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[PhoenixDark]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/09/292080/rnc-chair-blames-obama-for-gop-unpopularity/
...I ...I don't know what to say. Wow

BALDWIN: Hold on, Reince Priebus

lmao why not say Mr. Priebus.

 

[DasRaven]

LOL...let the spin begin!

Begin? When does it stop? I don't even listen to strategists/spinners when they appear anymore, much less party chairs (current or former). You already know their position.

Very good question. I've wondered about this as well.

Some of us are young and dollar cost averaging.

 

[Clevinger]

So how long is this Super Congress/Committee supposed to last? It's here to stay?

 

[mckmas8808]

Why do (normal, everyday) people care about stock prices? The markets had been doing wonderfully for a year, but that had no reflection back out on "main street"--so why do we still watch it as a barometer for general economic strength? Shouldn't growth and unemployment numbers be the real gauge?

Well it does matter if you have some money in a 401k or if you are investing money in particular stocks. It does matter a lot!

But yes a real gauge is unemployment numbers.

 

[gcubed]

Well it does matter if you have some money in a 401k or if you are investing money in particular stocks. It does matter a lot!

But yes a real gauge is unemployment numbers.

if you are younger and have money in a 401k it doesnt.

 

[Vanillalite]

Price gouging!

Yeah so? We all know it happens, but it rarely gets realllly cracked down upon. They've cracked down a few times around where I live when say a hurricane or something was coming, and people tried to profiteer a little bit extra. That got attention, and they cracked down some. Normally though it seems they don't give a fuck.

 

[Vestal]

So how long is this Super Congress/Committee supposed to last? It's here to stay?

They need to file a report by mid December.. after that POOF!

 

[mckmas8808]

if you are younger and have money in a 401k it doesnt.

Well if I'm to believe that the stock market will go up forever maybe it doesn't. But there's no reason to just lose money (on paper) for no reason right?

 

[DasRaven]

So how long is this Super Congress/Committee supposed to last? It's here to stay?

Aug 16: Committee selected
Nov 23: Committee recommendations due & committee dissolved (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Dec 23: Committee recommendations voted on (Merry Christmas!)

 

[mckmas8808]

U.S. to say Syrian President Al-Assad must go!. New Treasury sanctions on regime-tied businesses.

On CNN right now! Change in policy.

 

[Piecake]

Well if I'm to believe that the stock market will go up forever maybe it doesn't. But there's no reason to just lose money (on paper) for no reason right?

Yup, you should totally sell it all so that youll drive the market down further, so I can buy my stocks at a cheaper price

 

[Clevinger]

Aug 16: Committee selected
Nov 23: Committee recommendations due & committee dissolved (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Dec 23: Committee recommendations voted on (Merry Christmas!)

Well, there's a (tiny) silver lining for me.

 

[Jonm1010]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/09/292080/rnc-chair-blames-obama-for-gop-unpopularity/
...I ...I don't know what to say. Wow

The onion couldnt of written it better.

 

[RustyNails]

Max Baucus is going to sink the committee.

 

[unomas]

http://www.dylanratigan.com/2011/08/09/dylan-ratigan-mad-as-hell-his-epic-network-moment/

*STANDING OVATION*

Wow that was good.

Bra "motherfucking" vo!

Couldn't agree more, the financial system in this country is corrupt and broken, and our politicians are bought and paid for. Well said, now when are we going to see stuff like this on our mainstream NBC, CBS, and other bought and paid for news outlets?

 

[DasRaven]

Well, there's a (tiny) silver lining for me.

I'm less optimistic. I think this will institutionalize the "super-committee punt" for all major decisions going forward and each time the trigger presence and effects will be the real battle.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Baucus? Fucking Baucus?

Fuck seniority, put the policy wonk in! Al Franken should be on that committee, not Max Fucking Baucus.

 

[Piecake]

Baucus? Fucking Baucus?

Fuck seniority, put the policy wonk in! Al Franken should be on that committee, not Max Fucking Baucus.

Rep would raise a shit storm over that. I think Klobachar would have been a good pick. Well, pretty much anyone is a better pick than Baucus.

 

[RustyNails]

U.S. to say Syrian President Al-Assad must go!

Most Excellent. Source?

 

[speculawyer]

Aug 16: Committee selected
Nov 23: Committee recommendations due & committee dissolved (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Dec 23: Committee recommendations voted on (Merry Christmas!)

I can't imagine this being anything but another mess. Just more gridlock.

I think the endgame is the guillotine that will fall when that gimmick group fails.

 

[teruterubozu]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/09/292080/rnc-chair-blames-obama-for-gop-unpopularity/
...I ...I don't know what to say. Wow

Wow. I've seen many people explain the same problem in different ways, but this dude knocks it out of the park. This is exactly why Obama is such a colossal disappointment.

 

[Clevinger]

I can't imagine this being anything but another mess. Just more gridlock.

Baucus will break the gridlock.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

U.S. to say Syrian President Al-Assad must go!. New Treasury sanctions on regime-tied businesses.

On CNN right now! Change in policy.

How soon til the bombing begins?

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Most Excellent. Source?

AP Sources: US to tell Assad that he must go

By BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press – 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is preparing to explicitly demand the departure of Syrian President Bashar Assad and hit his regime with tough new sanctions, U.S. officials said Tuesday as the State Department signaled for the first time that American efforts to engage the government are finally over.

The White House is expected to lay out the tougher line by the end of this week, possibly on Thursday, according to officials who said the move will be a direct response to Assad's decision to step up the ruthlessness of the crackdown against pro-reform demonstrators by sending tanks into opposition hotbeds. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.

President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials previously had said Assad has "lost legitimacy" as a leader and that he either had to spearhead a transition to democracy or get out of the way. They had not specifically demanded that he step down. The new formulation will make it clear that Assad can no longer be a credible reformist and should leave power, the officials said.

At the same time, the Treasury Department is expected to expand sanctions against Assad and his inner circle, adding several new companies to a financial blacklist that will freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions and ban Americans from doing business with them, the officials said. They would not identify the firms to be targeted.

Although the officials would only speak anonymously, the State Department on Tuesday telegraphed the planned shift in policy, saying the administration's two-year attempt to work with Assad, pull Syria out of Iran's orbit and transform it into a regional partner for peace and stability is over.

"You can't have any kind of partnership with a regime that does this kind of thing to innocents," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

The assessment in some ways confirms the obvious, coming as Assad's government presses on with a bloody crackdown on Syria's opposition in the face of mounting international pressure. More than 1,700 people have been killed, according to activists.

Yet the bluntness of the message reveals the administration's exasperation with a regime it has tried to reach out to despite a history of tense relations stemming from Syria's close ties to Iran, and the Assad dynasty's support for Shiite militants who have fought Israel and U.S.-backed governments in Lebanon.

Bashar assumed power in 2000, succeeding his late father, Hafez Assad, who had seized control of the country three decades earlier. A trained eye doctor, the son has spent years portraying himself as a reformer while doing little to expand civil freedoms and democracy. The unrest has prompted symbolic concessions from the government, but they've been accompanied by further examples of brutal repression.

Nuland said Obama and his team came into office two years ago seeking to "turn the page and have a fresh start in many places where relations had been difficult."

The policy with regard to Syria has been unpopular with many in Congress. Republicans in particular have assailed Obama's decision to appoint an ambassador to Damascus after a five-year absence, calling it an unwarranted reward for the Assad government's anti-American positions. Their criticism has grown stronger as Syria's violence has continued.

The administration has reacted defensively, insisting that Ambassador Robert Ford was providing valuable information on the tumult across Syria while offering U.S. solidarity with the protesters and an incentive for change to the government — better ties with the United States if it would follow the example of Egypt and begin a democratic transition process.

As Obama put it in May, Assad had the choice to "lead that transition or get out of the way."

Yet he has done neither.

Nuland said the U.S. engagement with Syria was now essentially limited to telling Assad that "what he's doing is disgusting, is abhorrent, is dangerous and is taking his country in the wrong direction."

"In the case of Syria, the message from 2009 was: If you are prepared to open Syria politically, if you are prepared to be a reformer, if you are prepared to work with us on Middle East peace and other issues we share, we can have a new and different kind of partnership," she said. "And that is not the path that Assad chose."

Nuland said it takes two for engagement to yield results.

"If you offer engagement and ... your partner chooses to spend their time and energy repressing and violating the human rights of their own citizens, in any such situation there are limits to what the U.S. can do," she said. "We're seeing it in Syria now."

...

 

[Piecake]

...

ooo, nice. that is one way to get money. Just steal it from Syrian companies!

 

[PhoenixDark]

How soon til the bombing begins?

.

More ME meddling. No fucking thanks

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

.

More ME meddling. No fucking thanks

But we're loved there now. This will be different.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I can guarantee you that Max Baucus will side with the republicans on most issues.

 

[jamesinclair]

I can guarantee you that Max Baucus will side with the republicans on most issues.

Dont worry, the republicans will nominate a moderate that will side with the dems.

Right?

RIGHT?

 

[speculawyer]

http://www.dylanratigan.com/2011/08/09/dylan-ratigan-mad-as-hell-his-epic-network-moment/

*STANDING OVATION*

Wow that was good.

Why are you guys so impressed by that? He just seems to be ranting about some nebulous vast Anti-American conspiracy. But who is it? What exactly is it doing that he doesn't like?

Mere anger and emotion accomplishes nothing.


Edit: Baucaus? YouAreAlreadyDead.gif

 

[DasRaven]

I gave this a bit of thought and Reid's reasonable selections probably fits the Jeffersonian ideal that the Senate is the "cooling saucer" to the House's "hot coffee(or tea if you wish)."
This frees Pelosi to assign Ellison(progressive co-chair, Muslim for the LULZ), Schakowsky(millionaire's tax author), and Frank(economic populist) to the committee.

 

[Vestal]

Why are you guys so impressed by that? He just seems to be ranting about some nebulous vast Anti-American conspiracy. But who is it? What exactly is it doing that he doesn't like?

Mere anger and emotion accomplishes nothing.

.....

What the fuck do you think brought the crash of 2k8?!?! Banks doing things right? Not cooking the books?

 

[speculawyer]

How soon til the bombing begins?

Just as fast as the bombing started in Egypt when Obama said "Mubarak must go."

 

[reilo]

Just as fast as the bombing started in Egypt when Obama said "Mubarak must go."

"Inter-vay-nee-ng"

dot dot dot

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Source

The Labor Department's latest unemployment report offered a small sign of hope, with the nation's jobless rate dipping to 9.1 percent in July. But the new numbers also showed that teen unemployment is still on the rise, now at 25 percent.
Teen Unemployment: A Closer Look

Overall U.S. unemployment is hovering around 9 percent, but the job market is even grimmer for teens. Here's a look at the five highest teen unemployment rates in the country as of June.

District of Columbia — 49 percent

California — 34.6 percent

Georgia — 34.6 percent

Nevada — 34.3 percent

Washington — 33.2 percent

U.S. — 24.5 percent

Source: Employment Policies Institute

Across the country, 16- to 19-year-olds are facing the end of the third summer in a row of unemployment rates above 20 percent. Economists warn that if the trend continues, a generation of young people could face a bleak future in the workforce.

Not Making The Cut

Jacquan Clark, 16, would have liked a job this summer, but he says the competition among his teenage peers is brutal.

"It's like crabs in a barrel," the Washington, D.C., resident says. "We're trying to all get jobs, but we're also pulling each other back because we want the jobs."

The teen unemployment rate is the highest in the nation's capital. In June, it stood at 49 percent, according to the latest figures from the business-backed Employment Policies Institute. Nationwide, that figure is 25 percent, according to the Labor Department's jobs report for July.

Clark applied for jobs through the District's Summer Youth Employment Program, which pays local teens to work in government agencies and local businesses. This summer, the government-funded program placed 14,000 teens in jobs.

But Clark didn't make the cut, and he says that could affect his future.

"I'm going to my senior year, so it's like, how am I supposed to help gather the extra money to go to college?" he says.

The risk is that if [teenagers] miss out on [the summer job experience], they become part of this lost generation ... who never had a chance to get a foothold to take that first step on that career ladder.

- Michael Saltsman, research fellow at Employment Policies Institute

Clark has been volunteering in a youth theater program this summer, earning experience — but no pay. His father, a public safety officer at a Washington, D.C., university, is the only full-time income earner in their family of four. With no summer income, Clark says he's worried about paying for college application fees this fall.

A 'Lost Generation'

Michael Saltsman, a research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute, says teens face a new norm for the summer job search ever since the recession began.

"Someone that started as a [high school] freshman back in, say, 2007 has never known anything other than a job market where they look for work for weeks and haven't been able to find something," Saltsman says.

Saltsman says before the recent recession, the last time teen unemployment ticked above 20 percent was in 1981, but the rate fell below that level just over two years later.

This summer, teens around the country have faced the third summer in a row of teen unemployment above 20 percent — a trend that Saltsman says is likely to continue.
Nineteen-year-old Laquesha Barnes could not find a summer job in Washington, D.C., and decided to volunteer instead.
Enlarge Amanda Steen/NPR

Nineteen-year-old Laquesha Barnes could not find a summer job in Washington, D.C., and decided to volunteer instead.

"It's tempting to look at the teen unemployment rate and sort of shrug and assume that ... the only consequence is that maybe the parents are giving [teenagers] money to go out to the movies this summer instead of the kids earning the money themselves," Saltsman says.

But working a summer job as a teen is not just about earning extra spending money. Saltsman says it's also about learning skills so you can become a good worker later in your adult life.

"The risk is that if [teenagers] miss out on [the summer job experience], they become part of this lost generation of teens who never had a chance to get a foothold to take that first step on that career ladder," Saltsman says.

Studies show the discouraged teenage job seeker can grow up to become a discouraged adult worker who is more likely to be underpaid and even unemployed.

Other Summer Opportunities

Nineteen-year-old Laquesha Barnes of Washington, D.C., says she applied to supermarkets and clothing stores this summer but could not land a job.

"I feel like there are so many young adults and young people who don't want to try to get jobs because they've been turned down so many times," Barnes says.

She says some of her friends are wasting away their summers in front of television and computer screens.

"I wish there were more opportunities, especially for young people," Barnes says.

Instead of working paid jobs, Barnes and Clark used the summer as an opportunity to volunteer with a youth-produced musical organized by City at Peace DC, a local youth development organization. Clark helped to create the sets as a stage crew member, and Barnes performed in the cast.

Barnes may not be working this summer, but she says she doesn't plan to be counted out in the future.​

Why do I think this is a big deal despite not being a teenager? Because as many of you know in order to move out of your parents house when in college you had to get a job to support yourself for books, tuition, and/or rent. However the primary factor in getting a job is experience. And without it your shit out of luck, especially in this work economy.

 

[adamsappel]

I just had a weird telephone survey. It was from some obviously-conservative organization. A lot of the questions concerned Obama's policies towards Israel and the "Ay-rabs." Unfortunately, the questions were worded so hyperbolically that it was either answer pro-Obama, even where I disagreed with the administration, or ascribe to him the most evil of intent. Either he was on the right track, or Israel would be destroyed by Iranian nuclear weapons. Either his policies in regards to China were reasonable, or he was kowtowing to his Chinese financial masters. I did get to say that Rep. Peter King was an idiot, which got a laugh.

 

[Byakuya769]

Having John Kerry on the Super Duper team makes me kinda nervous. Regardless the Bush tax cuts need to end.

Out of that line up KERRY is the one you're worried about?

Why are you guys so impressed by that? He just seems to be ranting about some nebulous vast Anti-American conspiracy. But who is it? What exactly is it doing that he doesn't like?

Mere anger and emotion accomplishes nothing.

Exactly. That contained absolutely no coherent critique or strategy to alleviate the problem.

 

[besada]

Found a nice article for Perry neophytes:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2011-08-01/btl.php

There is much truth in that article, and it warns of pitfalls and assumptions many people will make about Perry.

 

[speculawyer]

So how did all those Socialist Europeans with the nationalized healthcare manage to keep a better credit rating than us 'mericans?

 

[speculawyer]

I just had a weird telephone survey. It was from some obviously-conservative organization. A lot of the questions concerned Obama's policies towards Israel and the "Ay-rabs." Unfortunately, the questions were worded so hyperbolically that it was either answer pro-Obama, even where I disagreed with the administration, or ascribe to him the most evil of intent. Either he was on the right track, or Israel would be destroyed by Iranian nuclear weapons. Either his policies in regards to China were reasonable, or he was kowtowing to his Chinese financial masters. I did get to say that Rep. Peter King was an idiot, which got a laugh.

Is there an election where you live? Either it is push-polling or polling to get results they want to put into an article?

 

[Plinko]

Source




Why do I think this is a big deal despite not being a teenager? Because as many of you know in order to move out of your parents house when in college you had to get a job to support yourself for books, tuition, and/or rent. However the primary factor in getting a job is experience. And without it your shit out of luck, especially in this work economy.

If you're not willing to work in fast food you're probably not going to get a job easily any more. I notice in the article it says she applied at supermarkets and clothing stores, both of which have many college students working.

It is a major problem, though, and will continue to be until these companies who are sitting on hoards of cash finally start spending some.

 

[tokkun]

So how did all those Socialist Europeans with the nationalized healthcare manage to keep a better credit rating than us 'mericans?

Well, I think it bears repeating that the US still has a AAA rating from 2 of the 3 agencies.

A lot of people feel that if the US is downgraded, that it makes no sense for France to have a AAA rating, and if you look at the actual prices of 10-year bonds, investors agree. US bond yields are a full percentage point lower. The US also has a better debt-to-GDP ratio. Not to mention that France is looking down the barrel of having to guarantee a lot of Italian and Spanish debt in the near future.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

Source

Why do I think this is a big deal despite not being a teenager? Because as many of you know in order to move out of your parents house when in college you had to get a job to support yourself for books, tuition, and/or rent. However the primary factor in getting a job is experience. And without it your shit out of luck, especially in this work economy.

Yeah, I'm going off to my third year of college, and these numbers are not surprising. While the "lazy teenager who doesn't want a job" might play into it a bit, I was surprised I managed to get a job this summer, especially since I couldn't during the last two.

 

[gcubed]

Well, I think it bears repeating that the US still has a AAA rating from 2 of the 3 agencies.

A lot of people feel that if the US is downgraded, that it makes no sense for France to have a AAA rating, and if you look at the actual prices of 10-year bonds, investors agree. US bond yields are a full percentage point lower. The US also has a better debt-to-GDP ratio. Not to mention that France is looking down the barrel of having to guarantee a lot of Italian and Spanish debt in the near future.

not only does france have it, but S&P reiterated its AAA rating for France which took it from joke territory to complete trolling territory

 

[Chichikov]

Source




Why do I think this is a big deal despite not being a teenager? Because as many of you know in order to move out of your parents house when in college you had to get a job to support yourself for books, tuition, and/or rent. However the primary factor in getting a job is experience. And without it your shit out of luck, especially in this work economy.

I understand using teenagers unemployment as an indicator for the overall health of the economy given the way our job market is constructed, but on a higher level, I believe that having more teenagers in the workplace is generally not a good thing.

 

[scorcho]

i don't know. having a growing glut of teenagers, especially those from already economically depressed households, unable to find work and growing further disenchanted about their prospects could certainly lead to an uptick in crime or violence.

 

[speculawyer]

not only does france have it, but S&P reiterated its AAA rating for France which took it from joke territory to complete trolling territory

Yeah, France is the one that stuck out to me too.

 

[Byakuya769]

i don't know. having a growing glut of teenagers, especially those from already economically depressed households, unable to find work and growing further disenchanted about their prospects could certainly lead to an uptick in crime or violence.

UK might be a good example of this right now.

 

[speculawyer]

i don't know. having a growing glut of teenagers, especially those from already economically depressed households, unable to find work and growing further disenchanted about their prospects could certainly lead to an uptick in crime or violence.

That describes the Arab spring. So, good can arise from it sometimes.

UK might be a good example of this right now.

Or bad.

 

[scorcho]

you can also point back to the French riots from several years ago that were concentrated in economically depressed minority communities. that certainly highlighted the failures of French integration policies.