Man, Don't You Just Hate This Economy?

[fintstone]

MAN, DON'T YOU JUST HATE THIS ECONOMY?
Neal Boortz

The Federal Reserve Bank reported yesterday that U.S. household wealth reached a new record. Sadly, most of the people in this country received the totality of their economic education in government schools. They couldn't explain the difference between gross and net, they think that the government distributes wealth, and they believe that tax cuts are a "give-away." Because of this these poorly educated Americans will have no understanding what this new record in household wealth means. It means that you're richer, you fools! And guess what? John Kerry didn't do this for you!

Wait! There's more!

While The Poodle continues to bark about the sagging economy, the net loss of jobs and accuse President Bush of the excuse presidency, the economy in the United States continues to boom. First up, let's look at the unemployment rate, currently at a very low 5.4%. That's lower than the average rate of the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. That's also lower than it was when Bill Clinton was re-elected over Bob Dole in 1996. Funny...the media never found unemployment high then, yet they're talking about 5.4% not being very low. Media bias at its finest.

Another telling statistic is New York's unemployment. It is now back at it's pre-9/11 levels, at 6.7%. That's down from July's 7.5% and 8.4% last year. In the state hardest hit by the terrorist attacks, the economy is booming. Home ownership is at record levels too, by the way. What else is it going to take for the media and the Democrats to admit the economy is booming? The answer is that they'll never admit the economy is improving. It just ain't in them.

Let's review:

Unemployment is lower than the average of the last 30 years
Unemployment in New York is back to pre-9/11 levels
Home ownership is at record levels
U.S. household wealth is at record levels
So what's the problem? Only a dishonest partisan hack determined to defeat the president for re-election could argue that the economy is anything less than robust.

How dare you post good news, you, you, you...... dirty neocon.............

[chuckw951]

I was listening to a commentator this morning talk about the jobs and income this morning. He was saying that while income is up and many people are employed, a good number of them are underemployed (MBAs working at McDonalds I guess!) and that is what Mr. Kerry is talking about when he mentions "job quality."

If the media didn't provide analysis with the facts I wouldn't know what to think!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The way unemployment is reported has changed as well (mostly to the benefit of the current administration). It does not count those who have been unemployed so long they are no longer eligible for benefits (I know several people in this category - and yes, they're actively looking - one is a very well-trained MBA, one is a biochemist, one is a retail manager, and one is a designer, so it ain't limited to one area of the economy either). It also does not include people that are "under-employed". I know several of those as well (no benefits, no regular hours, getting paid far less than they're worth, etc.)

[fintstone]

Originally posted by chuckw951
I was listening to a commentator this morning talk about the jobs and income this morning. He was saying that while income is up and many people are employed, a good number of them are underemployed (MBAs working at McDonalds I guess!) and that is what Mr. Kerry is talking about when he mentions "job quality."

If the media didn't provide analysis with the facts I wouldn't know what to think!

If this were true (except in isolated cases) the wealth of the average family in the US would not be at an all time high. While ther are exceptions to every rule (and loiberals are quick to point them out), most folks that are mobile and want to work, make just about what they are worth. Some folks with MBAs, etc just are not worth very much. A fellow can sit for years in a classroom and be totally useless in actual work situations.

[speeder]

The wealth of the average family in the U.S. is a function of one thing, and one thing only right now: a super-heated real estate market that is fueled by a combination of low interest rates and overpopulation.

It is very handy for a dishonest politician to have this BS statistic to hang his ass-hat on right now, but don't insult us here on the board w/ this crap.

Are there some (temporarily) lucky segments of the population right now? Of course, and there always are. Even in the worst of historical times. The overall economic picture for the U.S., (and the rest of the Western world), is pretty ******* bleak right now unless we get some smarter and less corrupt leadership in place pronto.

[fintstone]

Originally posted by speeder
.........Are there some (temporarily) lucky segments of the population right now? Of course, and there always are. Even in the worst of historical times.....

I guess that illustrates the basic difference between liberals and conservatives...Liberals rely on luck... while conservatives rely on themselves.

[tabs]

Ohhhh Denis are U trying to bait the Conseratives....

I remember back in the early 1990's with Clinton, that the Conseratives were bemoaning the fact that all those jobs created were Walmart or Mick D's type of jobs. That there weren't good paying jobs being created....that was the era when corporations were becoming lean and mean to compete with those crafty foreigners who were beating Ameraica at it's own game...Remember how the Jap's were thought of......See the Sean Connery movie "Rising Sun" if you can't remember....LOL

[Icemaster]

Define "wealth"...

Cash on hand? Equity? Credit? Investment portfolios? What????

It makes a difference...

[tabs]

Total value of all assets - debt = Net Worth

[tabs]

Oh the real test is how much money you have in LIQUID ASSETS... Stocks, Bonds, Money Market, CD's, IRA's, CASH etc

Anybody can get have a high net worth if you include the ill liquid assets ....RE, and all other hard assets...

About 7 or 8 years ago Bill Gates took 5B out of Micro Soft...and gave it to a money manager...who put it basically into the MuncipleBond Market....from which Bill collects a mere 175M a year tax free.....

[Icemaster]

I know how I calculate wealth, what I want to know is how the statisticians that provide the facts for news pieces like this are calculating wealth.

I'd bet its different than you and I are Tabby....

[nostatic]

I would venture a guess that family incomes are at an all time high due to the usual salary creep combined with the fact that for most families both adults work, and often more than one job per person.

Its kinda like box office records...another BS statistic. How can you compare movies by box office $$$ when ticket prices keep rising? Answer? You can't. The figure doesn't mean what people assume it means.

[cegerer]

It's tough out there.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by nostatic
I would venture a guess that family incomes are at an all time high due to the usual salary creep combined with the fact that for most families both adults work, and often more than one job per person.

Imagine how many more people could have jobs if weren't for these over-achieving job hogs!

Randy

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Actually the way I look at it is:

Liberals rely on the good of mankind and the willingness of one person to help another and provide an engine for equality in an otherwise unfair system.

Conservatives rely on greed, exploitation, and a system deliberately "stacked" towards preserving the wealth and power of those that already have it.

Depends on your perspective I guess.

[cegerer]

You've got to be kidding, right? You've bought into the biggest stereotype around. Conservatives believe in self-reliance. That doesn't mean we're greedy, or have 'won life's lottery' or don't help others. The liberal method of handing somebody a government check every month isn't 'helping' anyone, it destroys dignity, ambition and self-worth and sentences a person (or generations of people) to a substandard life. Just take a look at what's happened in this country over the past 50 years of the liberal's "New Deal".

Liberals tend to view others as helpless - life's lotto simply didn't shine on them and there's nothing that can be done other than for "us" to babysit them. I'm not saying everyone is capable of starting a business or obtaining an engineering degree. Obviously, they aren't. But at the least, if the government's going to redistribute wealth, it should provide all able-bodied recipients with the dignity of some sort of government job so they earn their monthly check and have a chance of developing self-worth and an employable skill.

[speeder]

A hint for the ignorant and/or dishonest: When an economy is actually good, you don't need the propaganda machine in overdrive telling people how good it is in contrast to their actual real life experience. When an economy is good, people know it. You BS artists don't give the American people much credit, that's for sure.

Unemployment statistics? How about counting people whose benefits have expired and are no longer counted. Better yet, count actual # of jobs, (good and bad), that have been lost under this administration. They have the worst record since the great depression, while at the same time allowing an unlimited supply of cheap, illegal labor to enter the country. They are not alone in this, but previous administrations did not have the giant sucking sound of jobs leaving on top of this.

Tax cuts? That's like your credit card company doing you the favor, , of lowering your minimum monthly payment while simultaneously adding $100k on to everyone's total CC debt for some spending that the home office has to do for "your CC security"....

Actually, there was a study done a couple years ago when the tax cut was new, a huge majority of people earning less than $100k a year said that they would use their chump-change refund to pay down their CC bills. Wonderful. So all Bush the cogsucker really did was transfer several billion $$ from private debt to public debt. Such a genius, this guy.

Newsflash for conservatives: If it's "your money", (and it is), then it's also your debt. No, wait a minute, it's my children's debt. And it won't be $500B and growing. Not in your dreams. Compound interest will drive it to a price that will make junior's spending spree look like a bargain. Go about your daily lives, and enjoy your fortuitous timing to be born at a time when you will likely die around the time that the schit really hits the fan. It ain't a pretty picture.

Are all of the alarming trends in the modern world attributable to Bush/Cheney and their merry band of asshat-wearing crooks? Of course not, but what a lousy time to have a kooky election go sideways and install a bunch of "dead-enders" who only care about maxing out their credit cards before hitting the big dirt nap.

[speeder]

Mostly agree w/ you, Brian, but what in the world does anyone think that a pinko liberal President would have spent hundreds of billions on the last 3 years, new Cadillacs for all illegal immigrants?? With a Republican controlled congress???

Do the math. Only a freaking wierd administration, the worst by far in history at the worst possible time, entrusted w/ the entire good will of the country and the world after 9/11 plus our pocketbooks + all of our earnings for the next 100 years could have said, "Hmmmm..., this truly is a unique oportunity. Hey dick, do you still know anyone over there at Halliburton.......

[fintstone]

Originally posted by speeder
Do the math. Only a freaking wierd administration, the worst by far in history at the worst possible time, entrusted w/ the entire good will of the country and the world after 9/11 plus our pocketbooks + all of our earnings for the next 100 years could have said, "Hmmmm..., this truly is a unique oportunity. Hey dick, do you still know anyone over there at Halliburton.......

So the "no bid" contracts to Haliburton during the Clinton adminstration are "freaking weird" or were ok and somehow not prcedent for the current ones?