October 4, 2012

"Mitt Romney will create 12 million new jobs, when President Obama couldn't."



A new ad, which reminds me of promises Obama made the first time around. Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises? Perhaps the answer should be yes. Either do what you said or you must rotate out and give the other guy a chance to try to do what he says. If he can't, we'll oust him too.

345 comments:

1 – 200 of 345   Newer›   Newest»
John said...

Yep... that's pretty much how it works. (This is aside from the fact that President Obama has no idea how to actually create a job, other than a taxpayer-funded government job. So there's that, too.)

traditionalguy said...

That sounds like Clint Eastwood wisdom.

Bob Ellison said...

Twelve million divided by 48 months in office is 250k/month, roughly 100k/month above steady state. That's about five million jobs above par.

And he's pulling it out of his ass, just like Obama four years ago. If it happens, great, but don't give him all the credit. If it doesn't happen, don't give him all the blame.

Gabriel Hanna said...

Either do what you said or you must rotate out and give the other guy a chance to try to do what he says. If he can't, we'll oust him too.

The Founders couldn't have said it better. A government for men, not angels.

"Throw the bums out" is nearly always appropriate. No incumbent should ever feel safe. However, in practice we rarely hold them to anything--most people think that maybe Congress is full of bums, but our guy's not too bad.

Problem is everyone else is thinking the same.

I'm starting to think Congress, or at least the House, should be selected by lot, like the republic of Venice. But they only kept it going for about 1500 years, so what do they know?

Seeing Red said...

He did keep 1 promise, energy prices will necessarily skyrocket.

And he's effectively found a way around those "negative rights" in The Constitution.

tiger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
prairie wind said...

Politicians should resist the temptation to promise anything they cannot deliver...and jobs is one of those things. The president can work to stay out of the way of the private sector and he can leave as much money in the private sector as possible and he can work to reduce the size and reach of the federal government and he can return as many federal employees as possible to the private sector where they can start businesses. THEN the private sector can create jobs as they need. If that's what he means, he should say that.

I hope that's what he means.

TosaGuy said...

“If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” -- Barack Obama, February 2009.

Patrick said...

Mitt Romney will create 0 jobs unless he loses the election and goes back to business.

If he wins, though, he seems smart enough to help get the government out of the way so other businessmen and women can create jobs.

tiger said...

"A new ad, which reminds me of promises Obama made the first time around. Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises? Perhaps the answer should be yes. Either do what you said or you must rotate out and give the other guy a chance to try to do what he says. If he can't, we'll oust him too."

I'm slightly agog that you post this as if it was a revelation.

WHY would you keep anyone in office who is doing a poor/bad job?

Professor, would you keep a TA who was doing poorly at teaching your students? Would you keep using the same mechanic if he didn't fix your car? Heck, you're on your second marriage, why didn't you stay with the first guy (I ask rhetorically)?

If ANYTHING, we should be quicker to get rid of a lousy politician than a marriage or a mechanic; what they do - or don't do, as in Obama not honoring his promises to the nation - affects far more people than a front-end alignment.

TosaGuy said...

Professional sports teams don't renew the contracts of players who can't play.

Those that do have the same amount of success as the Chicago Cubs.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

The only effective means government has to "create" jobs is to lower taxes and decrease regulation. The government never has, and never will, create the wealth that is necessary to "create" jobs, and they can't do it merely by robbing Peter to pay Paul. The best thing government can do is to remove as many restrictions on commerce as it can safely do. That's the closest govermnment will ever come to "creating" jobs.

MadisonMan said...

Channel 27 has a live stream from Bascom (Tammy is talking -- Herb Kohl just finished) but there's no sound.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If he can't, we'll oust him too.

Clint Eastwood said something along those lines...

"When somebody does not do the job we've gotta let them go".

DADvocate said...

If Obama had made an honest effort, it'd be something, but he didn't.

Here's where the jobs went when he bailed out GM.

Dan Akerson, CEO of GM said in Shanghai, China, in February 2011:

“Seven out of ten automobiles were made outside of the United States. We have 11 joint ventures in China with SAIC and FAW. We operate 11 assembly plants in China, four power train plants in eight cities across the country. We have more than 2,700 dealerships and sales outlets nationwide.

Anonymous said...

Mitt's message for the people who will be doing the actual hiring: "You aren't going to build that."

SteveR said...

Listen, if Romney (or Obama for that matter) frees up the energy industry, specifically oil, gas and coal, there will not only be plenty of jobs created in those industries, the resultant economic boom due to lower energy prices will also create jobs.

This is low hanging fruit, there is no mystery.

Seven Machos said...

Romney is going to create jobs just by virtue of creating an environment where business owners of all sizes feel confident hiring people.

That said, putting out a number in the millions does strike me as silly. However, all politicians do it. Either it polls well or it's just one of those ideas that campaign managers can't get away from, like the way architects could only design glass boxes or cement monstrosities in the 1960s.

Larry J said...

Government can't be a net creator of jobs but it sure can do things to kill them. Things like what Obama has been doing such as increasing the regulatory burden, pushing for higher taxes on job creators (especially small business), driving up the cost of energy (restricting offshore oil drilling and energy production on public lands and driving over 100 coal powered powerplants out of business).

The converse is true as well. Get the government off of business's back by reducing the regulatory burden. Cut the corporate tax rate (among the highest in the world) and do things to stimulate investment. Those are things Romney can work with Congress to achieve but are fundamentally opposite of everything Obama believes. Get government out of the way and watch the jobs get created.

chickelit said...

Mitigate the pain going forward--vote Romney.

Litigate the bain going forward--vote Obama.

MadisonMan said...

Oh jeeze. The guy talking just asked everyone to text donate to the President.

I hope my daughter skipped that part.

Synova said...

12 million jobs isn't a miracle, really. Or it shouldn't be. What unemployment percent would that get us down to? Is it more than just a couple of points?

I'm not trying to dis the claim, somehow, just point out that it might be an ambitious claim, but it shouldn't be an amazing one.

Not like lowering the ocean or something.

chickelit said...

(Tammy is talking -- Herb Kohl just finished) but there's no sound.

A feature, not a bug!

MadisonMan said...

(Here is another live stream)

DADvocate said...

This is low hanging fruit, there is no mystery.

Obama's created an environment of fear and uncertainty. He talks of destroying the coal industry. Power plants are going off line. He sends his goons after Gibson Guitars and other enemies of the state. He supports thugs at the polls and in the unions. Few want to risk building new businesses or expanding existing ones in this environment.

garage mahal said...

Pretty good sized crowd from earlier today here. Police Chief said 30,000

vbspurs said...

Chrissakes, the President of the United States doesn't create jobs -- he's not a central planning dictator. But he does create Administration policies which foster a positive business environment (or not).

This is what Mitt Romney will do. God willing.

Cheers,
Victoria

Tim said...

"Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises? Perhaps the answer should be yes."

No, that's not the way to think about it.

Some promises, for good reasons, can't be kept.

Grown ups know that.

The reason we must oust Obama is because he is a complete failure.

To be fair, that he couldn't be anything but a complete failure isn't entirely his fault.

Voters who willfully failed to see through the charade bear the lion's share of responsibility.

If we've learned anything (yes, a dubious proposition, to be sure), Obama will always remain the least experienced man ever nominated by a major political party for president.

Seven Machos said...

Police Chief said 30,000

So, high five figures...

Synova said...

Of course he said "my plan will"... if his plan isn't implemented even if he's President then his plan won't.

But some things should have been a "no-brainer" for Obama. First among those is/was doing everything possible to prioritize cheap, abundant, energy. But the greenies shut down pipelines and vilify coal and oil and certainly fracking, none of the "stimilous" was spent on energy infrastructure, it was spent on economically impossible solar and "green" development.

It's sort of "Duh!" isn't it, that the economy is not improved by forcing the development of industries that need continuing subsidies? Hey, you're sick. Call the surgeon so he can come to your house and bleed you.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Looks like CNN is carrying the Univerity of Obama Rally.

chickelit said...

Hey thanks for that livestream, Madison Man. That looks familar...right across the mall from the Law School? No wonder Althouse is peeeved about forced evacuation. She could have lived blogged it just feet from her office!

Synova said...

I've got nothing against solar and wind and everything but this is something to work on when we're not economically crippled.

It's like going to Mars. There's no reason for it at all but to feel good about yourself.

furious_a said...

What unemployment percent would that get us down to? Is it more than just a couple of points?

And is that Net or Gross? Obama team likes to tout 4.xM jobs created, but they neglect to count the 4.2M jobs lost (acc to CNN last night) s/t that net is +125K jobs over the full term.

Thought I'd seen a report totalling the jobs that needed to be created to absorb growth in the labor force, but found this:

For the United States to return to full employment—finding work for the currently unemployed and accommodating new entrants into the labor force this decade—the US economy will need to create 21 million jobs by 2020, according to MGI's analysis.

...or about 206K jobs/month.

chickelit said...

@garage: 30 odd years later...I still see a bunch of pink Big Birds standing on one leg: link

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Teleprompters are standing by..

vbspurs said...

Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises? Perhaps the answer should be yes.

Must we. Perhaps. Should.

Maybe it's just me, but the Professor sounds like a glum kid who woke up after having lost a fight with her parents. It's just dawning on the kid that the inevitable is now around the corner.

SteveR said...

Obama's created an environment of fear and uncertainty.

Like I said, he could do it still, but he obviously won't. Right off the bat last night he converted a jobs question into an education funding answer. He DOESN'T know how to create jobs.

bagoh20 said...

Yea, that's the way it works in the real world. Perform or be replaced. There are places where that is not the way, and they all are wasteful at best, and completely dysfunctional and corrupt at worst. They always involve being able to generate revenue by force, monopoly, or tradition: government, big business/unions, and education.

The more we separate these things from their guaranteed income, the better they will all be at what they do and what they cost us.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Obama promised to cut the deficit in HALF.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Is that the limo?

furious_a said...

Either do what you said or you must rotate out and give the other guy a chance to try to do what he says. If he can't, we'll oust him too.

I like the narrowing cycle of control of Congress -- 40 years of Rs in the wilderness (except for '80-'86 in the Senate) until '94, followed by 12 for the D's until '06, followed by four for Rs (in the House) until '10. Term limits not only for actual seats but also for Committee Chairmen.

bagoh20 said...

"Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises?"

There is a much better method. Can you guess what it is professor?

garage mahal said...

12 million jobs isn't a miracle, really. Or it shouldn't be

12 million jobs is what the CBO and Moody's predicts by 2016 regardless of who is in the White House.

No Apology!

vbspurs said...

I tuned into CNN having read here that CNN was covering the Madison rally. What do I find but a roundtable of hysterical journos under a headline "What Obama Needs To Do Now".

Though they left off the !!!!!!!!, you can feel it. DELICIOUS.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'll make a promise on behalf of Obama. If obama is re-elected, I promise you our economy will stall, and we will face another, deeper recession. In fact, I predict a full-on depression. The only group to rake it in? Obama's donors and cronies. In other words - more of the same.
And that's a promise.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

12 million jobs is what the CBO and Moody's predicts by 2016 regardless of who is in the White House.

Oh.. did they also predicted the 8% unemployment?

Or is that NOT something they... create?

MadisonMan said...

Basketball team is there. I saw that there was a twitter campaign to get Obama to play pick-up with the basketball team. (It didn't work, but maybe they got a face-to-face meet, and since they just showed up, maybe it's almost time for Obama to appear)

MadisonMan said...

Channel 27 feed so much better than channel 3

chickelit said...

Who's that man behind that curtain?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The election is personal?

MadisonMan said...

Look at all those smartphones!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I was going to say her pounds are personal... but that would be ugly.

chickelit said...

@Lem: she spoke with gravitas.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Obama is stamering with with the telepromter?

MadisonMan said...

An uninspiring speech so far. Go and vote. Eesh.

chickelit said...

"Find out how to vote"

Priceless!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

@Lem: she spoke with gravitas.

ha!

chickelit said...

Obama just made Limbaugh sound prescient.

garage mahal said...

2 seconds in and Madison Man haz a sadz!

(I'm live tweeting)

MadisonMan said...

I don't think it's a good tactic to talk only about Romney. What are you going to do Mr. President?

chickelit said...

Madison Man is honest and up front--unlike you garage.

Synova said...

In any case, it's a really conservative "promise" isn't it?

We don't tend to think about what numbers mean. Kids maybe don't have the conceptual ability but even grown-ups hear 12 Million Jobs and think it's an outrageous claim (which may be why he isn't actually promising a better improvement). They hear 124K jobs added in July and think that Obama did something to cheer about.

It *feels* like progress? What?

I'm not a number person, normally, but our debt is 16 Trillion and the whole freaking UNIVERSE is only 14 or 15 Billion years old.

I hear the numbers and I'm all, "and you think I should be happy over a little head wiggle?"

chickelit said...

"Tingle Down Economics" on display here.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

There is that middle out again.

chickelit said...

Four more beers!

I'll drink to that!

MadisonMan said...

I haven't seen a person in the live-stream yet that I know.

How come there isn't a sign-interpreter standing next to Obama for the hard of hearing?

I did like the Don't Boo, Moo line.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Sure.

Four more years in economic stagnation.

MadisonMan said...

Oh, it's Don't Boo, Vote.

Not so poetic.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Yea.. leaving the unemployed down wind.

MadisonMan said...

Yes, better mpg is better for your wallet, especially when gas is $4/gallon.

He hasn't mentioned fracking yet. That's a huge reason for more self-sufficiency.

Obama seems to have found a rhythm now.

Irene said...

Tammy Baldwin said Romney wants to "Etch a Sketch" the past.

Yes. Shake out the last four years and start over.

chickelit said...

I went to work for an oil company after garduating UW-Madison. I wonder if anyone still does that?

garage mahal said...

No flag pin. This SUX

MadisonMan said...

garage, no lapel to put it on!!

mccullough said...

It's a good ad. Obama's biggest weakness is not his poor record (it's a close second). His biggest weakness is that no one can imagine him doing anything to help the economy improve over the next four years. He has no ideas left other than to raise taxes on those who make $250,000 a year or more (an idea he had last time), and even he doesn't claim that raising taxes on these people will help the economy grow.

Obama's best promise might be to not spend any more money on green energy jobs. He promised 5 million of them, there are about 250,000 of them, and a lot of them came and went already after he spent $90 billion.

leslyn said...

"Must we oust Obama because he couldn't keep his promises? Perhaps the answer should be yes. Either do what you said or you must rotate out and give the other guy a chance to try to do what he says. If he can't, we'll oust him too."

1. Really? At the cost of bankrupting the nation?

2. And with a different president, is there any likelihood that Congress won't continue to filibuster our future away, given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?

MadisonMan said...

BTW, I'm sure Obama is happy to be down here nearer sea level with the rich oxygen supply that is common in Madison.

You can tell, he's so much more animated today! Al Gore was right!

And here comes the Sun too!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Obama stammers with the telepromter.

chickelit said...

Romeny ruled out stagnating the economy!

furious_a said...

Fact-checking those "fact" "checkers":

However, CNN fact-checked that claim and found it to be "not the whole picture." Instead, CNN found that there has been a net increase of just 300,000 nonfarm payroll jobs since Obama took office. And if you count government jobs, there are actually 400,000 fewer people working today than in January 2009."

Amazing what (the) One can accomplish when cherry-picking start/end points. In the private sector that would be known as "Sarbanes Oxley Section 302 Violation".

chickelit said...

Obama is begging for rematch debate!

MadisonMan said...

Obama shouldn't be talking about blowing up the deficit.

furious_a said...

Obama seems to have found a rhythm now.

It's easy to find a rhythm when your Straw Man isn't punching back.

chickelit said...

First unicorn sighted!

garage mahal said...

But getting rid of Sesame Street would save dozens of dollars!

#boomroasted #readthebill

crosspatch said...

12 million jobs over a 4 year term is actually quite modest of a proposal. In a growing economy, that number should be at 14 million or more. 12 million is roughly 200,000 jobs per month. Obama was criticizing Bush when the number fell below 300,000/month.

MadisonMan said...


It's easy to find a rhythm when your Straw Man isn't punching back.

SOP for a political speech, no?

chickelit said...

He really can't stop punishing us for his mom's plight.

MadisonMan said...

I'm very glad he says Wisconsin, not Wesconsin.

Patrick said...

1. Really? At the cost of bankrupting the nation?

You're voting for the guy who pushed the failed stimulus that cost over $800 Billion, and you're also concerned about bankrupting the nation? Are you expecting different results than the complete failure he's been so far?

Patrick said...

The President wants his mulligan. Who are you to say no to him, peon?!

JackWayne said...

Of all the memes on the left, this one is one of the most delusional:

"given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?"

chickelit said...

He never lost Madison....

chickelit said...

Can I haz bratwurst now?

Tim said...

So happy I'm missing this miserable failure ramble on to a crowd of idiots, misfits and alienated posuers with platitudes and half-baked bromides.

Some people chase success.

But not this president.

Rock on, Obama, rock on: You give new meaning to "sucking failure."

Synova said...

"2. And with a different president, is there any likelihood that Congress won't continue to filibuster our future away, given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?"

What incentive do the Republicans have to be moderate? They'll get called racist and extreme scary-scary steal your ladyparts theocratists ANYWAY so where is the upside?

Thing is, those "held hostage by the far right wing" ARE moderate, so my point is proven. They may as well get on the Tea Party wagon and just go for it and fix our spendy, progress sucking, run-away government since they're going to be portrayed as monsters anyhow.

MadisonMan said...

I can see why he likes coming here

Synova said...

Maybe Leslyn can articulate what Obama will do that will work.

Bail out GM again?

Tim said...

Jack Wayne said...

"Of all the memes on the left, this one is one of the most delusional:

"given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?"


That, and "The Nazi's WEREN'T Socialists!"

Oops.

Godwin's Law.

Ugly.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Gotta go, before my internet privileges are revoked - or more people chose to protect our failed president from that fact being acknowledged.

Ugly. So ugly.

edutcher said...

It may not be 12 million, but good jobs in a growing economy will get the Romster a second term - if he wants it.

tiger said...

I'm slightly agog that you post this as if it was a revelation.

WHY would you keep anyone in office who is doing a poor/bad job?


The warmup for "How Barry Lost Me"?

vbspurs said...

I tuned into CNN having read here that CNN was covering the Madison rally. What do I find but a roundtable of hysterical journos under a headline "What Obama Needs To Do Now".

Though they left off the !!!!!!!!, you can feel it. DELICIOUS.


He better hope no more revelations come out about Fast & Furious, Lybia, Arab Spring, A-stan, etc., etc.

BTW, lovely conversing with you again, mum.

furious_a said...

MM: SOP for a political speech, no?

This is rhythm, with interruptions from the audience.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MadisonMan said...

Tim, why so bitter?

It's a beautiful day here now, a little cool, but the sun is out, the Fall Colors are great.

Life is excellent.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

Green jobs! Cut the deficit! Insurance for all! Bridge the partisan divide! Obama's economic outcomes reminds me about a time a couple were going to spend a week on the coast of Columbia. They found a real deal and signed up for it only to realize somewhere along the way that the city was not, say, Cartagena in Columbia but a town in the interior of Mexico where they stayed a week.

Curious George said...

"MadisonMan said...
I can see why he likes coming here"

So where was he during the recalls? Every fucking place but there.

Seeing Red said...

--2. And with a different president, is there any likelihood that Congress won't continue to filibuster our future away, given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?---


We are bankrupt

and if Romney were president it would be DEM Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who would and actually does filibuster.


3 years no budget.

Brennan said...

The only effective means government has to "create" jobs is to lower taxes and decrease regulation.

This isn't true. Of course the government can create jobs. They can create a regulation that will create a job. It will probably destroy a job to do so, but it will create one.

The real problem is that subsidizing jobs with government spending and regulation is a recipe for reduced GDP growth which exacerbates deficits.

Brian Brown said...

garage mahal said...


12 million jobs is what the CBO and Moody's predicts by 2016 regardless of who is in the White House.


A. Bullshit

B. Those projections are off by orders of magnitude given that the net job growth over the last 4 years is 30,000

furious_a said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
garage mahal said...

I think this is the visual Obama was looking for

Alex said...

First of all the 8% U-6 rate represents those still collecting unemployment benefits because they can demonstrate they are STILL looking for work. There is another 8% points that have stopped looking. The real rate is 16-20%. The question we have to ask is 15% real unemployment the new floor and normal?

Brian Brown said...

leslyn said...

1. Really? At the cost of bankrupting the nation?


Hysterical.

Apparently in your pea brain $16+ trillion in debt and borrowing $3 billion per day is not "bankrupt"

Idiot.

Seeing Red said...

MORMON DEMOCRAT Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...LOLOLOLOL

Brennan said...

John Kerry's 80,000 in Madison can't really compete with Obama's 30,000 in the rain.

Seeing Red said...

$3 go out - $1 comes in.

It can't go on.

furious_a said...

leslyn: 2. And with a different president, is there any likelihood that Congress won't continue to filibuster our future away, given that the Republican party is held hostage by the far right wing?

...let me fix that for you...

2. And with a different president, is there any likelihood that Majority Leader Reid can get a budget voted out of the Senate, given that he hasn't done so in almost 1,300 days?

...there you go!

Alex said...

Can leslyn explain how many more trillions in debt are A-OK before we have to worry?

Alex said...

Let me guess debt at 200% GDP would be OK because Japan has that and they're doing fine. So I guess 300% would be "start worrying time", which means we can pile up debt like drunken sailors the next 8 years!

Let the good times roll and pass out the margaritas!

Brennan said...

There is another 8% points that have stopped looking. The real rate is 16-20%.

Higher. Add in SSDI collectors.

furious_a said...

Can leslyn explain...

Leslyn thinks "Congress" can "filibuster", so, no, probably not.

leslyn said...

So, Synova and furious_a: Congress is broken and nobody can fix it, I think that's your bottom line.

and Tim: the Nazi's really weren't socialists.

Alex said...

So since we know the debt is a non-issue, that leaves us with unemployment and foreign policy.

Obama has already said he will hire 100K new teachers and will negotiate with Iran.

Sounds good to me!

Hagar said...

We are still "recessing" since the rate of growth is less than the rate of inflation.

I think all this talk about "creating jobs" is BS and actually harmful.

Jobs are a secondary effect of increased business activity, and the talk should be about how to stimulate business. For government, that is mostly about providing a stable monetary system and regulatory protections against fraud other harmful social behaviors, but otherwise getting out of the way so that private enterprise can work.

IOW, the horse pulls the wagon; the wagon does not push the horse.

Alex said...

leslyn - the answer is to elect a Democrat majority House and let them rule for 40 years in a row.

MadisonMan said...

John Kerry's 80,000 in Madison can't really compete with Obama's 30,000 in the rain.

Those 80K came out to see Bruce, and that was a much better spot. Getting to Bascom Hill is a lot harder traffic-wise than getting to W Wash.

I don't think you can say it was raining here. Sure, it spit a couple times -- 10 minutes, total.

@Garage, that is a good visual. My daughter is somewhere in that picture.

Seeing Red said...

So how did the 100K cops Bubba was going to hire work out?

leslyn said...

Jay and Alex: Can you explain to me how a tax cut with no explainable increase in revenues will not sink us?

Alex said...

Hagar - businesses are increasingly innovative and efficient, requiring less workers every year. Sure a boom in business will lead to a short term employment spike, but will do nothing to reverse the long-term trend towards automation. Heck, I hear Chinese manufacturing like Foxconn talking about replacing a million workers with robots by 2015.

Seeing Red said...

So, Synova and furious_a: Congress is broken and nobody can fix it, I think that's your bottom line.



No Congress is working like it's supposed to.

Alex said...

leslyn - Romney has promised to close the loopholes that will help offset KEEPING the lower tax rate. Of course it's your choice if you think he's lying.

Seeing Red said...

Jay and Alex: Can you explain to me how a tax cut with no explainable increase in revenues will not sink us?



How do you know there will be no explainable increase in revenues?

Alex said...

So Obama will hire 100K cops, 100K teachers and 100K green energy jobs. That's 300K jobs. Where are the other 12 million?

Alex said...

Of course a consequence of closing loopholes is capital flight to foreign nations. There is nothing much you can do about that. America does not own the capitalists. They can survive anywhere.

Alex said...

Liberals would have us believe that Obama only needs 4 more years to perform his magic. Then they will say that there is nothing Obama can do, it's out of his hands. Then they will say it's better to have the raging fool Obama in there rather then a Republican who would do "horrific" damage.

Does that pretty much summarize lefties?

Baron Zemo said...

Maybe we can just spend less.

I know that is radical but we could give it a try.

Alex said...

Baron - name the cuts and I'm talking at least $1 trillion a year.

Baron Zemo said...

Everything should be on the table.

Domestic spending. Entitlements. Miltary spending. Everything.

Baron Zemo said...

Well lets start with Big Bird.

Alex said...

Baron - you would slash Medicare & SocSec? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, dealing with enraged seniors with pitchforks and torches!

Alex said...

Why don't we give in to the liberal wetdream? Hike up tax rates on the wealthy, slash military spending to dangerously low levels and hike entitlements big time. Do that for 16 years in a row and then we'll know if it works.

Tim said...

MadisonMan said...

"Tim, why so bitter?"

Only about Obama, my man, only about Obama.

Everything else is rockin' good.

My wife: healthy, marriage is solid or better, she's gainfully employed, and she's a wonderful mother.

My kids: healthy, happy, doing well in school.

Me? Healthy, gainfully employed, happy.

My dog? He's a Welsh Terrier. Nothing better than that.

My teams? The Giants - NL West Champions, with potential to win the Series.

The 'Niners? One disappointing loss; otherwise, in great shape to take on and defeat the rest of the NFL.

The weather? Better here than where you're at.

Our president? Complete loser. But he is what he is.

The people who voted for him? Inexplicably stupid, potentially critically so to the future of the nation. So yeah, I'm bitter about that.

Call me a a patriot discomfited and antagonized by the now proven intransigent irresponsibility of his fellow citizens. When it was 35%, I didn't much care. Now that it's 45% and growing, it's potentially fatal.

furious_a said...

Of course a consequence of closing loopholes is capital flight to foreign nations.

Was there capital flight after the 1986 Tax Reform Act, which also closed loopholes in return for lowered marginal rates?

Baron Zemo said...

We don't have to slash anything dude. Relax yourself. Bennies won't be cut for current recipients. Ryan has outlined a decent program to get a handle on it.

But there are plenty of other earmarks and boondoogles and choo choo trains and other bullshit that can be cut. Plus lots of troops we can bring home.

It just takes will power.

Synova said...

"So, Synova and furious_a: Congress is broken and nobody can fix it, I think that's your bottom line."

What an odd thing to think.

How is congress broken? Also, there are a bunch of elections for the House and Senate going on, too, you know.

One party or the other in congress has been having to deal with the other party for ever. This time around the Democrats decided that Obama Care was worth burning their bridges. No one forced that bridge burning on them. No one forced the Democrats to play hard-ball. No one forced the exclusion the "I won" or destroying compromises that were negotiated in good faith. No one forced Reid to block budgets sent over by the House.

Also, did you explain what Obama intends to do to improve the economy or did I miss that.

Baron Zemo said...

But I get your argument Alex.

Social Security....BOO!!!!!

MadisonMan said...

name the cuts and I'm talking at least $1 trillion a year.

Why is there a Dept of Education? Axe it. Same for the Dept of Homeland Security. Axe the TSA too. (Those who crave security over freedom deserve neither.) I admit that this is not $1 Trillion. But like the busload of lawyers that goes over a cliff, it's a start.

Cedarford said...

TWM said...
Just read that somewhere between 58and 65 million watched that debate. Make of what that what you will, but I'm making it a bad thing for Barry.

=================
Over at Team Axelrod they are seeing those huge numbers that turned out for the 1st debate and wincing.

Now the bastards have to hope that Biden will show up and outsmart Ryan.

I predict that Slow Joe will do his "Workingman Hero" schtick since the Senator For Life is in tune with the common man.
And Ryan will come with traps ready to set that will show Biden clueless about important matters on simple facts the audience can see how dumb Biden is about - while avoiding the audience turnoff trap Ryan himself faces of appearing too wonkish, quiz kidish.

Ideally, Joe Biden says another couple of spectacularly dumb things to go with his history of saying really really dumb stuff....and after the debate, Republicans can get a little Sarah Palin payback.
Like ....
"IS JOE BIDEN REALLY READY TO BE PRESIDENT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO OBAMA?? SHOULD OBAMA REPLACE HIM WITH HILLARY??"

Thus forcing the Obamites to rally to and defend the damaged goods 2nd part of their Ticket.

IMO, VPs hardly count once you get past the question if they could step up and be President. But that question about Palin really hurt the Republicans with Independents and fence sitters. Would be excellent to see Obama have to spend days defending his dumb, embattled VP and insist "Joe" is still fit for the highest office

Alex said...

You can't touch social security, medicare, defense. That's 70% of your budget right there. The rest is interest on the debt and other departments. So keep scraping away at the 15% that is truly discretionary while not touching the 70%.

Darrell said...

Nazis weren't your kind of socialists, leslyn, but they were socialists nevertheless.

Alex said...

The problem with liberals like leslyn is they've been brought up to believe that government is "broken" when it isn't passing shitloads of legislation and regulations.

Baron Zemo said...

I sign on to that MadisonMan. In a hot minute.

Baron Zemo said...

You can cut Miltary spending if we take the boys back from places like Korea, Germany and lots of other places that they have in been in way too long.

Let's just send in the drones.
There ought to be drones.
Well maybe next year.

Alex said...

Believe me I know what I'm talking about. I've looked at the budgets for recent years and I know where most of the spending is.

It's in 4 distinct categories:

Social Security
Medicare
Defense
Direct welfare

Then other major parts:

Interest on debt
Departments of Education, Interior, Agriculture

Seeing Red said...

Doesn't matter if those are touched or not, SS & Medicare as we know it are over. The screaming hasn't really begun.

MadisonMan said...

I was hoping althouse would live-blog the speech, but then I remembered her teaching schedule.

Baron, are you signing onto the cuts, or to the busload of lawyers going over a cliff?

Charlie Martin said...

And he's pulling it out of his ass, just like Obama four years ago. If it happens, great, but don't give him all the credit. If it doesn't happen, don't give him all the blame.

Well, no -- that rate corresponse to something like a 3.5 percent average growth rate in GDP. It also corresponds, corrected for population, to what Reagan did in just over three years:
From the end of the 1981-82 recession through the end of of 1985 — the first 37 months of the Reagan recovery — the U.S.created 9.8 million net new jobs. And if you adjust for the larger U.S. population today, the comparable figure is more than 12 million jobs.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/08/sorry-stephanie-cutter-the-obama-recovery-hasnt-created-more-jobs-than-the-reagan-recovery/

Alex said...

Obama's budget for FY2013:

FY2013 budget

Discretionary:

Defense $699B
Non-defense - $600B(this includes all those departments Of)

Mandatory:

Entitlements - $2073B(SocSec, Medicare, Medicaid, TARP and welfare)
Interest - $230B

garage mahal said...

Romney is now on record in front of millions of people as wanting to murder Big Bird. We'll see how THAT plays out. I'm seeing many memes popping up all over the internet, he may have picked a fight with the wrong dude.

Alex said...

garage - Sesame Street only gets 10% of funding from the government. Are you telling me it can't survive on it's own? Why do we need government funded cartoons?

Seeing Red said...

Big Bird is owned by Disney, that evil capitalist corp.

In 140 countries, watched by 100 million people & Big Bird is poor?


Buy a Tickle Me Elmo.

Alex said...

Seriously I don't see swing voters being offended at cutting PBS funding. That dog won't hunt.

Darrell said...

You already beclowned yourself on other threads today with that Big Bird shit, Garage. Does Disney need a government subsidy for everything? Check your fax machine for new material.

Alex said...

If I were Obama I'd just continue the Bain Capital attacks, play class warfare to the hilt. Triple down on it.

Alex said...

I like that Romney is unapologetic about cutting funding to that evil den of vipers.

chickelit said...

Baron Zemo said...
Well lets start with Big Bird.

I'd love to see a video interview of Sarah Palin with Big Bird getting offed in the background. No reason to call attention to it--just get it done, quietly.

mccullough said...

Is Big Bird worth borrowing money from China to pay for?

Darrell said...

I'd love to see a video interview of Sarah Palin with Big Bird getting offed in the background

Exactly! Like that stunt the media set up when they told her to move--for the sake of better lighting--when it was only to catch the turkeys getting their necks wrung in the background.

chickelit said...

mccullough said...
Is Big Bird worth borrowing money from China to pay for?

Didn't most of our fiscal problems with China start around the time of those avian flu scares?

I say frogmarch that bird...four brownshirts at midnight...televised.

ricpic said...

There's a rumor going around that the Obama campaign has hired Crack to scare the bejesus out of Americans regarding the Mormon cult.

Synova said...

"According to the 990 tax form all nonprofits are required to file, Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 -- nearly a million dollars -- in compensation in 2008. And, from 2003 to 2006, 'Sesame Street' made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales."

Grabbed this from Big Hollywood.

furious_a said...

So, Synova and furious_a: Congress is broken and nobody can fix it, I think that's your bottom line.

Pull it out of your *ss much? The House (Budget Chairman Ryan) has. voted out a budget every session since Speaker Pelosi surrendered her gavel in 2010 (last session of her speakership they didn't).

Maybe replacing Majority Leader Reid, who, again has failed to produce a budget in almost 1,300 days, would be a good first step toward your " fix". Worked in the House!

Anonymous said...

Amazing rally! Lots of energy at least 30,000 people.

chickelit said...

ricpic said...
There's a rumor going around that the Obama campaign has hired Crack to scare the bejesus out of Americans regarding the Mormon cult.

He's doing it to get back at us--because we mocked him here.

Carnifex said...

Romney will not create 12 million jobs period. At best he can help foster a business climate that creates 12 million jobs.

The idea that the president creates or losses jobs is sheer lunacy. He can help lubricate the engine of prosperity, he can't put it into "D".

Ps.

Romney ain't gonna' help foster 12 million jobs either. The world economy is too effed up for that to happen. We do have 1 thing going for us right now. We're stabler than most of the rest of the world as far as business climate. Europe is falling into chaos, the ME is in flames, Asia with China dominate is afraid of what 2,000,000,000 chinese rice farmers are going to do when their wages can't keep up with the spiraling costs of an industrial society, S.America is still waiting for Brazil to do something or get off the pot while the dictators eyeball the drug cartels and their money.

Zero would be a shoe in for re-election if he had spent even a little effort at aleviating the unemployment problem. High gas prices, and inflation would make him vulnerable, but I think he would win re-election handily.

Also, if Zero care had been bi-partisan. Instead he rammed that bitch through, and fired up the republican base.

If he doesn't win re-election(and I don't think he will) we won't see another Democrat president for a decade.

Amartel said...

"Romney is now on record in front of millions of people as wanting to murder Big Bird."

Democrats and other children hardest hit.

dbp said...

The National Socialist German Workers' Party Totally, not-socialist.

chickelit said...

Inga said...
Amazing rally! Lots of energy at least 30,000 people.

Don't remind me--it's depressing that Romney lost all the student vote--and Madison too. What did he fail to promise?

rhhardin said...

You can create those jobs by reversing what Obama has done.

Every new regulation and additional cost makes more jobs uneconomic, and they simply disappear.

Take away the regulations and costs, and somebody will open a business with that job again. It's again economic.

Baron Zemo said...

Why should American taxpayers have to pay for Bert and Ernies gay marriage?

Enough is enough.

furious_a said...

Is Big Bird worth borrowing money from China to pay for?

...and all that Big Bird licensed merchandise made in China, to boot? We're getting screwed twice over! It's cartoon bird season, baby!

Baron Zemo said...

I mean if Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter were alive he would be the first to drive a stake through Count Von Count!

You could count on the that Count!

TosaGuy said...

"Amazing rally! Lots of energy at least 30,000 people."

Glad you had fun. Presidential campaign rallies are fun.

But only 30K? Madison had 100K rallies against Walker and we all know how that turned out.

chickelit said...

Take away the regulations and costs, and somebody will open a business with that job again. It's again economic.

This flatly contradicts the notion of the "Invisible Finger," a term coined by Barack Obama in his 2016 book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Dearth of Nations".

ricpic said...

I just read an interview with Heidi Klum, the recently liberated, who said that the thing she misses most about her birthplace, Germany, is the licorice. I kid you not. And on reflection she may have a point. I mean the licorice selection in the states is a scandal. And I for one couldn't be paid to put that red licorice in my mouth. So maybe we should start small on the way back to recover. By, for instance, emulating the Germans in licorice richness. Just a thought.

chickelit said...

If Klum is like the Dutch, she only eats black licorice. The anis flavored stuff.

furious_a said...

"Amazing rally! Lots of energy at least 30,000 people."

Lots of hugs and pats on the head and kisses for Barack's boo-boo. Meanwhile, Romney is keeping momentum campaigning in VA.

chickelit said...

@ricpic: Here's what I mean and what I suspect Klum misses: link

The stuff is nasty--spiced with salt instead of sugar.

wildswan said...

There would be more jobs if:
If the government got out of the way of energy independence
If the government stopped trying to destroy the coal industry
If the government redid Dodd Frank to make it clear
If the government stopped inflating the money supply and began balancing the budget so that US credit was restored
If Obamacare was repealed instead of waivers being issued to Obama's favorites
If illegal executive orders about clean air regulations were repealed
If the government stopped picking losers to subsidize

And Mitt Romney said last night he would do these things. So there would be a huge job increase right off. And this increase would feed itself. Why not 12 million jobs? There is huge pent up demand just like after WW II.

AllenS said...

"How Romney lost me. He's just like Obama!"

Nathan Alexander said...

Balance the budget:
1) cut the DoEd.
2) privatize TSA
3) end ag subsidies
4) break up DHS, DoInterior, DoEnergy, keep some essential core tasks
5) cut HUD
6) cut HHS
Make Entire govt use generally accepted accounting methods, especially the DoD
7) privatize SS
8) means-test Medicare
9) repeal the Hollywood tax cuts
10) pass law to end Hollywood accounting methods that make a film grossing $300m still be in the red
11) reduce the govt payroll through attrition (don't fire anyone, just don't hire new people)
12) 5% cut off all budgets across the board
13) freeze all budgets at that level for entire administration
14) approve more drilling permits, end ridiculous restrictions on coal plants, build the keystone Xxl pipeline, streamline nuclear plant approval process, end harassing suits blocking energy development (via stiffer penalties for frivolity lawsuits)
15) tort reform
16) retail medical clinics

How much does that save?

Lets say $700 billion/year.

The rest will come from the vast expansion of revenue from the economy growing at above 4%/year due to reductions on onerous regulations, more fair (flatter) tax code that reduces taxes and so encourages people to work more since they can keep more of what they earn, the energy production boost, and the fact that we'll be one of the few in-f***ed-up nations in the world, so we can sell citizenships for a decently high price...means-tested?

garage mahal said...

Heard the Tea Party had a huge handful of people at their little counter rally. Hope they weren't too inconvenienced by the downtown being shutdown.

coketown said...

I haven't been paying much attention. Has Romney said, "I will create 12 millions new jobs"? Or is it his ads saying he'll do so?

I'm just thinking ahead to 2016, when the campaign ads start running. You HAVE to have a clip of the person saying what you're saying they're saying. You can't have a clip of the campaign ad that has the superimposed words "12 million new jobs!" It's too easily denied by the candidate--like, "Oh, I didn't promise that. It was just a projection."

What's biting Obama in the ass is the careless way he tossed around promises. Halve the deficit, close Guantanamo, a green-collar job in every pot, and a bun aborted from every oven, etc. The GOP is running clips of Obama muttering these things, and that's what's devastating.

I hope the economy improves by then, but I doubt it. I would relish that line at the debate. "You're right, Hilary. I didn't create 12 million jobs. I created 20 million--one for every dollar I gave to charity during my first term."

furious_a said...

Good times: Stephanie Cutter is on CNN right now shouting "PROVE IT! PROVE IT!!"at Erin Burnett about CNN's fact-checking of the Obama campaign's claim that Romney's tax cut costs $5T.

"You're very loyal, Stephanie.". Oh, SNAP!

caseym54 said...

Anne, this time around there's a Tea Party that isn't going away. If Romney goes native in DC, we'll primary his ass. Maybe with Ryan if it's bad enough.

Carnifex said...

Madison was the perfect place for Zero to rest his bruised ass...I mean ego from the pounding Romney did to it last night. As liberal as they come, not as militant crazy as Frisco, or Berzerkley.(he would just withdraw completely if the lefty militants jumped in his shit too)

Here, for Zero..."Comfortably Numb"--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQWszrZHBPI

Carnifex said...

Thanx Garage...I've never had another guy describe me as a huge handful. You're gonna make me blush, and Andy jealous.

yashu said...

And on reflection she may have a point. I mean the licorice selection in the states is a scandal.

Tell me about it. And what of marzipan? An outrage. Ugh overly sweet American marzipan. When it comes to marzipan (and marzipan alone), I'm an oikophobe.

MadisonMan said...

Is Big Bird worth borrowing money from China to pay for?

CPB cuts will not happen. This is a Republican Talking Point that is thrown out as meat to the base every election. Then it dies in Congress.

USA Fiscal woes cannot be solved by cutting CPB.

MadisonMan said...

200!

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