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[Mike M]

you are being a little too pessimistic.

We pessemists are never disappointed, only pleasantly surprised.

 

[eznark]

Swing voters mindset...
Is my situation improving? Yes? Keep the guy in office

Likelihood of there being appreciable (or perceived) improvements in peoples economic outlooks by November are slim to slimmer.

 

[Mike M]

Likelihood of there being appreciable (or perceived) improvements in peoples economic outlooks by November are slim to slimmer.

I'm personally way better off than I was when Obama took office. 4 more years!

 

[eznark]

I'm personally way better off than I was when Obama took office. 4 more years!

If enough people are in your situation there certainly will be. Since Obama was elected I got married, built a house and had a kid! Go Barry!!

 

[Blergmeister]

If enough people are in your situation there certainly will be. Since Obama was elected I got married, built a house and had a kid! Go Barry!!

Sounds like you have not reason not invite him to your 30th!

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

You got married, built a house, and had a kid in less than 4 years? What's the rush?

 

[ToxicAdam]

It's the NY Post, so who knows how real it is, but it made me laugh ...

Some Jewish donors are telling fundraisers for Mitt Romney that while they like him, they'd rather open their wallets for the "Jewish candidate," Michele Bachmann, who they don't realize is actually a Lutheran, the New York Post reports.

"Some in Romney's camp have been wondering whether Bachmann and her allies are pushing the 'Jewish' rumor to help their own fund-raising... She has enjoyed strong popularity among Jewish voters and often talks about her stay on a kibbutz during the summer of 1974, when she was a teenager."

Oy vey

 

[Karma Kramer]

Obama has been pretty moderate-right wing in my eyes... he's basically the same old thing, repackaged to please the casual "liberal" audience and to enrage the right wing extremists, which in many ways has brought progress to an even faster stand still. I just know the closer we get to 2012 election the more depressed I will feel, because 90% of you here will support Barack because of fear, not because you really think he is fighting for your principals. But I would love to be proved wrong and see a more determined passionate Obama emerge if he did win his second term.

 

[eznark]

You got married, built a house, and had a kid in less than 4 years? What's the rush?

Rush? Shit. I'm annoyed we aren't on kid #2 yet.

 

[GaimeGuy]

You got married, built a house, and had a kid in less than 4 years? What's the rush?

If he's in his 30s, probably his wife's internal clock.

 

[gcubed]

Likelihood of there being appreciable (or perceived) improvements in peoples economic outlooks by November are slim to slimmer.

Nov 2012? There is a chance. As long as its consistently heading in the right direction he can beat the current crop of candidates running against him

Rush? Shit. I'm annoyed we aren't on kid #2 yet.

completely off topic, has there even be a study showing family sizes of conservative's vs liberals? My own perception would be conservatives have a larger family size. Most of my friends who are liberals have no kids.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Well good luck with the babies. With no babies I'll continue having fun!

 

[Measley]

Obama has been pretty moderate-right wing in my eyes... he's basically the same old thing, repackaged to please the casual "liberal" audience and to enrage the right wing extremists, which in many ways has brought progress to an even faster stand still. I just know the closer we get to 2012 election the more depressed I will feel, because 90% of you here will support Barack because of fear, not because you really think he is fighting for your principals. But I would love to be proved wrong and see a more determined passionate Obama emerge if he did win his second term.

Obama is fighting for my principles. I don't believe in anti-gay amendments, retardation of science and education in favor of religion, and cutting beneficial social programs so the rich can make more money.

 

[eznark]

Nov 2012? There is a chance. As long as its consistently heading in the right direction he can beat the current crop of candidates running against him

At some point the economy needs to start heading in the right direction for it to consistently do so...

completely off topic, has there even be a study showing family sizes of conservative's vs liberals? My own perception would be conservatives have a larger family size. Most of my friends who are liberals have no kids.

I think yes, that study exists. We're holding off not because my wife is a liberal but because she has two marathons and two 24-hour relays she is running in the next couple months. She ran a marathon while (unknowingly) pregnant with our first. It did not go well.

Well good luck with the babies. With no babies I'll continue having fun!

Seeing my amazing daughter learn and grow is truly a daily nightmare that sucks all the joy out of my miserable existence.

 

[Karma Kramer]

Obama is fighting for my principles. I don't believe in anti-gay amendments, retardation of science and education in favor of religion, and cutting beneficial social programs so the rich can make more money.

Lol, you just listed things you don't believe in... way to prove my point.

 

[gcubed]

Obama is fighting for my principles. I don't believe in anti-gay amendments, retardation of science and education in favor of religion, and cutting beneficial social programs so the rich can make more money.

exactly, am i 100% happy with him? No, but even if it was 50% happy with him, it wouldn't outweigh the general idiocy and religious zeal on the right

At some point the economy needs to start heading in the right direction for it to consistently do so...



I think yes, that study exists. We're holding off not because my wife is a liberal but because she has two marathons and two 24-hour relays she is running in the next couple months. She ran a marathon while (unknowingly) pregnant with our first. It did not go well.

well, job losses to job gains (albeit very very very small) is still the right direction

you already have 1 kid, thats 1 more then me and my wife. was just a general observation. Although my wife is at times annoyingly ultra liberal, but that has nothing to do with why we dont have any kids either.

 

[Particle Physicist]

If enough people are in your situation there certainly will be. Since Obama was elected I got married, built a house and had a kid! Go Barry!!

Haha, I also got married, went back to school, and I am now attending medical school! Thank you Obama!!!!!

It's the NY Post, so who knows how real it is, but it made me laugh ...



Oy vey

Yeah... aren't most Jews democrats?

 

[Measley]

Lol, you just listed things you don't believe in... way to prove my point.

Damnit. :-(

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Lol, you just listed things you don't believe in... way to prove my point.

We should all vote en masse for Perry in order to prove to Obama he needed to be more progressive.

 

[Karma Kramer]

Right wing extremism is just a distraction to keep liberals scared. You aren't actually getting your voice heard, you're simply ensuring a continuation of focus on the extremism, to keep the focus away from a failure to lead with progressive policy. Awarding the liberal's cowardice and the GOP's attention whoring. Its a win win for them and a lose lose for you.

This is all my opinion though, if Obama truly is the hope/change you were expecting then please pardon this assumption.

 

[gcubed]

Right wing extremism is just a distraction to keep liberals scared. You aren't actually getting your voice heard, you're simply ensuring a continuation of focus on the extremism, to keep the focus away from a failure to lead with progressive policy. Awarding the liberals cowardice and the GOPs attention whoring.

and my option is....

 

[Measley]

These guys have lost their minds...

Are members of Congress paid enough?

Everyone complains about their job now and then, and members of Congress are no exception.

A few lawmakers have suggested in recent months that despite a $174,000 annual salary, generous health care and pensions, and perks for things like travel and mail, being one of the elite 435 ain't always what it's cracked up to be. And when you calculate the hours they put in, the pay isn't stellar either, they say.

The Florida Capital News reported last week on a speech Steve Southerland, a Republican representative, gave to a retirement community in Tallahassee in which he complained about some of the parts of his new job:

"He said his $174,000 salary is not so much, considering the hours a member of the House puts in, and that he had to sever ties with his family business in Panama City. Southerland also said there are no instant pensions or free health insurance, as some of his constituents often ask him about in Congress.

"'And by the way, did I mention? They're shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?" Southerland told about 125 people in an auditorium at the Westminster Oaks retirement community. "If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks and cutting me off from my family business, I'll just tell you: This job don't mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City.'

"...He added that 'if you took the hours that I work and divided it into my pay,' the $174,000 salary would not seem so high."

Southerland, a freshman, ran a family funeral home business in Panama City and earned about $90,000 before joining Congress in January.

His sentiments were not unlike those expressed by Sean Duffy, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, when he said in March it was a "struggle" to pay his mortgage and student loans with his congressional salary. "At this point, I'm not living high on the hog," Duffy, a father of six, said. (Compared to his colleagues, Duffy is one of the least wealthy members of Congress.)

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/members-congress-paid-enough-165641960.html

Time for term limits.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Sorry, I meant TA.

because all conservatives are the same

 

[eznark]

and my option is....

 

[RustyNails]

Obama has been pretty moderate-right wing in my eyes... he's basically the same old thing, repackaged to please the casual "liberal" audience and to enrage the right wing extremists, which in many ways has brought progress to an even faster stand still. I just know the closer we get to 2012 election the more depressed I will feel, because 90% of you here will support Barack because of fear, not because you really think he is fighting for your principals. But I would love to be proved wrong and see a more determined passionate Obama emerge if he did win his second term.

I'd rather have 4 more years of half assed turd sandwiches, rather than 4 more years of trying to dismantle obamacare/finreg/useless bullshit.

I haven't heard anything from the other side that is a least bit appealing.

 

[gcubed]

i can't vote in my states GOP primary...

 

[ToxicAdam]

Yeah... aren't most Jews democrats?

They are, but there are still a sizable amount that aren't (about 25 percent).

 

[Karma Kramer]

and my option is....

Option is... stand up for what you want. Even if it's un-realistic because of little representation in our government. The GOP sure does a great job of making no compromises on policy, why liberals aren't more enraged by compromises, I don't know. But it's time to get active. You are not at all alone with understanding this, the media does a great job of playing to the GOP's offense, without ever ignoring their irrationality. Rarely do they play offense and propose logical policy with historical evidence to back up its effectiveness. Obama winning a second term won't destroy the GOP, and it won't fix the problems our country faces. Right now we have no options because we keep duping ourselves into thinking electing the democrat will shift the narrative. We have MSNBC talking about Palin all the time and we have Fox News talking about Palin all the time. But where is the liberal maverick that is fighting for extreme progressive ideas and where is his/her coverage? You would think the "liberal" media would want to champion liberal leadership... Why even give someone like Palin coverage at all when everyone already knows what she stands for basically and the liberal audience clearly doesn't benefit from hearing about her latest tour bus stop.

 

[mckmas8808]

Has this been posted? Cause it's quite delicious:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/...-over-Social-Security-and-Medicare?via=blog_1

Why do they say that Romney will use Perry's words to "scare" seniors? They say that as if Perry didn't say what he said. I can see that we will hear the words "scare tactics" a lot this/next year when it comes to Social Security.

Nobody is trying to scare seniors. They are trying to inform them of what Perry would like to do if he had the chance to.

 

[Skiptastic]

If enough people are in your situation there certainly will be. Since Obama was elected I got married, built a house and had a kid! Go Barry!!

This man took hope and change personally.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Why do they say that Romney will use Perry's words to "scare" seniors? They say that as if Perry didn't say what he said. I can see that we will hear the words "scare tactics" a lot this/next year when it comes to Social Security.

Nobody is trying to scare seniors. They are trying to inform them of what Perry would like to do if he had the chance to.

After Ryan's plan was shitcanned nationally, you'd think republicans would chill on all the SS talk; instead they've doubled down. The strategy to turn young people against SS because it "won't be there for them" has not worked; young people are very supportive of SS still. I don't see how a candidate can call SS a "ponzi scheme" and possibly compete in a state like Florida, in the national election or in a primary.

 

[mckmas8808]

Romney would make a big mistake to overplay his hand so soon. No need to get nasty until right before Super Tuesday. Keep letting Perry say dumb things and the left-wing media drive his negatives up. Being a front-runner this early in the process is not really a good thing, to be honest.


If my tea party co-worker already thinks Perry is a loose cannon, wait until the rest of America finds out.

Left wing? You mean main stream media surely right? You don't buy into that left wing media crap do you?

 

[Invisible_Insane]

After Ryan's plan was shitcanned nationally, you'd think republicans would chill on all the SS talk; instead they've doubled down. The strategy to turn young people against SS because it "won't be there for them" has not worked; young people are very supportive of SS still. I don't see how a candidate can call SS a "ponzi scheme" and possibly compete in a state like Florida, in the national election or in a primary.

Simple: you have to steal billions of dollars from it first.

 

[ReBurn]

Why do they say that Romney will use Perry's words to "scare" seniors? They say that as if Perry didn't say what he said. I can see that we will hear the words "scare tactics" a lot this/next year when it comes to Social Security.

Nobody is trying to scare seniors. They are trying to inform them of what Perry would like to do if he had the chance to.

Considering both major parties are using it as leverage to influence the votes of senior citizens I have to agree with you.

It's funny, too, because they all know that actually cutting Social Security is political suicide. Nobody would be able to get away with it, so nobody is going to touch it. Yet the parties love to use it as a way to try to influence public opinion.

 

[mckmas8808]

Option is... stand up for what you want. Even if it's un-realistic because of little representation in our government. The GOP sure does a great job of making no compromises on policy, why liberals aren't more enraged by compromises, I don't know. But it's time to get active. You are not at all alone with understanding this, the media does a great job of playing to the GOP's offense, without ever ignoring their irrationality. Rarely do they play offense and propose logical policy with historical evidence to back up its effectiveness. Obama winning a second term won't destroy the GOP, and it won't fix the problems our country faces. Right now we have no options because we keep duping ourselves into thinking electing the democrat will shift the narrative. We have MSNBC talking about Palin all the time and we have Fox News talking about Palin all the time. But where is the liberal maverick that is fighting for extreme progressive ideas and where is his/her coverage? You would think the "liberal" media would want to champion liberal leadership... Why even give someone like Palin coverage at all when everyone already knows what she stands for basically and the liberal audience clearly doesn't benefit from hearing about her latest tour bus stop.

It's because liberals have always embraced small changes to push the country forward and that includes compromises. Liberals have correctly figured out that getting something is better than getting nothing.

It's when you start getting too close to the getting nothing, when they have correctly started to get pissed off. By flipping the House they will start getting more of what they want. But not voting doesn't get you closer to that. It only makes things worse for liberals.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Left wing? You mean main stream media surely right? You don't buy into that left wing media crap do you?

No, there is clearly a portion of the media that is sympathetic to the left's concerns or will echo their talking points.

--- /// ---

The double-dip is already here.

--- /// ---


The botched ATF gun-running scheme found it's fall guy.

Kenneth Melson, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has been replaced today in wake of the embarrassing illegal gun tracking sting named Operation Fast and Furious. Melson will become senior advisor on forensic science in the Office of Legal Policy, according to a Justice Department release.

No worries. In D.C., you don't really lose your job .. just get shuffled off to another gig or become a lobbyist.

 

[Suikoguy]

Republicans Complain About Cuts to FEMA Hurricane Relief...You Know the Cuts They Wanted

http://crooksandliars.com/sarahburris/gop-complains-cuts-fema-hurricane-reli

How can the president and democrats address such false blaming without seeming petty and not focusing on the economy?

 

[gcubed]

No, there is clearly a portion of the media that is sympathetic to the left's concerns or will echo their talking points.

--- /// ---

The double-dip is already here.

--- /// ---


The botched ATF gun-running scheme found it's fall guy.



No worries. In D.C., you don't really lose your job .. just get shuffled off to another gig or become a lobbyist.

consumer confidence is such a shitty measaurement

 

[ToxicAdam]

consumer confidence is such a shitty measaurement

Probably not a definitive predictor, but definitely a snapshot in time. Especially when large movements happen.

This paper has proposed an empirical assessment of the link between consumer sentiment and consumption expenditures for the United States and the euro area. Overall, the results show that the consumer confidence index can be in certain circumstances a good predictor of consumption.

In particular, out-of-sample evidence shows that the contribution of confidence in explaining consumption expenditures increases when household survey indicators feature large changes, so that confidence indicators can have some increasing predictive power during such episodes. Moreover, there is some evidence of a 'confidence channel' in the international transmission of shock, as U.S. confidence indices lead consumer sentiment in the euro area.

http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1349.pdf

 

[gcubed]

Probably not a definitive predictor, but definitely a snapshot in time. Especially when large movements happen.



http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1349.pdf

maybe when things stabilize, but it can move fast and often, that makes it useless for month to month predictions

 

[GhaleonEB]

No, there is clearly a portion of the media that is sympathetic to the left's concerns or will echo their talking points.

--- /// ---

The double-dip is already here.

--- /// ---


The botched ATF gun-running scheme found it's fall guy.



No worries. In D.C., you don't really lose your job .. just get shuffled off to another gig or become a lobbyist.

Consumer confidence is a coincident indicator, reacting to other indicators (mostly employment releases). In and of itself it's not predictive of anything.

We're screwed, but not because of that.

 

[Clevinger]

Go Barry!!

You sure like calling him Barry, huh.

 

[ToxicAdam]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_of_United_States_presidents

 

[eznark]

You sure like calling him Barry, huh.

I hadn't noticed, but it makes him seem more affable, like Dubya.

It probably makes me a racist or something, I'd imagine.

 

[PhoenixDark]

You sure like calling him Barry, huh.

That was his name before he went all black nationalist on his white grandparents

 

[Big Baybee]

Yea, he went by Barry for a long time.

 

[gcubed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_of_United_States_presidents

No Drama Obama?

meh

 

[mckmas8808]

Looks like the stock market doesn't care about the consumer confidence measures of today. Oil prices are shooting up too. Ugh!

 

[speculawyer]

Looks like the stock market doesn't care about the consumer confidence measures of today. Oil prices are shooting up too. Ugh!

Ugh indeed. I really feel that oil is choking our economy. Anytime things start looking better, the price of oil then goes up. People then have to spend more of their money filling their tanks instead of restaurants, movies, shopping, entertainment, etc. And that gas money mostly leaves the country to pay for the oil.

So we are stuck in wrenching period of adjustment as we try to figure out how to live with more expensive oil. And since people MUST fill their tanks to get to their jobs, that means that we mostly adjust by cutting elsewhere. Some people like to analogize it as a hefty "tax" increase on everyone . . . but it is worse than a tax. With a tax, at least the government puts that money back into our economy.

Edit: The one bright spot could be the oil boom in North Dakota and deepwater Gulf of Mexico. But in the big picture, those are just temporary and only help keep us addicted.


Obama needs to open up ANWR. He needs to kill the "hippies are stopping us from being oil independent" meme. That is the only way people will start addressing the problem seriously. We won't make a serious effort until our backs are up against the wall.

 

[reilo]

Oh yay. I didn't see gas prices change (read: drop) at all in the past two months, and now the cost of oil is going up just in time to for me to feel a new price hike. Wooh.