The Democrats Have Controled The Economy For 4 Years Now:OPEN Thread

By Michael O'Brien: It's been four years since President George W. Bush could be held responsible for the nation's economy, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said Monday evening.

DeMint dismissed a key part of Democrats' midterm messaging — warning voters against a return to Bush-era policies — reasoning that Democrats have been controlling U.S. economic policies during the past four years in which they've controlled Congress.

"The president [Obama] keeps saying he inherited this, but the fact is that it's been four years since President Bush had anything to do with economic policy," DeMint said during an appearance on WVOC radio in South Carolina.

The South Carolina conservative sought to rebut an argument advanced by Democrats from President Obama on down in recent months: Returning Republicans to power in Congress would mean a return to some of the policies voters found less popular during the Bush administration.

"The policies that crashed the economy, that undercut the middle class, that mortgaged our future, do we really want to go back to that, or do we keep moving our country forward?" Obama said Monday at a Democratic fundraiser, part of a sustained effort to hammer away at Bush.

DeMint said, though, that some of the bills voters find most distasteful had been advanced during the past four years, after Democrats won back control of the House and Senate from Republicans in the 2006 elections.

"The Democrats have been in control of both houses of Congress for four years now. Congress writes economic policy; they spend the money," he said. "So it was the Democrat Congress that wrote the TARP bailout, they did the stimulus, they did the 'Cash for Clunkers.' They have done the healthcare, the financial bill. This is an unchecked Democratic agenda."

Vice President Biden gave a mini media tour to defend the $787 billion stimulus package on its first anniversary -- while saying the country is in "deep trouble."
In a USA Today op-ed, Biden touted jobs created, taxes cut and infrastructure projects started because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "The best is yet to come," he added.

We've gotten the act moving ahead of schedule, and most projects are coming in under budget. A tough, independent group of inspectors general is on the lookout for fraud, and we've killed scores of projects that don't pass muster. Your tax dollars are being used wisely and quickly to turn the economy around.

Americans know this downturn isn't over yet -- we have a long way to go before we are over the economic chasm left by the Great Recession. Year Two of the Recovery Act will build on the successes of Year One, continuing to generate jobs while seeding the transformative investments needed to ensure that our economy remains the world's strongest.

On CBS's "The Early Show," Biden said he understood why people were angry. "We get it," he said. But he said the White House was doing better than Congress.
"Washington, right now, is broken. I don't ever recall a time in my career where to get anything done, you needed a supermajority, 60 out of 100 senators."
"I've never seen it this dysfunctional," he said.

Biden also talked about national security, saying he was less worried about a large-scale terrorist attack than a lone bomber.                                                                                                                                      OK, I have some issues with what honest Joe Biden said.  First off he calls Washington more "disfunctional". Is that the Republicans fault even though they have the majority in Washington? Is it disfunctional that the Blue Dog Reagan Democrats agree with the Republicans and the American people. And does this admin. really think that 96% of Americans just are too dumb or ignorant to understand that the stimulus package "worked"? Come on Joe when 7% of Americans thinkl that Elvis is still alive I'd have to say that only Washington DC thinks the stimulus worked. Maybe that is because it only worked for Washington. Heck, Obama said that Mighigan got 180,000 jobs and Biden says 96,000 jobs. These guys can't keep their stories straight. That is a sign of a lie. And I see a lot of that going on in Washington.                                               Now this one bothers me the most. They have been telling us about the economy and the jobs when they were running for office. They called it the worse recession since the Great Depression. If that was true,and it is looking more true since they took office, then why did they put the jobs package in the second half of the stimulus spending jobs bill? Their first year they have done nothing short of attacking businesses. They attacked and put fear in the businesses that give us jobs. And now in an election year they decide to focus on jobs. But see they think that 96% of Americans are too dumb to understand the difference between Wahington reality and the American reality. Jobs should have been job one for this admin. Did they start the fire so they could sell us the hose and water? Their words and actions aren't matching up. Washington is out of cantrol and they are blaming the Republicans. Give me a break and start taking reponsability for the actions of your administration and their effect on the culture of Washington. I don't think 96% of Americans are too dumb to know jobs creation when they see it. They were the ones that defined what the Stimulus would do. And what would happen if we didn't do the Stimulus Jobs Bill. Americans listened to what you told them and now they are learning not to listen to the BS they are selling us. How dumb are they to be so far on the fringe of "believers" without any tangable evidence? They are the Elvis lives "believers".

Thank You

I would like to thank all the people that voted for Obama and the Democrats in office. Because if you hadn't voted in the most Progressive President and Congress in our history the conservative majority would not have become such a large and great force in America today. I know you didn't mean to make the moral majority/conservatives wake up and oppose the progressive agenda. Like a frog in hot water you turned up the heat too fast and we jumped out. We are not a liberal complacent group any more. We are not going to let you progressives dictate what is politicaly correct any more. We are not going to let you tell us that killing babies while in their mother protective womb misn't brutal murder. We are not going to let you tell us that is is Christianity and Jewdaism that are the problems in the world. While in the same breath tell us that it is not right to profile Muslims to stop more terrorist attacks when there are whole nations under Islamic rule that are calling for our distruction. We are not going to believe the lies like jobs created or saved,the Stimulus bill is working and it is Capitolisms fault. We will not let you devalue our Constitution nor the rights that are given to us by God. We will not let you take money from hard working Americans and let you give it to your greedy union interests. We will not let you take God out of our country when 92% of Americans believe in Him. We are not going to give you more money because it will help you get elected. And if you can't give us a viable common sense health care reform bill we will find people that will. If you have a filibuster proof super majority and you can't pass a bill or get what you want done then it is not in the best interest of this great nation. And stop putting down our great nation. We are a good people and for the most part we do great things for the world through our hard work and generosity. You progressives think that this country is so bad and the capitolism that made it are so bad then live where there isn't any. I'll pay for the one way ticket to Cuba myself. I'll even help fill out your citizenship paperwork for you. When was the last time the Republicans had a supermajority like the Democrats had? The Democrats still have a majority in both houses so why can't you make some bills that work the way you said they would or that will get passed. And don't blame the Republicans for your parties impotence in getting real work done. And don't tell us to have faith in the Democrats when they can't even get the Stimulus bill right. What a waste of money that was. And to cover the Democrats butts they want to steal the TARP funds that are mandated by law to pay off our debt and hand it out to who they choose. It's the future Americans money not yours to play with and spend at will. We will remember everything the Democrats have done just like we remembered what the Republicans did to us. The Republicans are making their way back and the Democrats are dead set on letting the Progressives destroy their party. The American people are waking up to the fact that if it wasn't for the Republicans and some Blue Dog Democrats this country would have a health care bill that would fix nothing and cost us trillions. So once again I'd like to thank you Progressives for waking me and millions of Americans up to your agenda. Keep up the good work on destroying the Democrat party. Thank you for galvinizing the right. I expect the left to not go quitly but violently. Lets just pray they don't kill anyone or riot again.

Where Are Those Jobs You Democrats Promised??????Didn't Obama Lie About 8% or Lower Unemployment?????? I Know It's Still Bush's Fault And The Republican Minority Running The Country.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Dec. 30,2009, Nick Ayrom, from Glendale, Calif., a former high school teacher, looks for technology related jobs on a computer terminal at the Verdugo Job Center on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009. in Glendale, Calif. The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, a sign the job market is healing as the economy slowly recovers.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly-laid off workers seeking jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, as the economy recovers at a slow and uneven pace.

Layoffs have slowed and the economy began to grow in last year's third quarter, but companies are reluctant to hire new workers. The unemployment rate is 10 percent and many economists expect it to increase in the coming months.

The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 482,000. Wall Street economists expected a small drop, according to Thomson Reuters.

The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, rose for the first time since August, to 448,250.

The weekly claims figure is volatile and it can take time for trends to emerge. A Labor Department analyst said that much of the increase last week was due to administrative backlogs leftover from the winter holidays in the state agencies that process the claims.

Claims have dropped steadily since last fall, as companies cut fewer jobs. That has caused some economists to hope that hiring may increase soon. Initial claims have dropped by 50,000, or almost 10 percent, since late October.

Still, the economy is not consistently generating net increases in jobs. The Labor Department said earlier this month that employers cut 85,000 jobs in December, after adding only 4,000 in November. November's increase was the first in nearly two years.

Many economists say the four week average of claims will need to fall to below 425,000 to signal that the economy is close to generating net job gains.

Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to claim regular benefits dropped slightly to just under 4.6 million. The continuing claims data lags initial claims by a week.

But the so-called continuing claims do not include millions of people who have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits customarily provided by states and are now receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, paid for by the federal government.

More than 5.9 million are receiving extended benefits in the week ending Jan. 2, the latest data available, an increase of more than 600,000 from the previous week. The data for emergency benefits lags initial claims by two weeks.

The increasing number of people claiming extended unemployment insurance indicates that even as layoffs are declining, hiring hasn't picked up. That leaves people out of work for longer and longer periods of time.

Among the states, California saw the largest increase in claims, with 16,160. Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia saw the next largest increases. The state data lags the initial claims data by a week.

Oregon saw the biggest drop in claims, of 5,784, followed by Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Massachusetts.