Tax cuts must be working, the jobless rate has fallen to 8.9%.

The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.9 percent in February, the lowest in almost two years, and employers added 192,000 jobs in a sign of growing confidence in the recovery.The increase in payrolls partly reflected a return to more seasonable weather and followed a 63,000 gain in January, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists was for an addition of 196,000 jobs last month.

Manufacturing, construction and transportation were among industries adding workers, underscoring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s testimony to Congress this week that there are “grounds for optimism” about improvements in the labor market. Employment growth is giving Americans the means to keep spending at retailers such as J.C. Penney Co. andMacy’s Inc. (M)

Tax cuts must be working, the jobless rate has fallen to 8.9%.

Even the hypocritical republicans haven't tried to take credit for this. If the tax cuts to the wealthy helped create jobs then since the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 we would have seen that. Instead during bush's regime we went from 4.1% to 8% unemployement before bush's disastrous economic policies combined with wall street greed took us to a 9.8% unemployment.

Now that Obama's economic policies and payroll tax cuts to the working people, among other things, has had a chance to take effect, it's working.

Great job, Obama, keep up the good work.

And BTW, the republican's economic policy relying heavily on spending cuts would destroy this fragile recovery and cause the loss of 700,000 jobs. They had absolutely nothing to do with this recovery and everything to do with the crisis.

A new Rasmussen poll in Wisconsin shows Governor Scott Walker, who won with 52% of the vote just four months ago, has become incredibly unpopular, with 57% of likely Wisconsin voters disapproving of Walker. And that's Rasmussen, the most Republican leaning polling outfit on earth!

48% of these voters strongly disapprove of him, while only 43% approve of the job Walker has done. This may be one of the most dramatic reversals in public opinion we've ever seen.

Jon Terbush of TPM reports that almost 80% of public union members disapprove of the Governors strong-arm approach to governance. 67% of families with children in school disapprove, with 54% disapproving strongly.

I have felt that this would be a victory for Unions and for Democrats, but I am shocked by how fast Governor Walker's political ship is sinking.

If you must post, stay on topic, and keep the personal insults to yourself so the moderators don't have to close another thread. Thank you.

If you must post, stay on topic, and keep the personal insults to yourself so the moderators don't have to close another thread. Thank you.

If you're talking to me about insults you need to follow you own advice. As to the subjects of my posts - I will feel free to post about the topics I choose. Last time I checked moderators didn't lock threads just for people going off topic.

Actually I spoke too soon.

Republicans Take Credit for Jobs Report

By: David Dayen Friday March 4, 2011 10:36 am

It was inevitable and not really even worth rebutting that Republicans are somehow taking credit for today's decent February jobs report. Before I introduce you to their argument, let's go over the three (3) bills that have passed since Republicans came into control of the House:

1) renaming a courthouse in Arizona after John Roll, who was murdered in the Tuscon shooting;

2) extending the Patriot Act for 90 days;

3) extending government funding for two weeks, with $4 billion in cuts added.

Now, the third one happened this week, so it wouldn't have any impact on February jobs numbers. So unless an army of 100,000 people are changing the nameplates on that Arizona courthouse, and the other 100,000 are busily employed getting wiretaps on US citizens, Republican "credit" is totally bogus.

But you see, their argument isn't based on any legislation passed, but just a feeling. This is from Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Republican conference:

The improvement in our nation's jobs report is welcome news and demonstrates the resilience of the free enterprise economy in spite of the onslaught of the Democrats' big government agenda. But the real question is why is it taking so long and why is the recovery so weak? The modest improvement can be attributed to two factors the free-market economy is slowly moving toward a recovery from this deep recession, and

with Republicans controlling one lever of the lawmaking powers, job creators know the upper limits of the Democrats' legislative pain is behind them.

Nothing can be more uncertain than what Republicans have put the economy through over the past month. They waited until the final days to extend the government's funding, and then did so only for two weeks. Nobody knows how things will turn out after March 18. They haven't given too much certainty about raising the debt limit, which could cause a financial catastrophe. They want to block implementation of the health care law, which has a massive impact on businesses and creates significant uncertainty about what their costs as employers will end up being. Same with the effort to block EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. It wasn't so long ago like months when uncertainty was seen as a the biggest obstacle for job creation. Republicans ushered in a whole mess of it.

But, House Speaker John Boehner says, it was the tax cut deal that really stopped the bleeding here, and brought certainty to job creators. Those would be the tax cuts which expire again in less than two years (some of them in less than a year, actually).

But Boehner actually gives the credit to "the American voters" for forcing the tax cut deal forward. OK, it's at least a little more modest. But let me then ask another question. The American voters have no interest in massive near-term budget cuts, not when you ask them about specifics. This has been polled time and time again with the same result. Yet the House GOP plan would cut those budget items in the near term, risking hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.

So when those cuts kick in, will Boehner take credit on behalf of the American voters, who told him and his colleagues in no uncertain terms that they didn't want them, or the economic fallout that resulted from them?

Somehow, I think not.

If you're talking to me about insults you need to follow you own advice. As to the subjects of my posts - I will feel free to post about the topics I choose. Last time I checked moderators didn't lock threads just for people going off topic.

IF? You insulted me personally on the the WI thread, and then the mods shut it down. So yeah I'm talking to you. As to the subject of your post's it makes for a much cleaner forum if we all try to stay on topic, so just start a new thread. It's not that hard.

IF? You insulted me personally on the the WI thread, and then the mods shut it down. So yeah I'm talking to you. As to the subject of your post's it makes for a much cleaner forum if we all try to stay on topic, so just start a new thread. It's not that hard.

You're acting like a 16 year old

The crap you're spewing

You sound ignorant

You are sadder with every post

You screwed up

WTF is wrong with you. Get over yourself

You are an elitist of epic proportions

You have zero class whatsoever

The above are your insults to me personally but I didn't report you. I guess I hurt your feeling and you reported me.:sad: Boo hoo.

Well have fun arguing with yourself.

Its not the governments yay for jobs because they are sucking taxpayers money every single day. Its the companies at hands ability to hire new workers because of personal gain in the company. I dont see why everyone thinks the politicians are handleing business and creating jobs. They are all sitting on their asses collecting a large salary, take weeks off whenever they want and dont pay for healthcare or social security. Maybe just maybe the economy would blossom if their sorry asses would start contributing instead of taking away from americans.

You're acting like a 16 year old

The crap you're spewing

You sound ignorant

You are sadder with every post

You screwed up

WTF is wrong with you. Get over yourself

You are an elitist of epic proportions

You have zero class whatsoever

The above are your insults to me personally but I didn't report you. I guess I hurt your feeling and you reported me.:sad: Boo hoo.

Well have fun arguing with yourself.

I didn't report anything. However you may notice many of the threads you post in in the off topic section get closed, often because when people don't buy into your view of how you believe the world should work you get angry and start calling people names and claiming they aren't as intelligent as you are. It's a very typical liberal mindset, people who don't see your way just plain aren't smart enough to know what's best for them. That's called elitism. And it's an epidemic of the liberal and democrats of this country. Nancy Pelosi is a great example of an elitist who thinks the masses are too dumb to know what's best for them, so she must tell us what is best, even if we don't want it.

Typical republican! I read in the paper yesterday that Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett is cutting the healthcare plan for the poor(I cant remember what its called), he's also cutting education funds. We are supposedly behind other countries when it comes to education, math, science I believe.

Also, one of the people who hang out at the 7-11 I always talk about(republican), his 28 year old son had a heart transplant recently and is doing well but Im wondering how he will earn a living, Im sure he wont be working for a long time and seeing how he's republican Im sure he wont accept any handouts or government assistance!

Also, one of the other guys who hang out there told me he needed some plumbing work(when he found out that Im a plumber) and asked me if I would cut him a break! I told him "sure, Im a dem and handouts are what we do. The last time I saw him he was coming out while I was going in, we met at the doors and he acted like he didnt see me. (he's the guy who came in one night going off about Obama, calling him the N-word(he's in his 60s)and I asked him which taxes Obama raised on him and I asked him ton tell me one thing Bush did that helped him, his answer was "he protected us after 9-11!", I told him if Bush protected us there would be no 9-11!

Hey 99, you cant deny the economy is looking better and we've come a long way since Bush, I mean 2008! I cracks me up, you guys come on here with your Obama, black man, dem hateing ways trying to spew your garbage, the proof is all asround you everyday and you cant deny it! I've been in business for 5-6 years an have never been busier than I am now, and Im doing alot of big jobs involving alot of money, people are spending. 200,000 jobs in Feb. Growing confidence in our economy! But of course the worst thing that could happen to you reps is that a BLACK, dem pres turns Bush's mess around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You say your a fireman who makes over $100,000 a year, so thats why Calif is bankrupt, they pay you to post on the computer all day!

Typical republican! I read in the paper yesterday that Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett is cutting the healthcare plan for the poor(I cant remember what its called), he's also cutting education funds. We are supposedly behind other countries when it comes to education, math, science I believe.

Also, one of the people who hang out at the 7-11 I always talk about(republican), his 28 year old son had a heart transplant recently and is doing well but Im wondering how he will earn a living, Im sure he wont be working for a long time and seeing how he's republican Im sure he wont accept any handouts or government assistance!

Also, one of the other guys who hang out there told me he needed some plumbing work(when he found out that Im a plumber) and asked me if I would cut him a break! I told him "sure, Im a dem and handouts are what we do. The last time I saw him he was coming out while I was going in, we met at the doors and he acted like he didnt see me. (he's the guy who came in one night going off about Obama, calling him the N-word(he's in his 60s)and I asked him which taxes Obama raised on him and I asked him ton tell me one thing Bush did that helped him, his answer was "he protected us after 9-11!", I told him if Bush protected us there would be no 9-11!

Hey 99, you cant deny the economy is looking better and we've come a long way since Bush, I mean 2008! I cracks me up, you guys come on here with your Obama, black man, dem hateing ways trying to spew your garbage, the proof is all asround you everyday and you cant deny it! I've been in business for 5-6 years an have never been busier than I am now, and Im doing alot of big jobs involving alot of money, people are spending. 200,000 jobs in Feb. Growing confidence in our economy! But of course the worst thing that could happen to you reps is that a BLACK, dem pres turns Bush's mess around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, that's almost completely incoherent. But I'll try. When have I ever said anything about not liking bo because he's black? The black card is played by one side, and one side only, the left. No one on the right cares(no one credible anyways, there are always loons out there) that he is black, hell, he's as much white as he is black. Your generalizations show your bias, as I don't hate everything the dems have to say, though I don't agree with much of it. And the topic of this thread is about the economy doing better, so I don't know what that whole last paragraph you wrote is about.

As for California being broke. It has much more to do with us having the largest illegal immigrant population of any state, and all the democrats in this state giving everything to them for free, than it has to do with fire and police, who work very hard for the money they make. And by the way, my department is the 4th lowest paid department in the state, and that is only because when the SPB looked at it, they included the extra day a week we work that no other department in the state works, and they added a day of voluntary overtime, just to meet what other's make on straight time alone, and we're still 4TH LOWEST overall. What do you think firefighters should make? I think we are paid decently, considering I never know if I'll ever get to see my wife and family again every day I go to work. I lay my life on the line for complete strangers every day, to me, that's worth a good salary. And I rarely here people complain about our salaries. Our benefits and retirement? That's another question altogether. And another reason CA is going broke. They can't afford to pay our inflated pensions that the unions decided we need. So I guess the real answer as to why CA is broke is a combination of unions, illegals, and high corporate tax rates that have chased billions of dollars in tax revenue out of the state.

Also fwiw I only post on my computer after 5p.m. or on my days off.

Also, one of the people who hang out at the 7-11 I always talk about(republican), his 28 year old son had a heart transplant recently and is doing well but Im wondering how he will earn a living, Im sure he wont be working for a long time and seeing how he's republican Im sure he wont accept any handouts or government assistance!

I suppose he could just be a good solid responsible person, and has an emergency fund set aside in case of a situation like this that allows him to live without working for several months. Or he could some AFLAC and be getting money that way. You assume that no one is responsible, but for all you know, this 28 year old could have a good head on his shoulders and is prepared. You know, responsible, and accountable. Just a thought.

I suppose he could just be a good solid responsible person, and has an emergency fund set aside in case of a situation like this that allows him to live without working for several months. Or he could some AFLAC and be getting money that way. You assume that no one is responsible, but for all you know, this 28 year old could have a good head on his shoulders and is prepared. You know, responsible, and accountable. Just a thought.

As far as firefighters and police I was kidding with you, I dont begrudge people the opportunity to make as much money as possible, especially these groups who do put their(your) lives on the line everyday and thankyou.

if you didnt have the union you would be lucky to make half of what you are and your retirement wlouldnt be as nice as it probably is now.

I also wasnt refrerring to you about Obama being black, reps in general(not all,. there are also dems who dont like him for this reason). Im baseing my opinion of reps on people where I live, I hear it everyday, the N-word!

Maybe Cali is broke because the rep governor you had had no clue!

I would just once like to hear a rep say wall street is to blame. There is a 15-30 dollar markup on every barrel of oil coming into this country because of future pricing index which goes to wall street, gas is going skyhigh even though reserves are at their highest in years! A bottle of Ocean Spray juice here is $4.69, rediculous! (used as example because I bought juice for my kids). Noone will do anything(dem or rep) because wall street firms are the biggest campaign contributors to both parties! (I also cant argue about dems because Cali has the most stringent regulations on everything (EPA) which I also believe is really killing this country and especially Cali! (All these industry killers are supported by dems.

I also hope there is some sort of help for the heart transplant guy because in this country we deserve help! Until the day we stop helping other countries, our people deserve help first.

My point wasnt about him, it was about reps in general, its a handout until they need it!

On another note Im sure you probably heard about the fire in Pennsylvania that killed 7 children. The mother was outside the house milking cows while the father was asleep in his truck a mile away because he was tired from delivering milk! The fishy part to me is, a mile away, why didnt he just go home if he was tired? I believe more will come out and this story will end up even more tragic, just a hunch! (Oh, Pennsylvania isnt all farms and cows, even though every story from here usually involves both) sorry, felt I had to explain).

As far as firefighters and police I was kidding with you, I dont begrudge people the opportunity to make as much money as possible, especially these groups who do put their(your) lives on the line everyday and thankyou.

if you didnt have the union you would be lucky to make half of what you are and your retirement wlouldnt be as nice as it probably is now.

I also wasnt refrerring to you about Obama being black, reps in general(not all,. there are also dems who dont like him for this reason). Im baseing my opinion of reps on people where I live, I hear it everyday, the N-word!

Maybe Cali is broke because the rep governor you had had no clue!

I would just once like to hear a rep say wall street is to blame. There is a 15-30 dollar markup on every barrel of oil coming into this country because of future pricing index which goes to wall street, gas is going skyhigh even though reserves are at their highest in years! A bottle of Ocean Spray juice here is $4.69, rediculous! (used as example because I bought juice for my kids). Noone will do anything(dem or rep) because wall street firms are the biggest campaign contributors to both parties! (I also cant argue about dems because Cali has the most stringent regulations on everything (EPA) which I also believe is really killing this country and especially Cali! (All these industry killers are supported by dems.

I also hope there is some sort of help for the heart transplant guy because in this country we deserve help! Until the day we stop helping other countries, our people deserve help first.

My point wasnt about him, it was about reps in general, its a handout until they need it!

On another note Im sure you probably heard about the fire in Pennsylvania that killed 7 children. The mother was outside the house milking cows while the father was asleep in his truck a mile away because he was tired from delivering milk! The fishy part to me is, a mile away, why didnt he just go home if he was tired? I believe more will come out and this story will end up even more tragic, just a hunch! (Oh, Pennsylvania isnt all farms and cows, even though every story from here usually involves both) sorry, felt I had to explain).

Contrary to what some people who frequent this section of LBT will have you believe, I agree wall street is destructive, especially with this oil situation that is going on, oil futures are outrageous, and while I'm in favor of minimal government(which again contrary to what certain posters say doesn't mean NO government it means limited to certain areas) there are certain aspects that need oversight, and obviously oil futures, which HUGELY affect the whole country, should be one these aspects. Their greed with oil could single handedly put us back in a recession. Oil directly affects the price of everything, food, clothes, luxury items etc. etc. So IMO this is an area that could use some oversight. Or they could just do what they did in '08 and make the price of trading futures too expensive to be profitable, that was the reason for the oil price crash then.

CA may have had "Republican" governor, but only in the sense that he had an R next to his name. For Christ's sake he's married to a Kennedy(technically a Shriver, but it's the same thing). And we are overwhelmed with democrat senators, and they fully back all the EPA mandates that have put a strangle hold on business in this state. As well as like I said before the sky high corporate taxes here. For example, the state just voted in a law that mandated all commercial diesel engine's be fitted with a special filtration system that costs around $20k per vehicle to retrofit, it has already put several trucking companies out of business and many more are struggling and will probably fail before it's all said and done because of this mandate, which now we have learned that the scientist behind it has phony credentials, and the "peer review" process was him and his partner reading each other's studies. And once all this was proved, the state decided they didn't care that the guy wasn't really a scientist, and that the papers weren't peer reviewed, it was still good enough, all the while "middle class" people are losing their jobs and their lively hoods thanks to democrats. Unions in CA have also forced many businesses out. My uncle's pipe fitting company was one of them. His family had owned a pipe fitting company since the 70's and during the 90's decided to allow the employees to unionize. Well your a plumber so you know what prevailing wage is, and having to pay prevailing wage to all these guys left almost 0 profit at the end of the day and my uncle finally shut down the business in 2005 because he was making no money. And the kicker to it all was the union told him if he fired everyone they would sue him, so he just quit taking jobs, and eventually everyone quit and he was able to close down the business without being sued by the union. A family business that had been around for 40 years, forced out of business by unions. That's looking out for middle class America isn't it?

I did hear about the fire in PA, very sad, I don't really know the details though, I've ben to my fair share of fires where children have died, and it's the worst thing I've ever experienced. To be perfectly honest I could see a guy with that many kids and a hectic farm waiting for him at home stopping on the side of the road for some quite time though. I guess time will tell, they said on the news the family used a propane heater inside the house sometimes, I've also been to plenty of fire's that started like that. Also my father was from Pottstown PA, and I spent a lot of time in my childhood out there so I'm familiar with the landscape. To be honest though, my father grew up on a farm, and my uncle lives somewhere in Lancaster County between two amish farms lol, but I am familiar with the none farm areas of PA as well.