Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday announced an agreement with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to extend the payroll tax cut for two months.

What's the joke? That unemployment is down? That retail sales are up? That the Dow is up 4,000 points since he took office? That housing starts are finally up?

You are so right !!!!!!! It is all a lie, for the idiots to believe and the rest of us say WTF ????? Ya Right ! I said , I wouldn't get back into this topic, but I totally agree What Crock of Shit, and they talk about the Mafia, just the same and hare we are . Just Sayen, but prove me wrong

The U.S. Unemployment Rate was 5.0% in December, 2007. It was 8.6% in November 2011.


Several days ago this administration claimed that extending unemployment would create approximately 600,000 JOBS!! Can someone please explain to me how, if you allow people to stay on unemployment it will create more jobs?
Oh maybe they meant that if you keep Americans on Unemployment it will create 600,000 jobs overseas. Oh, I get it now. I see.


The Dow Jones was at 13,371.72 on November 30, 2007. On November 25, 2011 it closed at 11,231.78

In between the above dates this is what took place :

On August 22, 2008 the Dow closed at 11,628.06. On August 25th 2008 Barack Obama received the democratic nomination and the very next day the dow dropped almost 400 points. On Wednesday November 5th, the day after Barack Obama was elected president, the Dow fell sharply dropping 513 points. So yes, it has climbed back up since HIS being nominated and then elected obviously caused it to drop.

US Retail Gas Price Dec. 31, 2008 : $1.61 per gallon

In 2010 President Obama imposed a moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. by December of 2010 the retail price for gas shot up to $2.98 per gallon.

US Retail Gas Price Dec. 12, 2011 : $3.35 per gallon

More than DOUBLED since he took office!

A record 2.82 million US homes faced foreclosure in 2009 jumping 21 percent from 2008 and 120 percent from 2007! By the end of 2010 the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report showed approximately 3.8 million foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

2011 has produced a record number of people defaulting on government-backed mortgages. Washington is sitting on nearly a third of the nation’s 800,000 repossessed houses, making the U.S. taxpayer the largest owner of foreclosed properties.

Wasn't it Jon Corzine who this President picked to be his trusted financial adviser?

Where has this economy been stimulated?

Who's economy has he helped to stimulate? China's?... which now owns about 30% of the U.S. because of their holding of our increasing debt under this administration.

As a person who loves this country, I sincerely wanted to see this president succeed in all he claimed that he would be able to do. I love this country and would never want our leader, no matter what political affiliation they may be, to fail.

But at this point, after almost 3 years in office, this President talked a good game...but is turning out to be a miserable failure. It's a shame and I only hope and pray that things will get better for many people in this country, even by his own hand so that I can say that I was wrong about him. I sincerely hope that he proves me wrong by the end of his term.

Unfortunately I just don't see it happening.

And the Dow has rebounded considerably compared to since Dubya left office. What's your point? That the economy has been in the shitter the last few years? We're sorta aware of that.

Here's a statisic: Unemployed has dropped two points from a high of 11% in '09 to now about 8.4%, give or take. Maybe it'll shrink, maybe it'll rise, maybe it'll stay in the spring. Who knows?

Tell me old man, just off-topic, what you think of the Bush Tax Cuts in general?

They certainly remind me of the Obama Stimulus in this way: Proponents of both plans argue that both plans saved the economy from hitting Depressing levels, instead of ceiling at recession.

An argument akin to saying because you were sick and missed work, you didn't die in a car crash today towards or away from work. Well you're alive, but how can you accurately defend or deflate such an framed argument?

DC, you've got to be kidding with this. You're blaming the stock market drops of 2008 on President Obama? How about the president that was actually IN office at the time, and the crash of companies like Bear Sterns and Shearson? Are you blaming those on him as well??

Gas prices? What where they at the end of 2006? About $2 a gallon? And in June of 2008? About $4 a gallon. Was that because President Obama was on the campaign trail? Of did it have to do with the man who was in the Oval Office at the time??

Simply put, everything that has happened with the economy since President Obama took office has been fallout from the prior administration. I believe that his efforts are finally resulting in us seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I, for one, am grateful.

I believe that many believed that when he was elected, President Obama would somehow wave a magic wand that would result in instant recovery. That didn't happen, but I think we are finally seeing some results, and I hope he gets another four years to continue what he started.

I don't think (unless you happen to be one of the top 1% who couldn't care less about job growth or income inequality) that many people are happy with the current economy.

The President will have to argue some counterfactuals as well as own things that have happened on his watch.

But the trend lines on growth and unemployment , facts about government spending and modest good news on payrolls show that the President is currently presiding over an economy that is slowly and weakly starting to move forward since he took office.

I thought the best news was that housing starts were up for the first time in a long time. Granted, it was in rentals, which means that people still aren't quite ready to start buying, but they're still a good indicator. Because the permitting and construction process takes so long, construction companies look 2-3 years down the road. If they feel confident enough to start building again, I think that's an excellent sign of things to come.

Not kidding at all. I am very serious. And lease don't generalize my statement above. If you go back and look at what I posted you will see that I pointed out that from the time then Presidential nominee Barack Obama was given the democratic nomination up until the time that he was actually elected, the stock market began to decline. This is not something that I made up or posted based on what I feel the reason was. This is actually based on factual analysis made by financial analysts and experts from BOTH political parties who, at the time, pointed out that the sell off in the stock market was due to the uncertainty of potentially having someone in office who did not have a long standing record in the political world to run a country as well as not having any kind of substantial experience or record in economically helping the state that he came from.

This is not something that I point out just to merely pick on the President. It is something that was factually stated at the time within the financial community.





Not blaming either President as neither one was or is at fault. The fall of Shearson-Lehman was due to their own greed and unethical trading practices. To put it in layman terms, this was a company who cooked their books and for several years leading up to their eventual collapse making it look every quarter that they were making money. They maneuvered their balance sheets to make it appear as though they were trading within the required regulations when in truth they really weren't and eventually their unethical trading and investments were uncovered bringing the company to it's knees.

As for Merrill Lynch, they too were unethical and greedy in many of the decisions that they made within the financial world. Their decline was largely due to the fact that they were underwriters on over 93 BILLION dollars worth of mortgage based collateralize debt obligations. And when the value of those obligations began to decline, they held on to many of those obligations which resulted in the loss of billions of dollars and the eventual collapse of the company. In truth many of these brokerage houses /investment firms relied too heavily on the mortgage industry and leveraged their assets in that industry. If any blame is to be made OUTSIDE of these organizations ( which again I thing should not ) then perhaps we can point our fingers at the Barney Franks of Washington....but that is an entirely different conversation to have another day.





Actually the average price was about $3.00 per gallon in June of 2008.



Aproximatley 2 million fewer private-sector jobs now than when Obama was sworn in. The U.S. dollar around 12% weaker then when Obama was sworn in. The national debt is about 35% higher than it was when Obama was sworn in.

Can you pleaase shine that light that you see, my way, so that I too can see the end of the tunnel?




You're absolutely right. But let's be truthful here...he is partially to blame for so many perceiving that he would because as a Presidential candidate he ran on a platform of change and constantly cited economic progress as a criteria on which he should be measured and also consistently asked the question of will this country be better off four years from now if he is not elected.





Your point is a pretty good one, but not 100% accurate either. Your absolutely correct in stating that housing starts were up for the first time in years, and mostly in rentals.

However it is up in rentals NOT because people are not ready to start buying, but rentals are up due to the fact that people have lost their homes and now have no choice but to rent because they no longer could afford to own and keep up with their mortgage payments because of loss of jobs as well as other economical contributing factors.






Perhaps you'e been blinded by that light that you claim to see at the end fo that tunnel!

DC, according to AAA, gas prices on June 30, 2009, the average price for gasoline in 2008 was $4.086, up 38% from June, 2007. Maybe you should check your other information, in case it's as faulty as where you're getting your gasoline prices!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/30/news/economy/gas/index.htm

Mea Culpa. You are correct. I was looking at a chart for January 2008 regarding the average price of gasoline.

As for the other information, I suggest that YOU go back and check the record to see for yourself the factual information that I provided to you.


Obama, talking about the future of our economy 13 days into his presidency:

“If I don't have this done in three years, then there's gonna be a one-term proposition."



Almost 3 Years into his Presidency ;

Total Debt Of The US Government Is over $14 Trillion Dollars.

According to the U.S Treasury Dept. America’s debt has increased by about an average of $4.2 billion per day since he has taken office!

About 2.2 Million Jobs have been lost!

According to the Census Bureau the poverty rate has gone from 13.2% to 15.1%!

The unemployment rate has averaged 9.4% with close to 5 million Americans being UNDERemployed.

The average person has been out of work for over 40 weeks....that average has DOUBLED since 2009!

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute close to 4 million bankruptcies have been filed since this President has taken office.

Great Post Don Cardi , there we go over the cliff !

There you go, DC - you got Frosty agreeing with you. Your work is done! LOL

Yepper Skipper right over the cliff ! So where are ya in line

Don't ya love the latest news DC, while most of us are getten poorer even with all the bs we hear over the news about all the jobs, and the presents being bought. It must be by those in congress etc. there getten richer , and Sears is shutten hundred and some stores. Heck were gonna have to get a Higher Cliff

I'll bet that a good number of we Board members grew up with Kodak. It's a shame that it has fallen victim to progress:

(Reuters) - Eastman Kodak is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in case it is unable to sell its digital patents to raise capital, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The once-iconic photographic film pioneer is in talks with potential lenders to secure about $1 billion in debtor-in possession financing to sustain Kodak through bankruptcy proceedings, the Journal reported, citing unidentified sources.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Rest easy, Twinkie lovers: Hostess Brands, the storied American manufacturer of snack cakes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, but said it will continue to churn out Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and other iconic products.

"Throughout the proceeding, we're going to operate business as normal," said Hostess spokesman Erik Halvorson. "They'll keep making Twinkies."

The company, based in Irving, Texas, filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. But Halvorson said the company does not plan to lay off any of its employees or close any plants. So the CupCakes and Sno Balls will keep on coming.

I was really surprised about this. Hostess has been around forever. Good that they are not closing.

I forgot if someone mentioned here that Kodak too was closing. Geez, who hasn't bought film, camera or something made by Koda? That's a name that goes way way back. With camera phones, modern tech, I guess it's purpose is fading. Can't stop progress.


TIS

TIS, checkout my post above about Kodak.

Regarding Hostess, Rush Limbaugh has breathed a sigh of relief that they will keep producing Twinkies.

That was done only after New Jersey Governor, Chris Cristie, placed an order for 40,000 packages of Twinkies. Christie later admitted that was his usual monthly order from Hostess.

Atlantic City Casinos - December report. First revenue gain since 2008. Yah-fuckin'-hoo.

Carmela helped that out , way ta go girl ! Also I like Chris Cristie , he's got a set of balls LOL SC . Rush Limbaugh his a blow hard at least to me.

Ding Dongs, Just look at all in Washington, Sure as HELL would be nice to Clean all Politians out and START OVER AGAIN ! As when the fucken Titanc when down , HOLY CRAP !!!!!!!!!!

We the People Are Idiot's !

Thanks Oli,

In honor of Kodak's demise, here's one of my very favorite Paul Simon songs. Probably the only one about cameras?? I just love the guy's sweet voice but that aside, the song is cool. For some reason, I can't get the direct YouTube picture. Just click the link. Instead of PS singing, there's Kodak memories. LOL

Here's a nice salute to Kodak

RIP Kodak

"Mama don't take my Kodachrome away."


[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=wZpaNJqF4po&NR=1[/video]

Do you remember getting a Kodak camera for Christmas? I got several over the years. They came in that nice yellow box with the Kodak emblem. Inside there was the camera, and I think a roll of film, the strap ... it was like a kit. For parents, I think it was a convenient gift to get kids. Of copurse, as soon as you unwrapped it, you wanted to start taking pictures.

By the way, I definitely remember the song. It was unique to include those lyrics about an American icon.

Oh yes, I remember one Christmas, I was maybe 8 or 10 and my sister and I both got cameras. They started making the cameras colors other than black. Of course it came with the Kodak film and you're right, we took pictures like crazy.

I had a red one and my sister had a blue one. I just recently bought a new photo album to put those old pictures in that I took with that camera.

Boy, if we talk cameras I can really show my age. I remember for wedding they'd have those HUGE cameras with HUGE lights that you had to lug around. The lights were so bright. LOL I imagine, made by Kodak.


TIS

oli, sure as the hell do. My dad was a Kodak fan, we had camera's , movie and all types of Kodak. Quality Items . But no matter how old ya were ya loved them. Thanks for postin this TIS and oli.

TIS, did ya'll have movie cameras? My dad had the 8mm with the rack of lights that nearly gave you a tan as he filmed. He took tousands of feet of film. Thank God he did. He converted them to video and so we have them for posterity. But he filmed everything.

Oli,

rack of lights that nearly gave you a tan as he filmed Ha ha ha ha LMAO That's true


Oh yes. It was a big deal to pull out the movie projector and a pain in the ass threading the film for what? 2 minutes. We had 8mm and then a couple of mine were Super 8. Some years ago, my parents put all of our family movies on VHS. NOW I have to get them converted to DVD cause I don't own a VCR anymore.


TIS

You know I love him, Tis. But Paul Simon looks worse than McCartney. Simon and Garfunkel both look like they belong on North Miami Beach with loud shorts, black socks, white shoes and a metal detector .