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You can't do much about the drought. Nor was that politically motivated. If we stop the exportation of our national resources i.e. coal, NG, and oil, add a couple of new refineries closer to the oil fields vs pushing a pipeline to the gulf we can go a long way to lowering our energy costs. However, theres not a chance in hell those energy companies would do such a thing.
Drought prices won't hit till next year for the most part.
overall since Obama took office food prices are up about 5% on average, 2010 saw some deflation in prices, but 09, 11, and so far in 12 have all seen food price inflation that exceeded the official inflation rate.
Romney said he would fight to see tow separate and peaceful states of Palestine and Israel. In his secretly taped speech he said 'he just doesn't see it' and 'and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.'
What's the problem here? He doesn't see it, it's almost unthinkable to accomplish, but still he's gonna fight for it. I see determination to get a nearly impossible job done. What do you see?
He won't increase the deficit but will build 14 new ships and two subs every year. Where is that money coming from?
The Department of the Navy is, what, 8% of the budget? If he cuts back a bit on the expansion of entitlement programs that already make up more than half of yearly Federal spending, I think that those two goals could easily be achieved simultaneously.
(And defense spending is one of the few Federal stimulus programs I've seen that actually works at keeping manufacturing jobs in the country...)
He said Obama has signed not one trade agreement when Obama has signed three.
He said 'hope' is not a foreign policy agenda but when secretly taped in front of his donors said: "So what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem…and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."
He said that in the 2008 campaign between Obama and McCain that terrorism was never mentioned. It was. Repeatedly in debates, town halls, and rallies.
He won't increase the deficit but will build 14 new ships and two subs every year. Where is that money coming from?
Romney said he would fight to see tow separate and peaceful states of Palestine and Israel. In his secretly taped speech he said 'he just doesn't see it' and 'and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.'
Can a BLS manager support a campaign and do his job honestly? My personal viewpoint is that a supporter should not be involved in an official capacity if it even appears if it can be seen as an impropriety. In this case, Harley Frazis should have been recused from the process.
I respect your view. However, keep in mind that the BLS is not choosing between candidates. It is merely reporting statistics derived from polling information. It is not deciding a court case between two individual claims. And in the case of the BLS, controls are so strict that no one person can doctor the results. To carry it further, USG employees have the right to donate money to candidates and many, many do so. Other political activities may be restricted. If you're interested in what is allowed and not allowed, check out the Hatch Act. Hatch Act Frequently Asked Questions
In any case, would you agree that a BLS manager can support Obama and still do his job honestly?
Credible? It was mentioned on a few news shows, and it's on the following web site: http://freebeacon.com/meet-the-obama-donors-at-the-bls/ While one only contributed $270, but the other contributed $2000 to Obama and $9000 to the DNC over the last three election cycles.
Can a BLS manager support a campaign and do his job honestly? My personal viewpoint is that a supporter should not be involved in an official capacity if it even appears if it can be seen as an impropriety. In this case, Harley Frazis should have been recused from the process.
But CPI w/o energy and food prices is a lie, the cost of living in the US is up because of energy and food prices. No matter how it is sliced, it costs more today than it did last year or the year before etc...
You can't do much about the drought. Nor was that politically motivated. If we stop the exportation of our national resources i.e. coal, NG, and oil, add a couple of new refineries closer to the oil fields vs pushing a pipeline to the gulf we can go a long way to lowering our energy costs. However, theres not a chance in hell those energy companies would do such a thing.
Context: The Presidential Debate, where he was trying to present himself as statesmanlike and trustworthy.
And he did pretty well at it, IMO, while Obama apparently kept his statesmanship under deep cover. I had hoped for more give and take between them and some resolution to their fundamentally different economic approaches. Unfortunately that didn't happen.
I shouldn't have been surprised, however, because I have long suspected that Obama does not fully understand how the economy works. It's not that I am an expert and can see through him. It's that he sounds canned when he addresses economic issues. The telling moment in the debate came for me when he said that corporations get a tax deduction for shipping jobs overseas. Romney called him on it, and instead of arguing, he meekly accepted the rebuke. One has to ask, is there anyone knowledgeable on economic issues who would make such a claim?
Data can be manipulated, I'm the first to admit that. But, adding 10 million to the number of unemployed? Nah.
Really, when you come down to it, the size of the workforce is the determining factor, and it's basically a BLS estimate. If unemployment is 7.8% or 12.3 million out of work, BLS must be setting the total active workforce at 157.6 million (12.3/7.8*100=157.6 m). I think it's higher when the U6 assumptions are factored in, but not by much. In any case, the size of the total workforce is still an estimate, a fairly good one, but big enough that the impact of a small 2% swing in its size to the upside would add 4-5 million to it. When you combine that and the U6 differential, you get
10 million additional unemployed. It's not an unreasonable position to take; it's just not official. So, I don't think it's right to say Romney lied when he suggested the unemployment figure is 10 mil higher than the official 8.1% unemployment rate reflects (at the time of the debate).
But CPI w/o energy and food prices is a lie, the cost of living in the US is up because of energy and food prices. No matter how it is sliced, it costs more today than it did last year or the year before etc...
Be careful with the preconceived notions . . .
Year to date data (Jan-Aug vs. Jan-Aug 2011):
CPI _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ +2.16%
Energy_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ +0.57%
CPI less energy _ _ _ +2.32%
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