When exactly is that going to happen - "We must depend on the private sector to get us out of this mess"? For now the economy is stuck in a circular pattern. Private sector can't add jobs because of low demand for goods and services. Workers don't have much discretionary money to create the need to add jobs. Vicious cycle brought to us due to GREED and corruption by our princes of capitalism(wall st., banks, mortgage co, foolish consumers, etc.). Market correction, surely. The slog continues no matter who wins in November. But I still trust the POTUS over Mr. Weathervane!

"Vicious cycle brought to us due to GREED and corruption by our....." You forgot Politicians...

Besides that, "the Private Sector is doing fine"

Keynesian Philosophy is what causes this cyclical pattern. Thats all it does. There is no capital

creation in the Keynesian cycle just more government investment (tax and spend).

I suppose it's a matter of perspective. When Obama took office, we were hemorrhaging some 500,000 to 600,000 jobs per MONTH. We are now gaining even in the face of government cutbacks. Given that the GOP refuses to fund even infrastructure (historically something that was ALWAYS bipartisan) because it would boost jobs and therefore make Obama look good, we simply have to live with the party of 'no' until the next election.

Ironic that they say we simply can't afford it, when our defense budget is more than all of the other world powers combined. Sad when our priorities are that screwed up. When they defend the wants of the rich to own that 3rd or 4th house, over the needs of a family of 4 simply trying to put food in the bellies of their children.

The 'temporary' tax cuts for the rich should have been expired long ago, and they are costing the US government billions in revenue. I just wish the GOP would pick a definition of a tax hike and stick with it, because at this point, I don't think even they know what it means, or when it's appropriate unless some piece of paper they signed allegiance to above their own constituents and country says otherwise.

Government is really overhead to the economy. What we need are real jobs, not make work jobs. We need jobs that create goods and services that other people are willing to pay for. Our current administration has been trying to pump more money into the economy to create more demand and hence more jobs to meet the demand. But because such a high percentage of goods and services that we buy in this country come from foreign lands, the jobs that our money creates are mostly overseas, not here. That is why efforts like the stimulus bill did not work. All we are left with is the debt. According to an administration report, unemployment has been worse than if the stimulus bill were never passed. Apparently our administration's theory of economics does not work yet our administration does not understand that. The President said that if he could not fix the economy within 3 years that he did not deserve to be reelected. Well? The President vowed to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term yet according to his own White House, that is not happening. The President set that deficit spending showed a lack of leadership. Well? All hail the Chief!

I love the way people started spitting out "Keynesian Philosophy" like it's a piece of hot pepper in their General Tao Chicken.

...the fact is that we have both the knowledge and the tools to get out of this depression. Indeed, by applying time-honored economic principles whose validity has only been reinforced by recent events, we could be back to more or less full employment very fast, probably in less than two years. All that is blocking recovery is a lack of intellectual clarity and political will.

Paul Krugman

Spend. Borrow and spend. Sorry but that's the answer. Yes, we'll have to get back to worrying about how to pay back the debt once our economy is back, but it's the only way to get it back. The private sector responds to demand and guess what? STOP DREAMING. THERE ISN'T ANY DEMAND. Government is the only one that has the ability to spend and and endless supply of projects to spend it on. We need a stimulus program and we need it NOW.

Until companies start paying real wages there will never be any demand, and until they increase taxes on the wealthy then state & national government are going to remain broke. The bottom 4/5ths of us combined simply do not make enough money to pay the nation's bills or stimulate demand in the current state.

Elliot (1.4),

You know not what you talk about..

Pyrrhic, Mark and Elliot... The PRIVATE sector is and has been doing fine since the recession began. "Corporate profits now account for the largest share of gross domestic product since 1950 — 12.6%. Wages and salaries account for the smallest share of GDP since 1955 — 54.9%." This quote is from that LIBERAL (tongue in cheek) bastion of information the Wall Street Journal.
http://articles.marketwatch.com/2011-07-29/commentary/30699039_1_profits-gdp-wages-and-salaries
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/the-wageless-profitable-recovery/
http://seekingalpha.com/article/364681-a-golden-age-for-corporate-profits
Just because Bill orielly, Rush limbaugh, Sarah palin, Shawn Hannity, Faux news, Drudge report, etc. echo each other's OPINIONS (NOT facts) does not make them true.

Knightofdespair hit the nail on the head.

What is causing and keeping this country broke. Funny that some of you say.... the wealthy need to pay more. Well its pretty easy to figure out where we would be by just doing some general math. Ive done it and you two can do it with a little research. Although Im sure some of you will spin it the way you want. So.... take the entire defense budget out, we spend no more on defense. Do we still have a deficit? Yep big one. So then lets take every penny of every wealthy Americans money....take it all and make them paupers. How long will that money run this government before its all gone? About 1 and 1/2 years, then what do you do start taking the next set of rich peoples money? What is the cause of this issue..... hmmmm could it be.... entitlements? Ahhhhhh you think?

Well its pretty easy to figure out where we would be by just doing some general math.

Here is your general math

Well my car won't start, so I guess I'll sell off the carburator, but then it still won't run so I'll sell off half the engine block, then it still won't run so I'll give away the battery...

You are out in left field, nobody is saying to suck up the entire wealth pool overnight, we're saying there is a problem when the wealthy have taken 93% of all income over the last 30 years. There are many tax, state, and national policies we could modify that would shift 5-10% of that income back to the working class, who would use it to buy things and fuel more jobs, who would spend that on housing, cars, etc that would lead to a real recovery. Or you can keep on thinking you're gonna fix the car by cutting parts out of it instead. No doctor ever fixed a broken arm by cutting it off, you are not going to fix this demand side problem by cutting either.

So then lets take every penny of every wealthy Americans money....take it all and make them paupers. How long will that money run this government before its all gone? About 1 and 1/2 years, then what do you do start taking the next set of rich peoples money? What is the cause of this issue..... hmmmm could it be.... entitlements? Ahhhhhh you think?

During his recession, Reagan raised taxes and increased the size of government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/did-reagan-raise-taxes-let-gop-candidates-answer-080000521.html

This is what boosted the economy and dragged us out of the Carter recession. If you take away all the rich people's money and give it all away to poor people, you will get a boost to the economy that will dwarf any stimulus we have ever seen.

The reason is that rich people do not use money efficiently. If you give a dollar to a poor person he or she is going to spend it on necessities. The person who sells them the necessities is also likely poor or middle-class, that dollar is again used. The one dollar that you gave goes a long way.

On the other hand, if you give a rich person a dollar, it is sent to wall street where it is either lost by being given away to another rich person or it accumulates more dollars from other rich people. Either way, it benefits no one except the bankers. It just sloshes around; it doesn't create further goods or services.

This is the reason why trickle-down economics doesn't work, and why trickle-up economics works. That is why Reagan actually used trickle-up economics, even though he sold us trickle-down.

No doctor ever fixed a broken arm by cutting it off, you are not going to fix this demand side problem by cutting either.

Well, I would say this is more like cancer, and I think cutting is exactly what would work.

During his recession, Reagan raised taxes and increased the size of government.

I believe that history shows that Reagan raised taxes, but he cut the size of government and increased the size of military...

The wealthy are not stupid...The wealthy, those that have the resources to create new jobs or expand current operations will only do so if justified by demand...Who provides the demand? The 99%ers. Dump boatloads of money into them (and I don't mean measly millions or billions) and, because they are not as good with money management as the 1%ers, they will spend it all. This will provide the demand that the 1% er needs to add jobs or start new businesses.

This is not rocket science, just a plain and simple stubbornness on the part of the politicians.

Construction work is not just building new homes. Theres home repair but many have lost jobs and wages and have increasingly paid to keep government payroll at it's level. They can't afford to make repairs or improvments to their existing homes. Commercial construction is down. Buisnesses don't see growing revenue and see no reason to expand. The majority of people don't have expendable money to be using their services. Retail employment is down because sales are down. When wages and hours are cut and inflation doesn't take a day off people lose that expendable money. All the government workers combined can't keep the U.S. economy afloat by themselves. How do you buy products or pay for services when you don't have the money.

It's nobodys fault cost of living is so high. It's nobodys fault taxes keep rising. It's nobodys fault wages are stagnant and pathetic. It's nobodys fault that nobody will hire you. It must be my fault for feeding my children instead of buying a new car. And my fault for paying my taxes rather than buying the latest electronic gadget. What was i thinking paying my electric and gas bill rather than going on vacation. Irresposible spending and borrowing caused this recession and now resposibility is keeping it going?

Some of you actually came close without quite saying it. We have to increase demand, by putting more money in the pockets of the 99% who don't own everything already, so they'll buy those things, how do we do that? Double the minimum wage.

I am a business owner and know many others. While many will vilify me for an explanation, I will give one anyway.

Many business owners are hoarding their money in order to pay for the health care mandate. They see that it is more profitable to have 49 employees working 60 hours a week than to hire more. This is one thing that government doesn't understand. Business owners are intelligent enough to start and grow their companies without being able to do math, hardly. It is because of their math skills that hiring is not going up, because the costs of doing business are drastically increasing while profit margins decrease. If you want your company to survive, you have to make choices that aren't popular.

While it might not be very easy for workers to understand, it is quite clear to some of us. You don't hire if you can get the work done with what you have.

John,

Workers do understand that. That's why the smart ones lolly-gag and milk the clock, when you schedule us for overtime. we're trying to make it cheaper for you to hire more people. Also we're worn out and beat to crap from 3 years of this. As I like to say, I'm getting to old for this @!$%#.

I'd love to continue, but I have to go lolly-gag another ten hour shift, right now.

What John didn't say is what step 2 is if step one doesn't work. Move the company overseas where they CAN get an honest day work and usually at a cheaper rate.

So Den O'synn you just perpetuate the problem. You think you’re smarter than the owner all right. I bet you’re proud of yourself too!!!!!

Den O'synn comments typify the "union mentality" that has ultimately driven U.S. jobs overseas over the past 50+ years. There are still plenty of people elsewhere on this planet willing to step up and be productive, and who still realize that compensation is something earned, not something one is entitled to...

Well, I would say this is more like cancer, and I think cutting is exactly what would work.

Real doctors use a scalpel, not a chainsaw

"Real doctors use a scalpel, not a chainsaw"

Scalpels won't clear the dead wood blocking the road...

Actually the private sector IS doing fine. U.S. corporations made the highest profits in our history in the first quarter. Companies exist to make profit, not to provide jobs or charity or any other reason. The fact that they require employees to do the work that generates those profits is why almost 92% of adult Americans have jobs.

So yes, the job growth has been weak the last couple months and 8.2% is still too high if you happen to be among that 8.2%. But at least the private sector IS adding jobs, which is critical at a time when governments are either cutting jobs or keeping their headcount flat.

azdad48: "The fact that they require employees to do the work that generates those profits is why almost 92% of adult Americans have jobs."

The U.S. has an adult population of 230 million. The total number of employed adults in the U.S. is 139 million. That means only 60% of the adult population is employed, and that percentage continues to fall. That's the falling EPOP stat that has so many analysts alarmed.

Mr. Obama and his White House Staff continues to say the same thing over and over (for 30 MONTHS) concerning the unemployment statistics:

"Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-administration-repeated-same-line-jobs-numbers-nearly-171329360.html

LOL....and Mr. Obama says he cares about JOBS:

• "I have a laser beam on jobs."
• "I wake up every morning thinking about jobs."
• "We have to pass MY Stimulus Bill NOW to keep the unemployment rate at or below 8%."
• "My Summer Recovery will work."
• "The Northeaster snow storm kept the jobs growth stagnant."
• "The Chinese are at fault."

Mr. Obama has run out of campaign donors and special interest friends to hand out American taxpayer $$$$ for those "Go Green" jobs. I really liked his FAILED Weatherization Program (ONE of MANY failed "Go Green" programs).

Rob, That's exactly what President Obama meant when he said governments at all levels are contributing to high unemployment with their austerity measures.

Typical big government philosophy. Hold onto your pockets folks because those new employees he wants our governments to hire and the projects he wants them to fund will need to be paid and the only way government makes money to make those payrolls and pay those debts is to tax and fee the crap out of those of us that are still capable of paying them.

WAIT!! Didn't we spend our way into 'growth' when Obama put us BILLIONS in the hole to 'create jobs'?

EPIC FAIL PRESIDENT

PS

Rob-523523

The U.S. has an adult population of 230 million.

Sorry to bust your bubble Rob, but they're counting "unregistered" aliens now.....what a joke.

As a business owner, I agree with John's earlier post, although he only touches part of the problem in private industry. It is true about the 50 employee limit. My company is at 49 employees and I'd like to hire more, but the unknowns about the impact of Obamacare, taxes and new regulations make me stay under the magic 50 number until all of the new regulations are written before we start hiring.

Right now, we have been using temps to make up the shortfall due to the ceiling. It also means we can just let them go if the new taxes are actually implemented to cover those eventualities.

"That stimulus experiment is over and it won’t be repeated. But for a time, in the worst months of the recession back in 2009 and 2010, the stimulus money did keep state and local government employment higher than it would have been otherwise."

The 'Stimulus' was primarily 'payback' for the union support that Obama got from public employee unions and construction. The 'Recession' actually officially ended only about 5 months after Obama took office - before the 'stimulus' money was even spent.

The 'Stimulus' was just a huge boondoggle that put us in debt for about another $Trillion, plus interest that has to be paid by out children and grandchildren for their entire lives.

Unfortunately my plans to slow down at work in protest against having to do overtime were, as usual, a dismal failure. Reflexes took over and I busted my butt again. Now I'm sore. I'm going to flake off tonight though, this time I really mean it.

Pyrrhic Victory "Of course government is downsizing. State and local governments are broke. It is only natural for them to have a regression in employment. Governments need to continue downsizing their bloated workforces."

Interestingly, Obama INCREASED the Federal civilian workforce by about 5%, after Bush had cut it by about 5% from what it was under Clinton.

The downsizing of state and local government workers is because the 'reward' money to the public employee unions from Obama's 'stimulus' ran out. Now they have to join the private sector in facing the lack of jobs under Obama.

Den O'synn "Some of you actually came close without quite saying it. We have to increase demand, by putting more money in the pockets of the 99% who don't own everything already,"

So your theory is that companies should hire more workers that they don't need in hopes that they will spend a small part of the $50,000 in employee costs on that company's product or service?

I can see why you don't own a business.

Notliborcon

No the private sector is NOT fine! GDP was over 14 Trillion before the Recession is still under 10 Trillion. If it was fine we would be over 15 trillion by now.

It won't move and I won't have steady work until Obama and the democrats get their "boot" off of peoples throats with their taxing and spending!

During his recession, Reagan raised taxes and increased the size of government.

Source:

This is what boosted the economy and dragged us out of the Carter recession. If you take away all the rich people's money and give it all away to poor people, you will get a boost to the economy that will dwarf any stimulus we have ever seen.

The reason is that rich people do not use money efficiently. If you give a dollar to a poor person he or she is going to spend it on necessities. The person who sells them the necessities is also likely poor or middle-class, that dollar is again used. The one dollar that you gave goes a long way.

On the other hand, if you give a rich person a dollar, it is sent to wall street where it is either lost by being given away to another rich person or it accumulates more dollars from other rich people. Either way, it benefits no one except the bankers. It just sloshes around; it doesn't create further goods or services.

This is the reason why trickle-down economics doesn't work, and why trickle-up economics works. That is why Reagan actually used trickle-up economics, even though he sold us trickle-down.

This is the most intelligent post in this thread.

Thank you, Byron Raum.

The rest of you are just babbling supply-side, free market nonsense. You live in a dream world that has never existed and never can. Let's get back to the prosperity of the 1950's, without all the boring social drama, rebuild our infrastructure, and make this nation a better place for us all.

I love it, all you anti tax gurus have no respect for anything except your own "I want it my way and that is the only way". This is a free country and I hate to tell you but living in a free country costs money. Not just military. Maybe we should let you tear it apart because you don't use the roads in Colorado, certainly they must not need roads. If you don't think you should pay your part then please leave. Democracy costs money and the more greedy money mongers there are the more it costs to keep it a democracy. Just take a short look back at our own history in the last 100 or so years.

The rich people in this country caused this recession, not the poor. They gambled the poor's life savings away on Wall St. and STILL, no justice. And all the Rethugs can offer is more of the same?

You right-wingers are out of your skulls.

I agree we need a stimulus. Lets find a productive project that will pour money into the hands of the Americans.

Ohhh, I don't know, How about we build a giant pipeline that will pour money into the hands of hard working Americans, and create jobs..... Oh wait, our current POTUS decided that was a bad idea. He prefers to amass more national debt as a means of bailout.

Johnny - Building a giant pipeline will cure the economy? So what are you smoking in that pipe?

Den O'synn

I find it terribly interesting that you believe somehow that your slowing down and dinking around will not be noticed by your employer. They are an employer for a reason, and for your information, you wouldn't have a job without them. If you believe that you are smarter than them, start you own company and see if your attitude changes when the companies bottom line affects yours. The company does not owe you, you owe them, because your existence and standard of living is more dependent upon you having a job, than the existence of the company you work for. Guaranteed, you leave, and ten more will want your old job.

Sorry, but true.

Actually they do owe me, John. That's why the pay me, every two weeks. Don't get your panties in such a bunch. If I actually did slack off at work, my crew would try to cover my back, by picking up the slack. I wouldn't do that to them. Not only do I have the best producing crew in the company, I have the best department heads, and they would certainly notice, if I faltered at all. I was just blowing off steam here.

Roy Wilson. My theory is that increasing minimum wage would cause an increase in consumer spending. Employers would have to hire, to meet the increased demand for goods and services. This is the only reason they ever hire, no matter how many tax cuts you give them. You got it completely backwards.

The economy added only 120,000 jobs in March down from the rate of more than 200,000 in each of the preceding three months. The rate of unemployment dropped from 8.3 to 8.2 percent mainly because fewer people were searching for jobs and that rate depends on how many people are actively looking.

It's way too early to conclude the jobs recovery is stalling, but there's reason for concern.
Remember: Consumer spending is 70 percent of the economy. Employers won't hire without enough sales to justify the additional hires. It's up to consumers to make it worth their while.

But real spending (adjusted to remove price changes) this year hasn't been going anywhere. It increased just .5 percent in February after an anemic .2 percent increase in January.

The reason consumers aren't spending more is they don't have the money. Personal income was up just .2 percent in February barely enough to keep up with inflation. As a result, personal saving as a percent of disposable income tumbled to 3.7 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January.
Personal saving is now at its lowest level since March 2009.

American consumers, in short, are hitting a wall. They don't dare save much less because their jobs are still insecure. They can't borrow much more. Their home values are still dropping, and many are underwater owing more on their homes than the homes are worth.
The economy has been growing but almost all the gains have gone to the very top. As I've noted, this is the most lopsided recovery on record.

You will hear other theories about the hiring slowdown, but they don't wash.
It's not due to "uncertainty" about the economy. That's a tautology the economy's future is always uncertain, especially when consumers don't have the dough to keep it going.

It's not because of fears about a European recession. Europe has been in the skids for some time now. Besides, the American economy doesn't really depend on exports to Europe.
And it's not about gas prices or the rise in healthcare insurance premiums. Both are up, but they've been trending up for many months.

It's because consumers' pockets are almost empty.We'll avoid a double-dip, but the most likely scenario in coming months is a continuation of the same an anemic jobs recovery.
President Obama will claim the economy is improving and, technically, it is. Growth this year will most likely average around 2 percent.

The problem is, most Americans aren't feeling it in their paychecks.Mitt Romney will claim the economy is in terrible shape and there will be enough evidence to justify his "cup-half-empty" rhetoric.

But when it comes to explaining what's really wrong with the economy, Romney is the perfect foil for Obama because Romney represents the richest of the rich a man who raked in more than $20 million last year, and paid a tax rate of just 13.9 percent (lower than much of the middle class).

He made that money by buying up "under-performing" companies that is, companies that employed more people than they needed to, and carried less debt than was necessary to show big profits (interest on debt is deductible from company income). Romney's firm, Bain Capital, made him and his colleagues fortunes by firing workers and loading companies up with debt.

And there's America's economic problem in a nutshell.Romney and his ilk are doing wonderfully well, but the rest of the nation is still in deep trouble. Yet the U.S. economy can't fully recover on the spending of millionaires.

The President has already announced that this election is about America's surge toward ever-greater inequality. He's right. And this painful recovery shows it.

Wow...the number of blatant lies in here by conservatives is amazing. Here are two examples...

In post 1.19, john-737278 states that ..."the costs of doing business are drastically increasing while profit margins decrease."

Sorry john...but the facts say otherwise. Corporate profits are at their all time high. And note that those record profits are AFTER all the supposedly skyrocketing expenses.

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/04/corporate-profits-reached-record-high.html

And while I do agree that there is some uncertainty regarding taxes and medical insurance costs...the simple fact is that it is people like you who are causing that uncertainty by your constant demands to change the tax code to further line your pockets. A perfect example is the extension of the Bush tax cuts. The bill included an expiration date that let you know when it would revert back when it was passed a decade ago. You had TEN YEARS ADVANCE NOTICE. What is "uncertain" about that? The "uncertainty" was created when conservatives started calling for something else to happen. Or do you not know the meaning of the word "uncertainty"?

The same goes for the ACA. You had a few years to plan...but you couldn't plan because you were too busy trying to get it overturned, weakened, etc. So don't blame the law for your inability to plan. You conservatives are like little kids. You rock the boat...and then complain that the boat is rocking.

But still...I suppose your business might be one of those that's failing to make a profit even though pretty much everyone else obviously is. But the fact remains that most businesses are making record profits, even with all the rules you are complaining about. I guess it's a lot easier to play the victim and blame Obama than to start taking some personal responsibility for your inability to run a business.

In post 1.37, DB Akron states "GDP was over 14 Trillion before the Recession is still under 10 Trillion"

That is just plain false. The World Bank, certainly not a liberal organization, puts US GDP at 14.5 trillion for 2010. Since GDP has been growing at around 1-2% since then, it is obviously higher now.

http://data.worldbank.org/country/united-states

So DB Akron...I'm curious. Since GDP numbers are so easy to come by, it makes one wonder if you even bothered to check the numbers. So which is it? Did you just make those numbers up...or were you just flat out lying?

Regardless of your party or your beliefs, the Obama White House rammed the stimulus down our throats with data telling us if we pass the stimulus, by 2012 unemployment would be at 5.6%.

We now see that they were completely wrong, and are either incompetent or corrupt. So, we now have a choice of a guy with a proven record of success, vs a guy with a track record of failure.

We can argue supply side all you like, Reagan lowered the tax rate on wages, tax revenue jumped due to GROWTH. They saw job growth of 1,000,000 new jobs a month. Why not try doing what Reagan did? Reagan's only mistake was believing Democrats who agreed to reduce spending in exchange for some tax increases. They lied, spending exploded, and growth slowed.

We now know what our choice is, and those who spew hate make it clear that this is not about hiring the best person for the job, it is about their own rabid beliefs - on both sides of the aisle. If you were on the board, and your CEO had performed like Pres Obama, you would have long ago fired the guy filled with excuses and looked for a leader that focused on growth, not blaming and name calling.

I pray that out of this disaster we find a way through, and that we create a vibrant 3rd party that is made up of grown ups, limited government non-religious responsible adults that can marginalize the fringe left and right.

dizzykat

Yes, there are record profits from the top maybe 500 companies, but that has little to do with small companies that make up most of the employers. When I state that costs are increasing and profit margins are decreasing I write from personal experience as one. And without seeing it first hand by viewing my books, you wouldn't have a clue.

Oh, and by the way, I don't care for many politicians at all, both Dumb and Pug, So trying to manipulate the facts that I see every day into a partisan argument falls flat as far as I am concerned.

"So as of March, the OPM was showing federal executive branch headcount up by nearly 13 percent compared to right before the recession began."

So while the private sector was cutting payrolls to keep afloat, Obama was adding about 240,000 people to the bloated Federal civilian workforce - I wonder why?

Of course - that's another 500,000 votes for Obama and the Democrats since most employees at the 'public trough' vote Democratic, so while the taxpayers were struggling to make ends meet, Obama was 'building his base' - at taxpayer expense - they also get about double the pay and benefits of comparable private sector workers, as the following study pointed out;

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm

amused but not distracted "Johnny - Building a giant pipeline will cure the economy? So what are you smoking in that pipe?"

Do you really think that there is one simple cure to economic recovery? It takes a lot of little decisions to have an effect, but Obama's 'accumulation' of anti-growth moratoriums and policies have added up to a miserable recovery - in stark contrast with every other recovery from recessions in the past.

I'd be willing to bet that if Romney is elected, there will be an almost immediate increase in jobs and economic growth because the 'economic climate' will be changed once we get rid of that 'loser' in the White House.

@ROY WILSON - My response in post 1.42 was in response to post 1.41, that should be obvious. As a matter of fact, no I don't think there is a simple cure. Just as I don't believe that just cutting spending is the cure to all our ills without a reciprocal tax increase. No way I'd take that bet! romoney is "of, by, and for the 1%. He's the quintessential "used car salesman, the inveterate "snake oil salesman and the embodiment of "I've got mine". The more Americans see and hear him, the less likely they will be to vote for him. romoney is so plastic, he almost makes Barbie seem like flesh and blood.

And time for the private sector to stop offshoring and outsourcing. Companies are sitting on more cash than ever before but refuse to spend it. It's a perpetuating cycle. The companies wait for the economy to get better, but the economy won't get better until the companies start spending again. I know in my company jobs are getting sent to Manila and France and are lost here in the US. In the meantime, our company's "leaders" are celebrating fat bonuses and hiring more Chiefs and regaling them with stock options. We Indians pay for it with layoffs. Seeing it with my own eyes. Getting my pink slip on Monday.

The public sector can only take slices out of the pie (and potentially redistribute the slice, though usually at a net loss - in other words, govt inefficiency makes the slice smaller), but does nothing to make the pie bigger (i.e. increase capital). It can only rob Peter to pay Paul. Only the private sector can generate net increases in wealth and pay both Peter and Paul.

NFIL,

Then do whatever you need to do to become a "Chief" - don't be satisfied with being an "Indian..."

Wow Loooong, don't know where you are but it aint that way anywhere I have been lately. In fact it seems the "more experienced" people are way up on the young "video game comedian wanabies" that seem to be infecting the work invironment. Over and over it is "I'm the old guy here why am a I trying to drag you young people (with degrees) along??", "in a few years all this traditional way of doing things will be gone". Seems so many young people want to do the traditional thing in business and not step out with creative ideas anymore (don't wanna lose this here job). Print advertising is probably one of the front most things effected by technology and marketing types want to do it the way they allways have done it while the internet scares them to death...mainly because the analytics prove what you are doing right and wrong. Anyway Loooon, catch up with and quit with that stupid rehtoric.

Rob...what a delusional mind you have.

"The public sector can only take slices out of the pie (and potentially redistribute the slice, though usually at a net loss - in other words, govt inefficiency makes the slice smaller), but does nothing to make the pie bigger (i.e. increase capital)."

So...what you seem to be saying is that the public investment in dams to create electricity did nothing to improve productivity and "increase the size of the pie"?

And what about the interstate highway system? Did that not make the transportation of goods more efficient, thereby increasing productivity...which increases the size of the pie?

Oh...and what about all the government funded medical research? Do you really think that all these drug companies making billions actually do their own research?

I suppose the government construction of dams also played no part in improving irrigation allowing farmers to be more productive.

And lets not forget that government funding also gave us computers, semiconductors...even the computer mouse. What...didn't you ever wonder why the mouse couldn't receive a patent as an input device? Are you seriously going to pretend that the government funded development of the computer played no role in the growth of Microsoft, Oracle, etc?

And what technological advances did the government funded race to the moon give us? Tang? Freeze dried ice cream?

While I'm no fan of war...imagine all the doctors and medical advances that various wars have produced. Do you really think that there would be near as much research into artificial limbs if not for all the wounded returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? And do you really think that all those companies would be doing that research without some assurance that the government would cover their costs buying those limbs for wounded vets?

And what of the internet? Yes...again...that was government research to make an "indestructible" network that gave rise to the dot com boom. Are you really going to pretend that the people who made millions on Google, Ebay, Facebook, etc owe no thanks to the government research that created the internet?

Do you own a GPS? Or maybe it's now built into your phone or car. No thanks to the government funded research for that? How many trucks get to their destination more efficiently thanks to that?

And, of course, that doesn't even count the fact that it is government funded courts that protect those peoples intellectual property rights. Would Bill Gates or Steven Spielberg have the capital they do if not for government enforcement of their copyrights?

Nor does it address the fact that shipping losses would be much greater if not for the government funded protection of shipping worldwide by the US Navy.

Nor does in count the security that the government provides via the enforcement of laws. Don't you like being able to ship goods across country without having to worry about gangs of bandits hijacking your truck? Would Intel, GM, or Boeing want to build billion dollar factories if they had to worry about them being burned down by thugs hired by a rival?

Government is not perfect. Far from it. And the government has done a lot of bad things. Some of the people who work there are lazy and others are crooked. But the same can be said of virtually any organization. Walmart does bribes, GlaxoSmithKline does fraud, even the Catholic church has it's pedophiles. But that doesn't mean you destroy them. And it doesn't mean we should ignore the good that they do.

Sure...the government has many faults. But for you to believe that it has not played a huge role in the prosperity that this country has seen is flat out delusional.

Dizzykat,

Not delusional - my comments had nothing to do with what government has or hasn't done. After all, the Egyptian pyramids were government endeavors, but at what cost? The issue is one of efficiency and accountability. Do you not understand the distinction?

This is a fallacy that teachers and other government workers are paid loads of money and have great big pensions--this is not true in our state. Don't assume. Check you facts first.

Please read my post!!! Lavish BENEFITS and PENSIONS -- I have 2 sisters that are teachers and I pay more on my insurance and co costs as well as my retirement than both of them do, I NEVER said "paid loads of money! Stop spinning and twisting my words and CHECK YOUR FACTS FIRST (that means REread before you post)

The public sector lavish pay and golden benefits plans are just a bubble. Like the tulip bubble, the internet bubble and the housing bubble the public sector bubble will eventually burst.

Actually, the real fallacy Mar Bear is this belief that government workers got it so bad. They are no worse, and many times better off, than the average worker in this country, but they continue to complain about how hard they have it. They severely overestimate what average non-government workers make.

I have a good friend who is a director in a private employer now. He worked for me for 5 years then took a job at the IRS as a project manager. He was given 4 projects to run, and access to 14 employees (or so he was told) When he tried to get people to accomplish tasks they just complained to the union steward who in turn whined to his boss, who told him to take it easy on the workers.... After 3 months of this he quit. This man is a liberal in belief, but told me that he could never ever work for the federal Gov the way its set up.

And your point is. You give one scenario and we are suppose to say "Ok, the government is bad". Are you out of your mind? These are real jobs that people rely on to pay for their mortgage, car payments, food, ect, just like you and I. Please don't hate, show a little tolerance.

Yep. I'll show the libs as much tolerance as they show anyone who disagrees with their philosophies-NONE!

"These are real jobs that people rely on to pay for their mortgage, car payments, food, ect, just like you and I. Please don't hate, show a little tolerance."

So, are you implying they are entitled to their jobs, regardless of whether they are productive or not?

Cheese, did you not see the GSA video's? That is the norm, not the exception. Junkets to where ever, screwing off, intimidating the public rather than serving them, etc. is the norm. Bureaucracies are out of control at least with this president.

Government workers and lawyers exist by taking money from the private sector. While they may provide value (i.e. safety, infrastructure, security), they do not create wealth.

The greedy Banks now enjoying 0% interest rate from FED they have no intention to boost the economy,specially with low home mortgage loan,They're waiting the FED to increase the Interest rate to 10% before starting the mad rush in lending to business too and boost the economy .

Dotties Girl: If Government isn't the solution, then why does the Rethuglican party continue to blame Obama (not the Republican dominated Congress) for EVERYTHING wrong with this country? I love how Teapublicans are sooo selective in their blame game. It just shows how their idiotology trumps logic, reason and sanity. We'll be in BIG trouble if the party of NO wins in Nov.

I'm sure Romney's illegal gardeners are going to solve the problem, he pays them millions a year right? No? Maybe Romney himself, I'm sure he spends the millions it takes to keep thousands of local small businesses from going bust.

Are you for real? Who just ran their pie-hole about allowing those illegal immigrants below 30 to stay here? OBAMA!

Incidentally, that's why construction jobs are in the gutter for American workers-because the illegal immigrants have them all!

Vet -

That's why we tend to do our own home repairs - even after Katrina.I'm not going to hand over my hard-earned money to a bunch of illegals.

Luckily, my family is capable of doing our own repairs. Many aren't.

That was what the Obama stimulus money was supposed to be for those shovel ready jobs. They just passed the money out to their friends and supporters.

I know of highway projects that were done with the stimulus project. Saying it was given away to friends and supporters is not correct. And there was not enough to do a lot of the projects. It was just a drop in the bucket.

They hung a lot of ARRA signs on project that had been funded and started years before.

more union jobs are not needed unless they are trying to bolster their voting base. Unions are considered "non profit" therefore do not pay taxes. They are suppose to use the dues for the benefit of the members. They buy Learjets, lavish hotels and golf courses with the pension money and use the money for LAVISH conferences how is that benefitting the members? I'd like to see a poll of "regular" union members and see how many have flown in any of the Learjets, stayed for FREE at any of the hotels and played at PGA ranked golf courses. I'm guessing very few. AND YOU can check my source -- Elizabeth MacDonald's 2 articles posted yesterday and today "Big Labor, Big Spending".

That was what the Obama stimulus money was supposed to be for those shovel ready jobs. They just passed the money out to their friends and supporters.

You must live in one of those conservative bubble things. There are road and bridge projects still going on from the stimulus. I have two within 5 miles. Or perhaps you are in one of those Red States where the Republican governor wouldn't take any of the money even to help his own constituents.

mj the work was stipulated to be used only in hiring union companies. I live in Detroit and work for an auto, if Mr. Obama had not given them a almost controlling interest in GM and Chrysler, the union pension funds would have gone bellyup.

MarBear

I don't know what it's like where you live, but here in New York, we already pay for the bridges to be repaired via tolls. These bridges also have their own crews. Also, the state DOT is responsible for repairing the roads. Since these have been in place for ages, what benefit would this type of job bill provide? At best, it would be a temporary fix, as the Fed, nor the states, could possibly sustain such programs indefinitely.

One little unknown fact about the 'stimulus' was to actually prevent the loss of jobs already 'on the books' ie so that people who had a job at the time would keep the job.

Dotties Girl: You really are WAAAY out there in rightie-wing space, aren't you? No amount of dues that have been charged by unions for representation can trump the losses Wall St. brought upon this country in their race to see who was the most greedy. You CLEARLY haven't noticed that the only people who've continued to do well and make money during the recession have been big business, Wall St. and the rich folks. The rich Rethuglicans have convinced you of the most preposterous ideas imaginable, that the poor/ middle class need to "suck it up" and "sacrifice" for the sake of the rich. That the rich are supposed to be rich, regardless of how unethically they go about getting rich. That they're "ENTITLED". That they mean well in their drive to get richer. That the Dems are evil because they want to reign this BS in.

Boy, do you need to WAKE UP!

Fortunately, the American people don't share Dottie's insane fantasies because President Obama continues to lead the GOP's #1 loser in the polls as he has since the election year began:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html

President Obama in November! He is clearly our only rational choice!

Very true and at least for some amazing reason the GOP cooperated with Democrats to pass the Transportation Bill and the bill to keep interest rates at 3 % for student loans. We really need people to put pressure on the GOP to get things done because they are definitely trying to do nothing but harm the country and President Obama. I despise Jindal who has done nothing but run around the country hoping he will get selected to be the vice-president for Romney or some other positions. He has done nothing but been an embarrassment for many Louisiana residents with his behavior.

The stimulus did its job but it wasn't enough. We need more. Yes it sucks. Deal with it.

No! Change it!

In my opinion, the only viable stimulus, would be one where the money went to the taxpayers, whereas they would spend it on goods, that would boost the economy. Unfortunately this can't be done with just hundreds of dollars. I believe that someone once figured out, that what was used to bail out the banks, etc., was the equivalent of $100,000 to each taxpayer. Certainly sounds like a much better plan to me. The consumer is the only one who can improve the economy.

$100K x 250 millon = $25 trillion. Yet another lie exposed. Next.

Okay. You got me on that, Phil. What the hell do you expect with no sleep? That was definitely a screw up on my part.

Phil -

Consider this - How many of that 250 million are actually taxpayers?

If it were actually limited to the taxpayers and those who are on the dole were not to qualify, that number goes down substantially.

But then the libs would complain that it wasn't fair.

Tell me, what's fair about supporting those who refuse to do for themselves?

Joe Biden couldn't describe how to get to the mens room by himself.

Of course, there are plenty of Replicon's that know the way and would be glad to show him... especially in an airport!

The President can't enact his program without Congress. Congress has been in his way since he took office. His policies didn't fail, Congress failed to implement them and now they're out calling nannie nannie poopoo. Don't fall for it. The President was elected by our democratic process and the Republicans ignored our voices and obstructed everything he tried to do.

The joke is on you. You assume Obama has any integrity. "This is absolutely not a tax." "Unemployment will not rise above 8%"... Obama has no problem lying at every opportunity.

Remind me what Reid and Pelosi's titles were when the President took office I forget...........

We are much better than we were in 2007. You live in a microcosm. My industry is ripping right now. We have more jobs than people to fill them.

We all have to get rid of our trash!

Jobs?....there are plenty of jobs for bilingual, $8.00 an hour, no benefit employees

Ask Rick "Have a heart" Perry

How is that Kool-aid tasting...? Let's see, a dribble of incentive vs. a flood of disincentives in the form of exploding healthcare taxes and costs, high energy costs due to Obama's obstruction of new exploration and drilling, etc. Nice try to pass the buck, but the facts are massively against you. Obama came, he ruined the country and the economy, and now he needs to step down and let competent leaders back into the government.

After Bain and sending our jobs to India Romney can shut his piehole. 44 million to bailout Romney's fired employees while he liked our blood off his fingers.

Did you fall down a lot as a child?

And what did Obama do to save GM? Fired a bunch of workers, made the remaining ones take a huge haircut, closed plants here and built one in Mexico.

Again, Valhalla Phil: WHEN did President Obama fire GM workers? WHEN did he close plants? The 'haircut' reference i get....he told a few GM exec's to shave their incomes for a while. But seriously...why do you (and other Obama haters) keep posting scary lies? WHY?

You do remember that he loaned GM money to get back on their feet, when banks weren't lending to companies, right? And that Romney wrote an editorial saying that was a bad idea. Obama saved thousands of jobs that Romney said were unimportant.

Oh well. No one can say anything about Mr. Romney....cuz he refuses to say anything of substance. Hopefully someday before November, Romney will share his plans. So we (both sides) can actually see what he has in mind. Rather than simply voting for him because he's against Obama. No one know's who Romney is....not even Mitt himself. Now THAT is dangerous! It's like a five year old getting into a car with a stranger. It makes no sense to adults....just the little kid, enticed by some candy.

Yes but....what about all the auto jobs in China? How much money was used to develop those industries by GM?

Obama and Romney are in the same boat and I cannot believe that either is going to tow us or row us to some kind of victory. We're at stop all over the world. 80,000 jobs added; 85,000 on disability this month. That's not good. When you widen the borders of sanity to take in those things that were in the past considered insane, you have to pay for it. Too bad though, the arithmetic cannot keep up with the changes of the promises that cannot be kept.

the arithmetic cannot keep up with the changes of the promises that cannot be kept.

Not unless you change the formula back to what we had when it worked, which republicans refuse to even discuss.

knight,,,The democratic COWARD harry reid will not even let over 30 bills passed by congress up for debate! Democratic moochers will and HAVE NOT passed a budget in over 3 stinkin years! And they did not need ONE REPUBLICAN VOTE for heir obama'S first 2 years! Drink your msDNC koolaid and click your heels together while you chant change, chhaaannnnggee!

I wouldn't either, they all have something America doesn't want attached, send clean bills and maybe we'll talk.

Another pathetic liberal lie. If the public didn't want them why won't Reid let the senators vote on them to embarrass republicans? Answer: Because they would be popular and it would be democrats that would either have to vote yes or pay the price. The only way out? Not allow them to be voted on.

Yet another lie exposed.

Knight,,,Since you lib moochers like to blame everything on Bush, what about all the crap socialist democrats would shove into the defense bill? And later whine and cry , point to it and say,,,,see what George Bush passed!

@Murphy Andrew: Is that anything like when the republican house members voted 81% FOR NDAA and republican senate members voted 52% FOR it. And then they blame the President lol. You guys are way too funny, man!

And then repub's wrote, what...33 supposed job bills? NONE of which actually created any jobs. They just had 'JOBS' in the title. Seriously....go read them. I dare you.

"Not unless you change the formula back to what we had when it worked, which republicans refuse to even discuss." And I'm saying we are too far down the rabbit hole for that. When you factor in that both parties are selling their souls against what is really true, honest, and just. If you spent a year gambling away your household income, you cannot just one day decide that tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Because not only are you out the money, but you have an addiction to deal with that over rides the care and well being of others living in your home.

Hogwash. Obstructive policies by the Republicans are causing this mess.

Fire: You are kidding, right? Obama and the Democrats owned the government for two years. They jammed through every nonsensical Socialist policy they could. They still control both the White House and the Senate, and they have blocked every attempt at meaningful reform. Obama and the Democrats had their way. They failed, and they own the dismal result. You cannot spin it otherwise.

Fire is right the Repubs approved the LARGEST SOCIALIST MOVEMENT in our history with the bank bailout too

No I'm not kidding. Democrats may have a majority in the Senate but GOP filibuster means they can't get anything through without 60 votes.

The "meaningful reform" you're referring to is programs to gut the EPA and maximize corporate profits. That doesn't create jobs. It just creates big bonuses for fortune 1000 managers.

And pinning a "socialist" label on all the President's programs is just scare tactics. After all, we fought socialism and communism in the cold war so any mention of those words strikes fear in the hearts and souls of America, right?

WRONG!. The "socialist" policies you're referring to are the ones we the electorate wanted. That's how democracy works. Call it socialist if you want, but don't forget that's what the majority of Americans wanted when we elected him!!!

Maybe you should deal with the fact that a majority of our country is getting wise to the fact that corporations and the "managerial aristocracy" (Citibank's term) that runs them are the ones really running this country. They are the ones doing the fear mongering with the "S Word", and lobbying for your "meaningful reforms" and people like you are eating it up.

No people like us are working and paying for the people who dont want too!

Liar.

Liberals are liars. The obstructionist lie was exposed the moment they shoved Obamacare down our throats. If they could pass that abomination, they could have passed anything.

Democrats are the party of no. No budget for almost three years, no house bills that would help the economy allowed on the floor, no deal on deficits.

The Bush tax cuts did create jobs, Bush got unemployment down to 4.6% before democrats took over congress and destroyed it all. Once they declared war on capitalism nothing will bring back jobs. Vote all socialists out this Nov and we can begin to heal, not before.

All these salaries are low, if you ask me.

Yeah $180,000 is bankrupting the country, meanwhile Steve Jobs died worth 40 billion dollars mainly acquired from the hard work of millions of Americans and Chinese slave laborers. 40 billion that he didn't earn and did absolutely nothing for the country in a time of it's greatest need.

Guess all we need to fix this is give the @!$%#ing wealthy even more money.

Bill from Oregon, your post is priceless. Listing all the salaries of the highest elected officials and then to relate that to "more government" and to go on with listing teachers salaries is a stroke of genus. The fact that congress passed legislation that gives elected officials an automatic salary increase unless congress chooses to vote down the salary increase.

Benjamin Franklin warned Americans and said it best - "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

However you missed something over the last 12 years. I can't believe that you were born in the last 4 years or that you have been sleeping all this time and just woke up in the last 4 years.

Bush Jr. with the aid of corrupt elected officials (congress) caused this economic mess. When Bush took office there was a balanced budget and there was additional federal revenue that was paying down the deficit. Bush through that all away when he signed tax breaks for the wealthy and 2 wars.

Try and look back to history a bit and I don't mean that you need to go all the way back to the Great Depression. It would reinforce the rest of what I am going to pass on if you would go back though. Bush Sr. also signed tax breaks for the wealthy and the economy started to go south. Reagan took office and increased tax breaks for the wealthy and the economy started a downward spiral. The difference between Bush Sr. and Reagan and even Bush Jr. and Reagan is that Reagan acknowledged the bad advice he received from his financial adviser. Reagan saw the negative impact these tax breaks were having on the federal revenue, the deficit, the economy and the American people. Reagan raised taxes 11 times during his administration which is more than any President in history. When Clinton took office there still wasn't a balanced budget and the deficit was growing and under his administration, Clinton raised taxes more. Between Reagan (Rep) and Clinton (Dem) they collectively had the country, the economy on the right track, everyone was prospering.

So for you to back those (Romney, corrupt Republicans and Democrats) who seek to push the country and the American people further into debt and below the poverty level tells me that you are either fooling yourself or you have been brainwashed or you are looking to confuse and mislead voters. This economic mess didn't start when Obama took office, he and all of us inherited what Bush and corrupt elected officials have done and are still doing by refusing to act on behalf of the majority, by refusing to end the Bush tax breaks, by refusing any and all job bills.

More pathetic liberal lies. Bush and republicans got unemployment down to 4.6%. That's what democrats inherited when they took over congress. It is they that destroyed the economy. In case you missed it, Citibank has admitted it bribed congressmen, including Dodd. They aren't the only banks, both Dodd and Frank sold out and in doing so sold the economy down the river. At least Frank had the balls to apologize, AFTER he was re elected. Dodd quit.

And more lies about Reagan. Carter was such a complete disaster they actually had to define new terms to describe it. Stagflation: Inflation in a stagnant economy. Misery index: interest rates + inflation + unemployment. He was such a disaster Reagan won in a landslide. It only took him two years to recover from double digit unemployment, double digit inflation and 20%+ interest rates. He was so successful he was re elected with the biggest landslide in history, carrying 49 states. Nice try.

Another lie, Clinton did NOT balance the budget, Gingrich did. Presidents can only sign what they are given. Gingrich did it by slashing federal spending and drastically shrinking the size of government. Again, nice try.

And yet another lie. Romney and republicans are for less debt, Obama and democrats are the ones piling up $1.3 trillion more a year with no end in sight.

Sorry, as senator Obama he did indeed create this. Next.

If all you liberals have is Bain this and Bush that, then you need to get out of the way and let real progress take place. It's already been proven that Romney didn't send jobs overseas (see Washington Post article).

Luke dont bother.....post your opinions and let them be abusive and belligerent. Mr. Romneys record at Bain is that of 80 % success. Any one would take that record.... lets see Mr. Obama's record company on investments of our money.

Stereo liars...

Liberals are liars, that's all they have left.

Corporations are NOT sitting on tax payer stimulus money. They are sitting on foreign profits they don't dare bring into the country because Obama will tax the hell out of it. Because of Obamacare no business in it's right mind wants to spend until they see what the bureaucrats do with it. 13,000 new regulations just for starters.

Getting old because the truth hurts, no wonder you want everyone to forget it so badly!

Please break out for me which regulations are local and which ones are federal. I'll be most of those are local/state. That has been my experience in my state. As for environmental laws, let me get this straight: you don't want to leave your children and grandchildren debt, but you don't mind if you leave them air they can't breath. Just asking. I'm in my late 50s'. No matter you dirty the air gets, my bet is I'll be gone way before I need a gas mask to enjoy a debt-free society.

I repeat, Obamacare: 13,000 new regulations and it's just getting started. EPA: ten new regulations a day. They have gone way beyond protecting the environment and are now on a mission to destroy all industry.

It's a typical propaganda ploy of the radical left to claim all or nothing, of course it's a lie. You can protect the environment without going broke, at least republicans can.

Where can I find information about how republicans can protect the environment? You used to be able to find conservative proposals about healthcare (it used to be called a mandate) but that became a liberal/socialist cause. The republicans have touted tort reform as key to lowering healthcare costs. Nothing in the ACA prevents them from using their majority in the House to pass that bill. Where is it?

So you don't think Romney's 5 trillion dollar tax cut for his rich buddies is going to contribute any to the debt? Right.

"CZARS"... ah yes, another reich-wing term that Fox made up, instant credibility fail!

govhater,,,that is what your phrophet obama calls them himself and he has enough to make red russia proud! Maybe you should quit getting ALL your news from sargent "slut" shultz and rick maddcow and have a thought of your own! Talk to me straight up instead of blameing every single thing on something or someone else like your king obama does!

Again, just another liberal Reichwing lie. That's all they have.

Valhalla Phil

Phil, I would like you to explain why it is a lie. It is easy to be critical but very difficult to be right. But I am not saying you are wrong I just would like to hear your explanation. Thanks

Mid to late 90s huh? Wasn't that around the time the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA was passed? Wasn't the World Trade Orginzation or WTO started on January 1,1995? I seem to remember some fierce debates over NAFTA and the GATT (WTO) treaty between Bush 1, Clinton, and Ross Perot. While Perot was considered a right wing loon he did say that those 2 treaties would totally destroy our manufacturing industries. Clinton won Bush 1 lost, Perot lost. We got NAFTA and GATT and our manufacturing sector lost too. I guess that crazy right wing loon, Perot, was right in the end.

There are alot of job bills passed by congress already but that COWARD dingy harry reid will not even bring them up for a debate less a vote! Bring it up democratic mooching COWARDS and let the people see the truth!

And almost all of the bills would have created more jobs than the administration has by spending billions.