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Archive for the ‘elections’ Category

Obama Campaign: That Mitt Romney Comes From A Strange Family …

www.redstate.com4/24/12

Even though at a point in his genealogy Mitt Romney can find a polygamist, it is hard to see how this would hurt Romney with women voters considering Barack Obama's father was a run of the mill bigamist descended from a …

Finally: Obama “slow jams the news” « Hot Air

hotair.com4/25/12

Finally: Obama “slow cooks the dogs”. LetsBfrank on April 25, 2012 at 2:23 PM. OK – We know Romney's father was not a polygamist. Obama's father was likely a bigamist. We know Romney's grandfather rejected the …

On Sunday’s State of the Union, CNN anchor Candy Crowley interviewed two governors, Virginia Republican Bob McDonnell and Montana Democrat Brian Schweitzer.

Crowley pounded McDonnell with a set of questions about that state’s voter ID bill and whether it disenfranchises Democrats.

But she skipped asking Schweitzer about his crack about Romney being born in a "Mexican polygamy commune", which implied that Romney’s father or grandfather were polygamists, which they weren’t.

And she could have asked Schweitzer about whether he felt it was in some way relevant, since Barack Obama’s father was a polygamist, but she didn’t.

CROWLEY

"Governor, let me move you all on to some issues key in your state. You have a voter ID law that is either near or sitting on your desk. You had criticized it in its current form, saying that you really worried it would disenfranchise some people who otherwise would have votes that counted. Are you going to sign that or not?".

McDONNELL

"I’m still working through it. I mean, we’re entitled to one man, one vote. Not two votes, but not no votes, and I’m trying to make sure that the bill I got back strikes that proper balance with some of the things (inaudible)".

CROWLEY

"You know what’s in it, though, and you have been opposed; you didn’t; you wanted to soften it a bit, make it slightly easier.

McDONNELL

"I wanted to make it easier to have a signature comparison".

CROWLEY

"Sure".

McDONNELL

"As opposed to making a voter come back. So I’m meeting with our state board of elections, with the attorney general, to find out whether or not this, whether or not we can make …".

CROWLEY

"Democrats say it would disenfranchise their voters".

McDONNELL:

I don’t think it. I don’t think it would. It would create an additional burden to have to come back and be able to show subsequent identity. We’ve had a number of cases of voter fraud. Most of them in the registration stage, and we want to make sure we have good clean elections. That’s a fundamental of democracy".

CROWLEY

"Sure. Leaning one way or the other? You know what’s in this".

McDONNELL

"I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks".

CROWLEY

"O.K. Come back in a couple of weeks".

US hiring slows amid uncertainty about economy | economy, march …

www.themonitor.com4/6/12

US hiring slows amid uncertainty about economy | economy, march, job, growth, hiring, work, jobs, unemployment, months, january.

March unemployment 8.2%, economy added 121000 jobs « Hot Air

hotair.com4/6/12

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.2% from 8.3% last month, and the broader U-6 unemployment/underemployment rate dropped to 14.5% from 14.9%, while the …

The U.S. economy grew in March, but at a slower rate than in the previous three months.

Employers made fewer hires, which is a sure sign that if a recovery is in fact taking place, that’s it’s uneven, and sluggish at best.

The Labor Department reported Friday (April 7, 2012) that the US economy added 120,000 jobs last month, compared to more than 200,000 in each of the previous three months.

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.2%, the lowest since January 2009, but the decrease was attributed to fewer people searching for jobs.

And Obama now holds the record for the longest period of time, under any President, that unemployment has remained above 8% at any time since the Great Depression.

Obama’s response to the report was:

“We welcome today’s news. but there will still be ups and downs along the way",

Bu Romney, the front-runner in the GOP race, called the jobs data:

“Weak and very troubling. More and more people are growing so discouraged that they are dropping out of the labor force altogether. The president’s excuses have run out".

And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said,

"The report shows small businesses and families are still struggling because of President Obama’s failed economic policies".

The Markets?

Stock markets and bond markets were closed on Good Friday (April 6, 2012), so most investors won’t get to render a verdict on the report until Monday.

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that:

"The current hiring pace is unlikely to continue without more consumer spending".

Retailers shed nearly 34,000 jobs in March, and temporary help firms dropped almost 8,000 jobs, which is a potentially bad sign for the job market because companies often hire temp workers before adding full timers.

Manufacturers continued to add jobs, hiring 37,000 workers in March.

A broader measure of the labor market, one that adds to the officially unemployed those who have given up looking for work and those forced to settle for part-time jobs, improved last month to 14.5% from 14.9% in February.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 4,000 more jobs in January and February than it previously reported.

For many, what matters most is the unemployment rate. It was 7.8% when Obama entered office in January 2009 and peaked at 10% nine months later. Since August, it has dropped from 9.1% to March’s 8.2%.

No incumbent since World War II has faced voters with unemployment higher than 7.8%.

The 2012 Elections

This year’s election is expected to hinge on the state of the economy, so Obama’s re-election hopes will most likely depend on continued improvement in the unemployment rate and job creation.

And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who will most likely be the Republican challenger, this week blamed the president’s policies for slow growth and high unemployment.

The Obama campaign has said however, that Romney would reinstate policies that led to the recession, things such as, lower taxes for the wealthy and less regulation for business.

Expected Amnnual Growth?

Most economists expect annual growth this year of just 2.5% and it normally takes an annual growth of 4% to lower the unemployment rate 1 percentage point over a year.

So Why Does the Job Market Seem To Be Improving?

The job market appears to be improving, simply because the pace of layoffs has fallen sharply.

For example, the staffing firm Challenger Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that its planned layoffs fell 27% from February to March 2012.

Meanwhile however,

hiring is still running nearly 20% below pre-recession levels!

Will rising gass prices hurt Obama’s impact on his chances?

I think so, but Sullivan on CNBC doesn’t agree.

* Consumer News and Business Channel