I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange
Comments
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And Mrs. Romney is right up there with him on that weathervane! From Faux Noise:Appearing on America’s Newsroom this morning, Ann Romney told host Martha MacCallum that the Obama campaign has acted in poor sportsmanship for labeling her husband a liar following his debate victory last week.Asked what she thinks of the recent charges that Mitt Romney lied his way through the debate, the GOP candidate’s wife responded: “Lied about what? This is something he’s been saying all along. This is what he believes. This is his policy. This is his statement.”She then likened the Obama campaign’s post-debate reaction to a sore loser on the playground: “It’s sort of like someone in the sandbox that lost the game and they are going to kick sand in someone’s face and say, ‘You liar.’ They lost and now they are just going to say, okay, we didn’t like the game.”“To me, it’s poor sportsmanship,” she added.------------------------- Gee Ann -- project much???
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You know, Kam, I always thought that Huntsman was really the Republican Party's biggest threat to the President. He is reasoned and (seemingly) reasonable, not overtly crazy, and seemed (I stress SEEMED) like someone I might consider voting for. He was not nearly crazy enough for the current Republican party, so they dismissed him out-of-hand. Hope he comes over to our side!
L
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Hi, all,
THANK YOU ALEXANDRIA

Hi, Blue, why go read anything that's only gonna upset your truth meter? Hope your back is feeling happier....
HUGS to all of you who are doing a GREAT JOB of seeing the truth, and HUMOUR, in a lot of what we're seeing in the outside world....
Memories of Adlai Stevenson..another wise human being who was NOT a glitzy salesman.
Just opening a delicious present ( to myself
) of new Daniel Smith watercolours...ooohhhh, Life is Good
CHICKADEE - we're gonna keep your "worries" in our pockets while you ENJOY yourself, just try to bring back some great (chocolate) pictures, maybe a recipe ( if you aren't charged for it) - and hope the sun shines on you EVERY day.
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If someone already posted this, my apologies - thread's going so fast and I can only look in occasionally.
I say Obama got complacent and that is why he was so half-there in the first debate. He thought Mitt would do himself in, because that is usually what happens.
Unfortunately, in America you can't expect the fact that someone lies to be their undoing - not when the opposing party is built on Bluff, Lies and Alibis, to paraphrase the name of a cable TV crime program.
Anyway....here is what Barak told a radio host this morning about the debates:
Well, two things. I mean, you know, the debate, I think it's fair to say I was just too polite, because, you know, it's hard to sometimes just keep on saying and what you're saying isn't true. It gets repetitive. But, you know, the good news is, is that's just the first one. Governor Romney put forward a whole bunch of stuff that either involved him running away from positions that he had taken, or doubling down on things like Medicare vouchers that are going to hurt him long term.
...And, you know, I think it's fair to say that we will see a little more activity at the next one.
More here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/obama-debate-polite_n_1954559.html
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THIS is one of the reasons I am so furious at the Repugs trying to score political points on murdered Americans:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/10/10/right-wing-medias-libya-consulate-security-myth/190508
"Chaffetz, a surrogate for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign who is helping to lead an investigation into the attack, appeared to discuss that investigation on CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien. During the interview, Chaffetz echoed the right-wing media talking point that security was insufficient in Benghazi. But O'Brien pointed out the fundamental hypocrisy in this argument by noting that Chaffetz, like other Republicans in the House, voted to cut funding for embassy security.
O'Brien asked: "Is it true that you voted to cut the funding for embassy security?" Chaffetz responded: "Absolutely. Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country.""
If someone has ever whined about how much money American diplomats have made, if they have sneered at the "striped-pants cookie-pushers," if they have ever griped about foreign aid, if they have EVER complained about government employees and their salaries and benefits, they have NO RIGHT, NO ROOM, NO REASON to try to hammer this Administration for the death of Christopher Stevens -- BECAUSE THEY BROUGHT IT ABOUT. You want to cut government spending? Then people die. It is a very simple equation. It was the equation I saw all the time overseas. it was cheaper to replace us than to protect us. It's only now, during an election, that lying liars want to gather their patriotism around them to use the bodies of murdered diplomats to fly the flag. Disgusting.
And oh, by the way, where were the cries of outrage when an American terrorist flew an airplane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas a couple years ago? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/us/19crash.html Where was the patriotic outrage over not protecting government employees well enough?
There was no outrage. The Repugs JOKED about the death of a U.S. government employee.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/02/domestic_terrorism_is_hilariou.html
Domestic Terrorism Is Hilarious at CPAC
- By Dan Amira



"And let me just say, I'm really happy to see [anti-tax crusader] Grover [Norquist] today. He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building." Jed Babbin, editor of conservative magazine Human Events, at CPAC today, to laughter from the audience [TPM DC]
L
ETA: Glenn Doherty's mother is also angry at Robme's cynical use of her son's death: http://www.politicususa.com/friend-family-slain-seal-its-making-sick-romney.html
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HL, I just heard that Glen Doherty asked Robme to stop using him as a political prop (ok, my words), and that Robme will no longer mention Doherty's name. Ugh, why did it have to reach that point. Disgusting.
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I just saw that this minute, Yorkie - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/10/1142665/-Romney-ignores-request-from-mother-of-Navy-Seal-killed-in-Benghazi-to-stop-using-son-in-stump-speech
The last line of the article is quite apt: "Funny how the campaign didn't care about her wishes until the national media started asking questions."
L
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HL
that was the meeting with Willard, that the Seal spke about with his friends - calling Willard ROBOTIC. Why, oh why, would anyone with a brain want to REMIND THE PUBLIC of the impression he made on the person he is referring to??
Not to mention, the Seal's MOTHER telling him to STFU...
ah, well...Is it December yet?
At least this takes everyone's mind off of PINK,,,
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Yep, caught in yet another web of lies. Wonder if Doherty and/or his mother will start appearing in Obama ads.
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HL:
And oh, by the way, where were the cries of outrage when an American terrorist flew an airplane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas a couple years ago? www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/us/... Where was the patriotic outrage over not protecting government employees well enough?
The outrage isn't at the lack of federal employee's safety. It's at their pensions, their health insurance, the fact that they even get paid for working!!
The fact that they all of a sudden care about this Ambassador to Libya - croccodile tears. He's just another moocher in their meme.
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I doubt it, and hope not. The President paid a moving, respectful tribute to the four individuals killed in the attack when their bodies were brought back. Turning their sacrifice and their families' grief into a campaign spot would be wrong. That Romney even tried to do it makes my skin crawl.
Linda
(Edited to Add - that was in response to yorkiemom; kam and I cross-posted.)
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You're so correct, Linda, it would be wrong. It's important to stay out of the muck, if possible.
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From the Daily Beast via the Bureau of Labor Statistics:At the end of August, there were 3.561 million jobs open in the U.S., according to the Labor Department’s monthly job-opening survey. That’s down a bit from the July total, but up 13 percent from the August 2011 figure. The bad news: only 3.3 percent of those positions were filled in the month.Seems to me this info should always accompany the unemployment rate, no?
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lindasa - do you have the link to that? I'd be interested to know exactly what the bureau is referring to. Thanks.
HL's comment on foreign US officers makes SO much sense that I fear it might be deleted. Very truthful and sense-making comments often are.
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Athena/Lindasa, it's from the BLS "JOLTS" ("Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey") program. Here's a link to the page on the BLS site:
It's based on a survey of employers (not sure of the exact relationship to the establishment survey that the payroll employment numbers are drawn from), and it comes out monthly but with a significant lag (e.g., the current numbers are for August), so it doesn't mesh perfectly with the unemployment data release. Still, it's definitely interesting to look at the two of them in conjunction with one another.
Gee, I wonder what Jack Welch makes of these numbers! (bwahahahaha)
Linda
(edited for typos and general coherence)
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It gives credence to the article I read a few weeks back about some 3 million American jobs looking for qualified workers -- which means that education and job retraining should be front and centre on any candidate's policy list. I believe that's on the President's list......
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I'm curious to see which kinds of jobs are the most unfilled and why. One can certainly speculate about some of it: the lack of highly trained workers in some sectors and the lack of labor supply for others. What I am not clear on is whether these include jobs that are deliberately unfilled due to lack of funds or due to a business not wanting to hire in an uncertain economic climate. The latter would seen most logical to me. It may also explain the following graph of JOLTS made by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. After 9/11, businesses were definitely reticent to hire, as they were after 2008 - see the huge drops. Since 2008, though, the climate appears to have improved steadily:
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Well, if you guys are REALLY gluttons for punishment, here's how a "job opening" is defined (C&P'd from BLS):
"A job opening
requires that: 1) a specific position exists and there is work
available for that position, 2) work could start within 30 days
regardless of whether a suitable candidate is found, and 3) the
employer is actively recruiting from outside the establishment to
fill the position. Included are full-time, part-time, permanent,
short-term, and seasonal openings. Active recruiting means that
the establishment is taking steps to fill a position by advertising
in newspapers or on the Internet, posting help-wanted signs,
accepting applications, or using other similar methods.
Jobs to be filled only by internal transfers, promotions,
demotions, or recall from layoffs are excluded. Also excluded are
jobs with start dates more than 30 days in the future, jobs for
which employees have been hired but have not yet reported for work,
and jobs to be filled by employees of temporary help agencies,
employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants."So, these are jobs that the employer is actively seeking to fill, not positions being held in reserve for some later time. Lindasa, there's actually a big debate in economics circles over whether persistent unemployment is due to a mismatch between skills and available positions, or if it's because demand is lacking. I generally side with the latter . . . I believe training and education are important to help people get BETTER jobs, and I'm prepared to believe that there are particular kinds of jobs where there's a lack of workers with the skills to fill them, but beyond that -- I think it's all about demand. (Specifically, the fact middle class consumers have been so squeezed by the 1% economy that they can't spend, but that's another rant.)
I think the graph Athena posted supports that - it shows how job openings rise and fall with the business cycle. (And actually started rising more quickly after this recession than after the first Bush recession in 2001. So much for tax cuts for the rich stimulating hiring!)
Linda
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I think I read that a significant area of unfilled jobs (due to lack of qualified candidates) is in the high-tech industry. Makes sense, because that area is constantly changing, upgrading etc. I happen to know a few people from around here who have high-tailed it down to the U.S. Several employees from RIM (makers of the Blackberry) who were laid off in the summer have also gone down to Silicon Valley.
Of course, there is also the sad fact that certain corps who are sitting on mounds of cash are not going to make a move until after Nov. 6 (regardless of who wins the election). But the housing industry is picking up, if Cdn softwood lumber sales to the U.S. is any indication (which it is!).
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I know that my department in a single hospital is sitting on 26 positions it has chosen not to fill as people quit. Staffing has gotten so bad that they're offering overtime bonuses to existing employees and MAY fill 6 of the positions. So those type of unfilled positions have to be part of the total numbers.
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(Anecdotal) I live in a small recreational mountain town. Business owners in town say things have picked up this summer. I've noticed a few businesses remodeling their stores or creating new stores to rent. My friend is a realtor in Seattle. While there are a lot of people stuck with upside down mortages, this is also creating demand due to the shortage of inventory (people don't want to move out of a house with an upside down mortgage). Houses are being bid up. This will eventually unwind these underwater mortgages. The economy is improving...as Krugman says, this is a typical (timewise) recovery from the the type of financial crisis we had.
I wanted to add, the west coast UP trainline goes through my town. I run an informal Train Index as a gauge on the economy. Train traffic really picked up this year. Not as frequent as the Clinton years, but it got dead silent around 2007-2009...the Train Index is up!
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riley702,
Vacant positions that are not being advertised are Not included in the numbers.
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Kam, I know ... The next time Robme or Ruin says they want to cut the size of goverrnment, someone should remind them in public that thanks to the Republicans in the House, there are now four fewer government employees because they voted to cut security funds for the State Department. I guess it could be considered a form of attrition.
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Speaking of "cutting government." I've lived through Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2 and Obama. The biggest expansions in government took place under Reagan. The biggest contraction took place under Clinton. With Gore's "reengineering government" our agency lost about 36% of it's positions. Republicans don't cut, they redistribute money to the military from the civil (and apparently, foreign) service.
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I have lived through those same administrations, Kam - 34 years next month. Gore's "reinventing government" produced some good stuff and some really bad cuts -- like eliminating the Interstate Commerce Commission and the U.S. Information Agency (the international public diplomacy arm of our foreign affairs community). They thought since the Cold War was over, they didn't need it anymore. Oooopsie! GIANT FAIL.
Switching directions, this is a good editorial from the NYT today about the complete detachment from reality currently being experienced by one of our political parties:
"To live and seethe in that world of conspiracy theories means rejecting any form of objective reality."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/opinion/conspiracy-world.html?hp&_r=2&
L -
If this isn't telling...one of the mirror people wishes more CEO's would lay off people if they vote Obama.
HL - someone emailed that article to me this morning. Two recommendations!
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Just curious - are there Romney clones out there? That might account for the weathervane effect. Unequivocal yes for the woman's right to choose...then staunchly anti-abortion...now..what? I am exhausted and confused by his well-lubricated spins.
I don't read the Mirror thread unless I want to identify more ignorees. And then ignore them. I am a well-lubricated ignoring machine.
Hope everyone's well this evening. Chickadee - thinking of you, cursing your not-so-good reports, and wishing you the bestest cruise ever!
E -
Folks who want to live in a dog-eat-dog world had better be prepared to get their a$$es bitten. And no crying to the rest of us when that happens.......
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Evening...what is that saying about if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. Something akin to that was said I think on MTP about if you live by the talking points, you can also die by them,especially when they improve. It was in reference to job market falling below 8 percent.
Love coming home from work and coming here. I've a bunch of things to do, but I'll be back later on
See you all then.
Jackie
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If Obama had wanted to cook the unemployment numbers why wouldn't he have done it months ago?
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