The newest employment numbers are in, and despite the Obama economy creating 290,000 new jobs in April (the most in a single month since March 2006), the unemployment figure did tick up slightly. Most economists say that is due to the fact that many jobseekers who had given up searching in the past, are now back out there due to the recovery.
While I, personally, think a job is a job (especially to the person with the job), the right (as they always do) has been criticizing the recovery with the claim that all of the jobs are "government jobs" and not "real jobs." Well, I don't accept the premise that a government job is not a real job, but even if you do, that talking point should be put to rest at this point. 230,000 of the 290,000 jobs in April were private sector jobs. That's about 79% of the new jobs in the private sector. So far, more than a half million private sector jobs have been created in 2010 (44,000 in manufacturing - the highest since 1998).
It's strange (well, not too strange) but isn't this exactly how the Obama Administration said things would play out when they passed the stimulus? They said it would take between 18-24 months for all of the money to make it out into the economy AND that it would stimulate the private sector.
Oh, I'm sure the righties will not stop complaining as that's all they do these days. But even Pat Buchanan said this morning on TV that these figures are very good and will be hard for the Republicans to argue against. Yet, arguing against one's own self interest has been a hallmark of Republican politics for the last few decades.
While I, personally, think a job is a job (especially to the person with the job), the right (as they always do) has been criticizing the recovery with the claim that all of the jobs are "government jobs" and not "real jobs." Well, I don't accept the premise that a government job is not a real job, but even if you do, that talking point should be put to rest at this point. 230,000 of the 290,000 jobs in April were private sector jobs. That's about 79% of the new jobs in the private sector. So far, more than a half million private sector jobs have been created in 2010 (44,000 in manufacturing - the highest since 1998).
It's strange (well, not too strange) but isn't this exactly how the Obama Administration said things would play out when they passed the stimulus? They said it would take between 18-24 months for all of the money to make it out into the economy AND that it would stimulate the private sector.
Oh, I'm sure the righties will not stop complaining as that's all they do these days. But even Pat Buchanan said this morning on TV that these figures are very good and will be hard for the Republicans to argue against. Yet, arguing against one's own self interest has been a hallmark of Republican politics for the last few decades.
7 comments:
I guess those Census workers helped huh Dave?
oh and let's not get all eicted over a one month job increase. I know Obama was out there tooting his horn .
And he has plenty of people in the media helping him blow his horn.
Lisa, are you incapable of reading or seeing? Look at the graph. The trend line is nothing but up. And if you bothered to actually read the posting, you would have seen that 79% of the jobs created were private sector. And do you think it really matters to the person with the job? Are you advocating unemployment over a...gasp...government job.
But, once again, let's not let facts get in the way of your Obama bashing. You know, why start now.
I can't help it Dave with all the deceit surrounding the health care bill I trust nothing that comes out of this Whitehouse.
I do believe we have the biggest propaganda machine in history starting with the campaign and the Lincoln speeches and the hype over someone who was a virtual nobody with no experience.
But I a still not fooled.
A government job does indeed help the person to whom the job is given; however, it is we the taxpayers that now have to pay his government salary too.
The government does NOT create wealth; it consumes it.
We should be cutting government jobs and making the unemployment rate improve with 100% private sector jobs.
Just wait though... the hyper-inflation and huge layoffs due to the increased tax burden from health care, cap & tax, the VAT tax that Obama will add (even though he said he wouldn't), and the other policies will put our economy in far worse shape than we have seen to date.
The melt-down in Greece, and the financial crisis in Spain, France etc. is going to spin out of control globally on top of that.
The International Monetary Fund had to provide a huge influx of money to Greece after the 1000 point slide in our Dow yesterday. Do you know who pays 17% of the world's burden of that IMF money loaned to Greece? Yep, the American taxpayers.
Hell, we won't need Ahmadinejad to bring about the end times as he wants. We have our own damned government to do that and beat him to the punch!
Nice recitation of the Fox News doom and gloom scenario. Didn't conservatives used to attack liberals for not being optimistic?
We just see things differently. Obama didn't invent the IMF, he didn't cause the crisis in Greece, he didn't invent the EU, and he doesn't control the stock market. It used to be that conservatives understood this when a Republican was in the White House.
How could you call for our economy to be 100% private sector? Who is going to regulate business? Who is going to guard the border? Who is going to fix roads and bridges? Don't say private contractors! We've had enough of no bid scam artists being hired in place of actual government employees under the guise of it being more cost efficient. It doesn't work. Ever heard of a place called Iraq?
Look, you might not like it, but there is a paradigm shift occurring in America. Ever since the early 80s with Reagan, we have been shifting away from strong regulation and the utilization of government for good. And we have been suffering immensely. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our education system is failing, we are in another energy crisis, and all because the government has failed to do anything for the last 30 years.
The American people have rejected that. They see a role for government and not just as the military. The fact that we have known that we need to get off of oil since the 1970s, yet we have done nothing toward that goal is a great example of government inaction. Big business controls enough members of Congress to ensure we never do anything. Same with banking. Glass-Steagall was a huge success. No major economic collapses while it was in place, yet in less than a decade after its removal, bam! Greatest recession in seven decades.
Government is not the enemy, Paine. It certainly does not hold all the answers, but we as a country are being held down and ruined by big business. We are crippled from doing anything or making any substantive changes because their lobby is too strong.
Why don't we have nationwide high speed rail? Oil companies. Why aren't our minimum fuel efficiency standards in the range of 50 mph? Oil lobby. Why aren't even the most minimal safety precautions used in oil drilling? I think you know the answer.
Big business is out of control in America today. This is coming at the expense of the people, not to its benefit. The paradigm shift is not toward "big government" but toward smart and efficient government that can and will regulate out of control industries.
The Republicans can keep reading old Reagan speeches, but the world is a different place now. We need a new model, and we are starting to see it being made.
I am not criticizing Obama for the EU, Greece, or the IMF. I am aware that these issues are not his doing or fault. That being said, we should take serious note, because we are headed in the same downward direction, and Obama seems to be oblivious to that.
Also, you misunderstood me. I absolutely do NOT want our government with 100% of it controlled by the private sector. What I was trying to say is that with the new jobs being "created" that I wish 100% of THOSE were from the private sector.
I understand and appreciate the need for a federal government, but a larger, more powerful, more intrusive federal government is NOT the answer. All that does is usurp more of our liberties.
I further understand that there has been greed, corruption, and excesses in business. (This also is exactly the same in our government.) I also understand the need for common sense regualtion WHERE it is required.
Over-regulaton, however, stifles efficiency, productivity, and innovation. Regulation has its place but it is not to the degree that our federal government currently imagines it to be at.
That being said, had the inept GOP actually been successful in regulating Fannie and Freddie with proper oversight, the housing bubble would have been much less disasterous, or perhaps not have occured. So yes, I do understand the need for regulation when it guarantees accountability. That is the difference, my friend!
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