Month: September 2011
Chart: The First Stimulus Rescued the Economy from Free Fall into Depression
Transcript from the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, Sept. 8, 2011:
RACHEL MADDOW at 03:32: In December 2009, the White House recognized that we needed more stimulus — that we had done some good with the previous stimulus but more was needed. The problem was really bad. But nothing materialized. We got health [care] reform but we didn’t get a second stimulus.
There has essentially been no additional stimulus for the economy since [the first round in early 2009].
And since then — here’s the most important thing — since then, we have also learned that the whole problem that the stimulus was designed to address — the whole economic problem was way, way worse than we thought it was, even when we thought it was really bad.
Remember how I said the economy shrank by half a percent in the third quarter of 2008? Shrank by half a percent in the third quarter of 2008. That’s what we originally thought.
Turns out it did not shrink by half a percent. It actually shrank by 3.7 percent.
Remember that big, scary 3.8 percent that we thought that economy shrank by in the last quarter of 2008? Turns out it wasn’t 3.8 percent. Actually it was 8.9 percent. That is not a typo. That’s how fast the economy was shrinking.
Republicans look at this chain of events and say, “Ah, see, well the Stimulus didn’t work.”
Everybody else looks at these numbers and says, “Well, the Stimulus did something, but giuven what we now know about what we were up against, it’s clear that it was not enough.”
It’s clear that we actually did need that second round of stimulus the president was sort of pushing for back in December 2009, but not that hard.
What we’re seeing now in the economy is the effect of not getting further stimulus. Not only that the economy has proven to be resiliently bad, but also because it was way worse than we thought it was when we initially designed the things we that we were going to do to try to fix it.
The hope is that it is not too late. But time’s up and we gotta do something.
Tough On Jobs
The president speaks tonight on the topic of employment,
And few of us are anticipating much oratory enjoyment.
It will be tough for him to be facin’
A hapless, hostile and hopeless nation —
Many of whom would like to see Obama himself on unemployment.
Assessing the GOP Debate
My take-away? Perry has proved himself an extreme, inarticulate, incurious W clone. He doubled down on the vicious attacks on social security; and his rhetoric was off-key. Huntsman emerged as an actual candidate; Romney kicked ass. Bachmann is wearing thinner and thinner. Paul is Paul. Santorum is a Vatican crank. Gingrich is an angry old man. Cain has no business being up there. Perry’s poor performance gives Palin an opening.
— Andrew Sullivan in the Daily Beast.
Mitt Romney looked like he had already won the Republican nomination. Rick Perry looked like he will win the Republican nomination. Michele Bachmann looked like she was beginning to realize she definitely wouldn’t win the Republican nomination.
— Ezra Klein in the Washington Post.
How Many Times Do You Have to Say Ronald Reagan’s Name Before His Ghost Will Appear?
24
Number of times GOP presidential candidates dropped Ronald Reagan’s name during the Sept. 8 debate at the Reagan Library, according to Smart Politics. Newt Gingrich led the contest, with nine drops — twice as many as any other candidate — and Mitt Romney was the only debater who did not invoke the former president’s name.
Perry Confuses Scientific ‘Nonsense’ with Wingnut Nonsense
The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet to me is just nonsense. Just because you have a group of scientists who stood up and said here is the fact. Galileo got outvoted for a spell.
— Texas Gov. Rick Perry, expressing skepticism on global climate change at last night’s presidential debate.
U.S. Now Dropped to Fifth Rank in World in Economic Competitiveness
5th
U.S. ranking among the globe’s most competitive economies, according to World Economic Forum, due to “huge deficits and declining public faith in government.”
The U.S. ranked #1 in 2008, Switzerland has held the top spot since then.
Deep Throat II: Rick Perry Eats a Corndog in Front of a Painting of a Naked Man
Update: It has come to our attention that a bunch of “scientists” have theorized that this photo of Rick Perry enjoying a corndog in front of a painting of a naked man is fake. Here is our position: We do agree that the science is not settled on this. But the idea that we would decide whether the photo was photoshopped based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to us, is just nonsense. After all, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.
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