Rush & Hannity lying about Unemployment rate Obama inherited

[Bowfinger]

6.8%
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
Dumb & Dumber

Reaganomics

Interesting that you initially included this image, then edited your post to remove it:

Might that be because it shows Obama inherited a dramatically skyrocketing unemployment rate that finally peaked at about 10% a few months after he took office? (Which any reasonable and rational person would acknowledge is not enough time for him to have made much difference.) The rate has been trending downwards ever since then. Not quickly enough or strong enough, to be sure, and I think the Obama administration and Congress have done an inadequate job of addressing unemployment. Nonetheless, the graph you deleted nicely documents that the current unemployment problem was going full bore before Obama took office.

One can legitimately debate how well Obama (and Congress) have dealt with it. One cannot legitimately blame him for causing it.


Edit: I'd also point out that much of the success -- or at least appearance of success -- of "Reaganomics" came from Reagon's spending and borrowing binge. As a percentage of GDP, the federal government under Reagan raised spending (and borrowing) to post-WWII record levels, unmatched until the last couple of years. I always found it interesting how the Reagan cultists cheer him for being such a fiscal god, yet blast Obama for following a similar path. I'll take Blind Partisanship for a trillion, Alex.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Interesting that you initially included this image, then edited your post to remove it:

Might that be because it shows Obama inherited a dramatically skyrocketing unemployment rate that finally peaked at about 10% a few months after he took office? (Which any reasonable and rational person would acknowledge is not enough time for him to have made much difference.) The rate has been trending downwards ever since then. Not quickly enough or strong enough, to be sure, and I think the Obama administration and Congress have done an inadequate job of addressing unemployment. Nonetheless, the graph you deleted nicely documents that the current unemployment problem was going full bore before Obama took office.

No intent to delete...l just accidently messed up the link to the graph...now fixed.

One can legitimately debate how well Obama (and Congress) have dealt with it. One cannot legitimately blame him for causing it.

Agree. BTW...I didn't blame Obama for causing it.

Edit: I'd also point out that much of the success -- or at least appearance of success -- of "Reaganomics" came from Reagon's spending and borrowing binge. As a percentage of GDP, the federal government under Reagan raised spending (and borrowing) to post-WWII record levels, unmatched until the last couple of years. I always found it interesting how the Reagan cultists cheer him for being such a fiscal god, yet blast Obama for following a similar path. I'll take Blind Partisanship for a trillion, Alex.

Again I agree on most all of your points; however, one was effectual and the other not...which was the point of my comparison.

 

[HomerJS]

Here is the facts that you guys seem to ignore:

1. We have now been above 9% unemployed for the longest period since the great depression, 7 months longer than the previous record. Blame Bush for getting us to this point, but blame Obama for us staying here for so long.

2. This is the WORST jobs recovery of any recession since FDR. We are 21 months past peak unemployment and are 1 point below that peak. That is horrible!

Look at history:
Obama peak October 2010 at 10.1%. 21 months later 9.1%

Bush peak March 2003 at 6.3% 20 months later 5.2%

1992 peak was June at 7.8% within 20 months it was at 6.5% and still dropping.

1982 peak December at 10.8% which is higher than Obama's worse. 20 months later: 7.3% a 3 point drop. And you guys say that Reaganomics didn't work...

We can't do 1980 because of the double dip.

1975 peak in may at 9%. 20 months: 7.6%

1961, 7.1% to 5.9%

1958 7.5% to 5.2%

Obama has the worst job recovery record of ANY post WW 2 recession.
His own economic advisor said the best we can do by next election might be 8.5%. That means his entire 4 year term will have been above 7.8% unemployment. By FAR the worst record since FDR.

http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp
numbers by month to 1948

And you are shocked since this is the worst economic recession post WW 2. Damn he couldn't fix in 2.5 years what Republicans took 8 years to break.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

And you are shocked since this is the worst economic recession post WW 2. Damn he couldn't fix in 2.5 years what Republicans took 8 years to break.

...and you act as if Dems were innocent bystanders. Perhaps you should consider reading up a little on what happened and why it happened. Not perfect...but here's a good start.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article8210.html

 

[IGBT]

your obama is going thru his elected responsibility looking thru the rear view mirror. His lack of internal fortitude assures that is all he'll ever do.

 

[Bowfinger]

No intent to delete...l just accidently messed up the link to the graph...now fixed.


Agree. BTW...I didn't blame Obama for causing it.


Again I agree on most all of your points; however, one was effectual and the other not...which was the point of my comparison.

Fair enough, and I agree it's a reasonable question. Why have we had so little job recovery, both compared to Reagan and to other recessions? While I think that's a subject for another thread, there are some obvious differences.

The last time we had such a deep recession, we called it The Great Depression ... and it took many years and WWII to bring back strong employment. There is also a legitimate debate about whether the government spent enough money to fuel recovery given the depth of the recession, and of course whether that money went to the right places.

Finally, there's the whole issue of the fundamental differences in our employment market compared to the Reagan era, given that we have off-shored so much of our economy since those days. As much as I'm concerned about a slow recovery, I'm really concerned about whether we will ever regain the kind of booming middle-class employment we once had. I hope so ... but I'm not optimistic.

 

[soulcougher73]

Ok, Rush is wrong. He screwed up. He is an idiot etc etc etc.

What is the rate today??

Is it higher than when Obama took office?

Has it been higher then 9% for longer than any time since the great depression?

I know. I cant believe Obama would create this financial meltdown we had. How could he let that happen?

Oh right. That was Bush in charge when that all went down. Sorry. My bad for crapping on your post.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

And you are stupid enough to think it's not a result of Bush's Administration?

Presidents get far too much credit and blame. Congress plays a larger part but even more are the economic times we are in. We don't have a tech bubble anymore which is why we have lower revenues and fewer jobs. Sometimes things just suck.

 

[bfdd]

5%? Haven't seen 5% in a LONG LONG TIME. I came into this thread thinking it was around 8% when Obama took over, at least the official numbers.

 

[Fern]

For the record, the average unemployment rate for 2008 was 5.8 percent

^That's in the article the OP linked. Should've been included with the quoted portion of the article to prevent some of the confusion here.

Quoting the '08 average is meaningless and stupid, obviously done for (misleading) effect. Anyone with half decent memory would remember that unemployment at that time was much higher and a topic in the final weeks of the campaigning.

Fern

 

[EagleKeeper]

Also, the labor stats get adjusted a couple of months after they come out. Most times, those numbers make things look worse.

Those may have been what the original Jan numbers release looked like before an upward adjustment.

 

[ProfJohn]

A think-tank of individuals paid by multi-billionaire and ex-Jew Hunter George Soros to go after right-wing pundits.

That is NOT a fair charge at all.

Soros actually helped people escape by warning them not to report.

He may be a crazy liberal, but I am not going to hold what he did at 13 against him.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Bush sideswiped a few telephone poles and guard rails.
Handed the keys to Obama.
Obama then glared in the rear view mirror, cursing Bush for the damages, while plowing through brick walls.

I'd be curious to see what would happen if you had two nations virtually identical, except one was governed purely by liberal economics, and the other by purely conservative economics. Let them operate for a good 50 years or so, and see where they end up at. I know that can't happen but it sure would be interesting.

 

[ProfJohn]

And you are shocked since this is the worst economic recession post WW 2. Damn he couldn't fix in 2.5 years what Republicans took 8 years to break.

Look at what Reagan did.

During Carter's four years the yearly unemployment rate was 5.85% or higher.

Bush's WORST year was 5.99%.

So Reagan took over an economy that had seen 6 years of poor unemployment and was able to turn it around before the end of his first term. (7.2% on election day)

If Obama can't take an economy that was coming off the two best decades of job in history and make some type of progress then he should lose.

Look this graph. Notice how unemployment goes up and then back down at almost the same rate for ever peak.

Now here is the Obama unemployment chart. Notice that there is NO decline, just a flat line.

Finally an even better comparison.
Notice how every other line goes down and then back up at nearly the same rate while the Obama line goes down and stays down.

 

[ProfJohn]

I'd be curious to see what would happen if you had two nations virtually identical, except one was governed purely by liberal economics, and the other by purely conservative economics. Let them operate for a good 50 years or so, and see where they end up at. I know that can't happen but it sure would be interesting.

Europe vs the US for the past 40+ years.

In Europe you get lots of great social polices, but you have less economic growth, less pay and more unemployment.

IN US you have less social 'justice' as they say, but we have better pay, better standard of living, less unemployment and more economic growth.

The US has the highest median income of any large country in the world while generally having the most economic conservative government.

 

[TheSlamma]

Dave.. you really think the people who listen to these guys would ever vote for Obama regardless of lies? Rush could come out and endorse Obama and his listeners would still vote Perry or Bachman

 

[nobodyknows]

Finally an even better comparison.
Notice how every other line goes down and then back up at nearly the same rate while the Obama line goes down and stays down.

I wasn't aware Obama was President in 2007??

 

[Jhhnn]

Look at what Reagan did.

During Carter's four years the yearly unemployment rate was 5.85% or higher.

Bush's WORST year was 5.99%.

So Reagan took over an economy that had seen 6 years of poor unemployment and was able to turn it around before the end of his first term. (7.2% on election day)

If Obama can't take an economy that was coming off the two best decades of job in history and make some type of progress then he should lose.

Look this graph. Notice how unemployment goes up and then back down at almost the same rate for ever peak.

Now here is the Obama unemployment chart. Notice that there is NO decline, just a flat line.

Finally an even better comparison.
Notice how every other line goes down and then back up at nearly the same rate while the Obama line goes down and stays down.

Puff it up, PJ!

Don't forget that unemployment was 10% in 1983, or the massive deficit spending of both Reagan and GWB. Reagan tripled the debt, while GWB merely doubled it...

Neither one was dealing with the aftermath of the greatest credit bubble in the history of finance, bigger than the 1920's, the "Ownership Society!"

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/JOBSHISTORY09.html

Nice try at misrepresentation using facts, or fragments of facts- been taking lessons, or what?

 

[KK]

I wasn't aware Obama was President in 2007??

I guess that chart is too difficult for you. Look at it closer, you'll eventually understand it.

 

[TheSlamma]

Look at what Reagan did.

During Carter's four years the yearly unemployment rate was 5.85% or higher.

Bush's WORST year was 5.99%.[/img]

So how come on your graph that you posted the line goes over the 6% line in 2003? Is my 20/15 vision lying to me?

 

[ProfJohn]

So how come on your graph that you posted the line goes over the 6% line in 2003? Is my 20/15 vision lying to me?

Do you understand what the term "year" means?

Click on the link in that post and look at the data yourself, maybe you can figure it out from that.

 

[dmcowen674]

Dave.. you really think the people who listen to these guys would ever vote for Obama regardless of lies?

That is exactly the problem.

These people are so brainwashed they vote against their own interest even.

It's bad enough they hate the country but to beat up on themselves is a serious mental problem.

 

[Red Dawn]

Presidents get far too much credit and blame. Congress plays a larger part but even more are the economic times we are in. We don't have a tech bubble anymore which is why we have lower revenues and fewer jobs. Sometimes things just suck.

Americas economy turning into one of Service instead of Manufacturing hasn't helped either.