent, within range of electability. The survey was released Friday and was conducted prior to the unemployment report.
“This will be perceived as bad news today,’’ the Gallup Poll’s director, Frank Newport, said of the unemployment rate. Newport said Obama’s 45 percent favorability rating and other measures show that he still has time to recover. But he said that “if we still have bad news in July’’ and the unemployment rate is not improving, that would not bode well for Obama.
The news caused a split screen of different interpretations, with Democrats pointing to job growth, however small, and Republicans calling the news “devastating,’’ “pathetic,’’ and “a sad new normal.’’
Several hours after the jobs numbers were released, Romney appeared on CNBC in an interview that was so hastily arranged that it was delayed for more than an hour because the news trucks trying to get to Romney were stuck in traffic in Los Angeles....
--more--"
"Obama has few options on recovery; Congress, Europe, China play roles in his decisions" by Jackie Calmes and Nicholas Kulish | New York Times, June 03, 2012
WASHINGTON -His proposed remedies only underscore how much the president,
just five months before he faces voters, is at the mercy of actors in
Europe, China, and Congress whose political interests often conflict
with his....
Times looks like it is calling for a change in leadership.
Developments overseas have not helped either. US officials have complained as Beijing began letting its currency devalue again, making its exports cheaper and those from the United States to China more costly....
In 2008, with the financial system near collapse, most congressional Republicans rejected the rescue plan of a Republican president, George W. Bush.
Not only that, 90% of the AMERICAN PEOPLE DID!
And now, despite their own record-low numbers in the polls, they have next to no incentive to help an embattled Democratic president lift the economy.
Playing f***ing politics with people's very lives.
Continued economic anemia plays to Romney’s call for new stewardship, and to Republicans’ demands to extend and deepen the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans rather than let them expire as Obama and Democrats want.
Then why did Democrats extend them when they had the supermajority and put us in this mess we are in now?
Please, stop it with the s*** political fooleys!
And they figure that if Romney succeeds, it would probably help them win close House and Senate races, while Obama’s reelection could do the opposite.
While Obama seeks to make Republicans the villains when it comes to the economy, he is also, more diplomatically, blaming Europe....
We don't care about blame game anymore because BOTH PARTIES ARE TO BLAME for the condition in which America finds itself.
--more--"
"Rough going for Obama so far; Bad news on jobs and Bill Clinton’s tax talk hit hard" by Tracy Jan | Globe Staff, June 07, 2012
WASHINGTON - It’s just the first week of June and already this month has dealt President Obama a series of setbacks as he struggles to regain footing in what portends to be a tight race.
First came Friday’s dismal jobs report showing the unemployment rate rising for the first time in nearly a year. Then Bill Clinton went off-message on national television, contradicting Obama’s position and endorsing an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, including for the wealthy.
Did he? I mean, George H.W. Bush and the Bush family have endorsed Romney, and they darn near adopted Bill Clinton as a son years ago. Remember George W. and Bill getting together to loot Haitian aid, 'er, raise Haitian aid? Obama also beat out his wife for the nomination. Don't think Bill ain't a little bitter about not having gotten back into the White House?
And consider this: if Obama loses, Hillary is the front-runner for 2016.
Another blow came Tuesday when Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a Republican, survived a recall election.
Yeah, they are looking into that as I type.
“It couldn’t be shakier for the president,’’ said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. “The May jobs numbers undercut the message that he was doing better on the economic front. His main advertising strategy backfired, with Bain Capital.
See: Throwing the Booker at Obama Over Bain
And the recall election dampens the idea that the labor coalition can be as strong as the Democrats are hoping for. It’s a sobering start to the campaign for the Obama administration.’’
See: Supreme Court Justices Delay Check-Up Until June
What kind of insurance do they have?
But if the conservative court throws out all, or a part, of his signature legislative achievement, “it will be a huge black eye for the constitutional lawyer sitting in the White House,’’ said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist.
While any campaign must endure its share of rough patches - just ask Mitt Romney about the days leading up to the South Carolina primary, which he ended up losing to Newt Gingrich - the dreary economic backdrop Obama has had to contend with is expected to cast a pall until November....
It's going to be President Romney, folks. The narrative has been set.
“The combination of a Democratic thumping in Wisconsin and an economy that can’t seem to get off its back has provided an inauspicious start for the president,’’ Ayres said.
Corporations not only off their backs, they are flying high!
Head-to-head polls against Romney, the president’s Republican rival, appear closer than ever. The latest Gallup Poll shows the two candidates in a dead heat, with 46 percent choosing Obama and 45 percent choosing Romney if the election were held today....
Not that it matters, but which one was leading by a point?
Days following an interview in which Clinton called Romney’s business career at Bain Capital “sterling,’’ the former president said Tuesday that extending all Bush tax cuts, including for the upper income, is “probably the best thing to do right now.’’
Obama has proposed allowing cuts for the wealthiest to expire at the end of the year, as scheduled, because the government needs the revenue.
While Clinton expressed the view that a permanent extension, as sought by Republicans, would be an error, he said he had no problem extending all of the tax cuts now until early next year to avoid hurting the economy. A Clinton spokesman later sought to clarify his comments after pressure from the Obama campaign....
Obama raised upward of $3.5 million in New York on Monday when Clinton campaigned alongside him in three star-studded events. During a $40,000 a head fund-raiser....
All that money into politics while the American people suffer.
Walker’s Wisconsin win should not be viewed as devastating given that exit polls show Obama beating Romney in the state 51 percent to 44 percent.
Oh, please, do NOT GET ME STARTED on EXIT POLLS!!
The Wisconsin recall vote’s results point to a deeper problem for Democrats, said Graham Wilson, chairman of the political science department at Boston University.
“One of the most loyal constituencies in terms of providing money and organization and people for Democrats has been unions, but what this vote shows is the [public’s] resentment of public sector unions, even in a traditional pro-union state like Wisconsin,’’ Wilson said....
That maybe the corporate mouthpiece media's narrative; however, I have detected nor do I have anger toward America's heroes.
--more--"
Back to the narrative:
"Romney, GOP pounce after Obama comment" Associated Press, June 09, 2012
WASHINGTON - President Obama made Mitt Romney’s day on Friday by declaring “the private sector is doing fine’’ and opening himself to the accusation that he - not the rich Republican - is the one who is out of touch with reality. Obama quickly clarified his remark, but Republicans already had their teeth in it and weren’t letting go....
Seeking to head off any damage, Obama backpedaled and declared it is
“absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine.’’ While there had
been some “good momentum’’ in the private sector, Obama said, public
sector growth lagged behind, making it imperative that Congress act on
his proposals to hire more teachers and first-responders.
Nearly every day, Obama finds himself having to defend his stewardship of an economy that has struggled to recover from the 2008 economic downturn and pleading with voters to stick with him because, he says, Romney would pursue policies that led to the recession.
We were told it has been in recovery for three year... oh, never f***ing mind!!!!
But on Friday, Obama may have given his rival an opening....
Obama’s comments at a White House news conference were reminiscent of Republican nominee John McCain’s assertion in mid-September 2008 that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong,’’ just as the US economy was melting down. Candidate Obama seized on those comments then. Now, as president, he was getting grief along similar lines.
Bye-bye, Obama.
Romney, holding a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, said Obama’s remark was “defining what it means to be detached and out of touch with the American people.’’ He said the comment “is going to go down in history as an extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding.’’
But while “doing fine’’ is in the eye of the beholder, Obama was correct that the job picture in the private sector is brighter than in the public sector. Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, private companies have added 3.1 million jobs. Largely because of cuts at the state and local level, governments have slashed 601,000 jobs over the same period. According to the government, corporate profits have risen 58 percent since mid-2009.
Did I mention that big banks are booming and oil companies are doing just fine?
Even so, by historical standards, private job gains in the last three months have been weak after such a deep recession.
Obama pressed Congress to enact parts of his jobs agenda, including proposals to help state governments rehire teachers, police officers, and firefighters.
Seconds after Obama made the remark, Republicans circulated the quote on Twitter and Romney seized on it about an hour later after meeting farmers.
--more--"
Does Obama have any free time?
"Dylan, Albright among 13 Medal of Freedom recipients" Bloomberg News, May 30, 2012
WASHINGTON - Music icon Bob Dylan, wearing sunglasses, and Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as secretary of state, were among 13 people awarded the Medal of Freedom Tuesday by President Obama.
Related: The War Criminal Women of Wellesley
Madelaine is the queen.
“What sets these men and women apart is the incredible impact they have had on so many people, not in short, blinding bursts but steadily, over the course of a lifetime,’’ Obama said during a ceremony at the White House. He said that “so many of these people are my heroes individually.’’
The medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor. It is presented to
people for “especially meritorious contributions to the security or
national interests of the US, to world peace, or to cultural or other
significant public or private endeavors.’’
Oh my, I think I'm going to be sick!
Did Obama then drop to his knees and unzip his fly?
Awards were given posthumously to Jan Karski, the Polish officer who provided the world some of the first accounts of the Holocaust, Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, and Gordon Hirabayashi, who protested Japanese-American internment during World War II.
Related: Obama Tells Polish Joke
So what happened, 'bomber, and how was the weed?
--more--"
