Quote of the Day

“The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy,”

BZZZZZT!!! Wrong!

A lot of people here and elsewhere are on record before the fact that the bailouts couldn’t work.

FloatingRock on July 6, 2009 at 10:15 PM

Exactly!!
This is just another bullsh!t line from a democrat to cover for their idiocy and failure.

If things were going gangbusters,Biden would be claiming
“We told you this would work”.
Now that their stimulus (that only 3 Republicans voted for)
is being exposed as the vote buying vehicle it always was,it is:
“Well everybody was wrong”.
Just another bald faced lie from a democrat:

An interview with Robert Barro
http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/02/an_interview_with_robert_barro.php
I spoke with Robert Barro of Harvard yesterday about the stimulus bill, fiscal policy, and related issues in macroeconomics.

The last thing is just about the stimulus bills as it stands. Two things here. One thing is what do you think about the ratio of spending to tax relief in the bill. And the second is, if you judge it by Larry Summers standard — that stimulus be temporary, timely and targeted — does it clear the bar?

This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s. I don’t know what to say. I mean it’s wasting a tremendous amount of money. It has some simplistic theory that I don’t think will work, so I don’t think the expenditure stuff is going to have the intended effect. I don’t think it will expand the economy. And the tax cutting isn’t really geared toward incentives. It’s not really geared to lowering tax rates; it’s more along the lines of throwing money at people. On both sides I think it’s garbage. So in terms of balance between the two it doesn’t really matter that much.

Barro even address the idiot Biden:

Just one last thing. I think Joe Biden and a couple other people have said there’s a fairly wide consensus among economists that fiscal stimulus in the form of a large spending bill is the way to go, and…

He said first that every economist thought that.

Well, that’s Joe Biden hyperbole.

Obama’s own staff had no idea what the “stimulus” bill would actually accomplish.
Look at this idiocy:

Obama Economic Adviser Predicts Relief Within Weeks of Stimulus Passage
Job creation is key to the $825 billion economic stimulus, and some of that could come in the form of aid to cities to keep teachers and police officers, says a top Obama economic adviser.

WASHINGTON — Measures to save law enforcement and teaching jobs will help cities see changes rapidly while withholding changes on paychecks could come “within weeks” of passage of an economic stimulus plan now being considered by Congress, one of President Obama’s top advisers said Sunday.

Pelosi described the economy as “dark, darker, darkest almost,” and said economists believe new spending will create more jobs than would tax cuts.

More from the “Greatest administration evaaaaa!!!”

Dr. Christine Romer (Obama’s Economic guru) on the need for the stimulus:

The U.S. economy has already lost nearly 2.6 million jobs since the business cycle peak in December 2007. In the absence of stimulus, the economy could lose another 3 to 4 million more. Thus, we are working to counter a potential total job loss of at least 5 million. As Figure 1 shows, even with the large prototypical package, the unemployment rate in 2010Q4 is predicted to be approximately 7.0 percent, which is well below the approximately 8.8 percent that would result in the absence of a plan.

Question is,which Romer do we have:

President Obama’s top economic adviser is admitting that there is “considerable uncertainty” in regards to any of Obama’s claims of job creation. And this is coming from the woman who created that number in the first pace.

It should be understood that all of the estimates presented in this memo are subject to significant margins of error,” they said. “There is the obvious uncertainty that comes from modeling a hypothetical package rather than the final legislation passed by the Congress. But, there is the more fundamental uncertainty that comes with any estimate of the effects of a program. Our estimates of economic relationships and rules of thumb are derived from historical experience and so will not apply exactly in any given episode. Furthermore, the uncertainty is surely higher than normal now because the current recession is unusual both in its fundamental causes and its severity.

Obama’s own CBO shows what a disaster this stimulus bill is:

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

Of course we are not even getting the “short term” help now.


Apparently super smart Biden did not hear these people on the hill that “did not get it wrong”:

But Republicans and some moderate Democrats have balked at the size of the bill and at some of the spending items included in it, arguing they won’t produce immediate jobs, which is the stated goal of the bill.

Many economist called the Obama administration’s “spending” bill out for the voter payout it was:

200 Top Economists Say “Stimulus” Bill Won’t Work
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/200-top-economists-say-stimulus-bill.html

200 top economic minds signed a national ad published in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal against the trillion dollar spending binge proposed by democrats. The ad, sponsored by the Cato Institute, blasts the massive boondoggle that funds liberal projects under the guise of “stimulating” the economy.

Hey Joe, guess you didn’t hear these economist either.
Are they part of your “Everybody got it wrong” crew also:

Will the stimulus actually stimulate? Economists say no
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won’t stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists.

(via the Opinion Journal)

Add the roughly $20 billion for business tax cuts, and by our estimate only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus. And even many of these projects aren’t likely to help the economy immediately. As Peter Orszag, the President’s new budget director, told Congress a year ago, “even those [public works] that are ‘on the shelf’ generally cannot be undertaken quickly enough to provide timely stimulus to the economy.”

The Heritage stated firmly that this “spending” bill by the democrats would not produce jobs or stimulate the economy:

(via the Heritage Foundation)

Stimulus 101:The Pelosi-Reid-Obama Debt Plan

With countless news stories, papers, editorials and experts giving their view of why Congress should or shouldn’t enact the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Debt Plan, we thought it would be helpful to give you a short index of why spending does not equal stimulus.

BAD RESULTS

No Jobs: While they have not been able to support these claims, Pelosi/Obama promise between 3 & 4 million jobs, yet House Tax Committee staff can’t estimate even ONE job will be created.

Ineffective: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 52% of the spending in the ‘stimulus bill’ can even be spent by the end of FY’10. Well short of the 75% benchmark set by President Obama.

“We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work.” – FDR’s Treasury Sec. Henry Morgenthau Jr., architect of the New Deal.

More people who Biden apparently had no idea existed:

The Obama-Geithner Bear Market
Robert Lenzner, 02.13.09, 07:00 PM EST
This is not the kind of stimulus our economy needs to get back on its feet when our banks still struggle with solvency.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/13/stimulus-tarp-treasury-personal-finance-investing-ideas_0213_obama_geithner.html?feed=rss_popstories

Like the Paulson-Bernanke bailouts, the Obama-Geithner policies are plainly chasing an escalating crisis. There’s no place to hide. There’s no way to play catch-up to the rising unemployment, plummeting retail sales, the decline of international trade, and the reality of a still quite sick financial system.

The spectacle of nasty political infighting between Democrats and Republicans in a severe national crisis must be disturbing to investors everywhere. So is the very real question of whether the $787 billion stimulus plan is sufficiently robust or properly focused. The new spending pathetically “repeats the mistakes that got us here,” says Robert Albertson, a principal at Sandler O’Neill and a former Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS – news – people ) banker.

The Obama administration was warned and called out from all
corners of the Congress and Economic sector on the fact that this “spending” bill would be short on jobs and stimulus and long on dept and voter payback:

Obama warned over ‘welfare spendathon’
The new administration’s economic stimulus plan may undo reforms that cut the dole queues, critics say

Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton’s 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history.

Douglas Besharov, author of a big study on welfare reform, said the stimulus bill passed by Congress and the Senate in separate votes on Friday would “unravel” most of the 1996 reforms that led to a 65% reduction in welfare caseloads and prompted the British and several other governments to consider similar measures.

Listening to democrats now try to spread out the blame for “their” failure of a bill that was voted on almost exclusively by democrats as “everybody got it wrong” is exactly like listening to them say Bush lied about Saddam after they spent almost 10 years saying the same things Bush said.
Only Pravda west would let the democrats get away with this bogus line day after day.

“Yes We Can!!!”

Baxter Greene on July 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Baxter Greene on July 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Excellent work, as usual, Baxter.

progressoverpeace on July 7, 2009 at 12:13 AM

Baxter Greene on July 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM

You have the truth. You know it. We know it. But the average American doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Politics is hard and distracts from porn and sports.

ROCnPhilly on July 7, 2009 at 12:10 AM

Thanks for your input on our idiot VP also.

Biden is so incredibly stupid that it just burns me up every time I see his pompous a$$ babbling on so much about things he knows so little about.

After this idiot pretty much admitted that dealing with keeping up with the stimulus was “above” his pay grade Obama sent him to Iraq to :

(via Mudville Gazette)
By Greyhawk
http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032333.html

The president got right the point, Biden said, “Quote: Joe, go do it.”

Do what exactly?

“Help the Iraqis resolve what they have to resolve.“

This is how the Iraqis responded to “smart power” from the smartest democrat in the Senate:

the Iraqi government spokesman publicly rejected the American’s offer to help with national reconciliation, saying it’s an internal affair.”

“Biden’s visit sent the signal to us that Iraq will be divided,” he said. “Biden’s background doesn’t allow him to play any role in reconciliation.”

After Friday prayers, hundreds and possibly thousands of residents of Sadr City chanted “down, down USA” and burned U.S. flags in protest against Biden’s visit. A smaller demonstration also took place in Kerbala, in the Shi’ite south.

Good to know that the Obama administration is in touch with what is going on in Iraq. Showing how intelligent they are by sending the man who was for:
Going to war in Iraq
…..before……..
He was against it.

Wanted total withdrawal no matter the consequences to the Iraqi people.

Wanted to split Iraq up along sectarian lines.

Said the surge would fail.

Great move “smart ones”.
Next maybe Obama can send Zawahiri over to help in reconciliation.

But of course Biden was the best choice from democrats on helping Iraq continue to work toward a stable country,he has such a consistent record so far in dealing with Iraq:

Joe Biden as point man in Baghdad.

That’s from April, 2007 – with only two of “the surge” brigades in action. For those without video capability, a few quick quotes –

On any progress as a result of the surge: “Nothing based on the briefings I’ve gotten – nothing I’ve seen would lead me to believe that”

On a strong, central, democratic Iraqi government: “Not possible”. (Failed – break it up into three…)

On General Petraeus claim that “things are moving in the right direction”, his need for more time, and his statement that it’s “too early to judge the surge”: “He’s wrong. If you notice, virtually no one agrees with him. Virtually no one agrees with him. For every one person in the military you can show me who agrees with him I can name you five who disagree, who are equally competent as General Petraeus.”

On U.S. strategy: “This strategy is doomed to failure, even if it helps to stabilize [Iraq] – and by the way, it will not stabilize it.”

That’s what’s called being on the wrong side of history -

That’s Biden,
consistently wrong

Baxter Greene on July 7, 2009 at 12:43 AM

Baxter, you left out Crazy Joe’s grand finale. It was EPIC!

Ahhh, teamwork is great.
Thanks for the heads up.

It’s as if he went to Iraq and shot off the starter gun to open the race to destroy the place and go for the oil. I’ve never heard of anything like it!

progressoverpeace on July 7, 2009 at 12:49 AM

Dam# that was spot on!!

I guess Biden is using the super successful UN foreign policy model that was so successful in Darfur and Rwanda.

Is George Clooney booked for any speeches yet!

Baxter Greene on July 7, 2009 at 12:57 AM