The Presidential Laugh Track Is Doing Fine

After four years of being caricatured as a closet socialist who distrusts private enterprise and never met a government program he didn't like, President Obama finally steps out of the closet.

In trying to prod Congress to act on his jobs programs, Obama made the same point repeatedly in a press conference yesterday - the private sector is "doing fine" and it is job losses in the public sector that are holding back the recovery.

Here we go:

And the most important thing I think we can do is make sure that we continue to have a strong, robust recovery.  So the steps that I've outlined are the ones that are needed.  We've got a couple of sectors in our economy that are still weak.  Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs.  We've seen record profits in the corporate sector. 

The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction.  You've seen teacher layoffs, police officers, cops, firefighters being laid off.  And the other sector that's still weak has been the construction industry.  Those two areas we've directly addressed with our jobs plan.  The problem is that it requires Congress to take action, and we're going to keep pushing them to see if they can move in that direction.

Let's note that the construction industry would be a mix of public and private building. And again:

The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.  The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government -- oftentimes, cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.  And so, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is, how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry.

And can we score a trifecta?

Keep in mind that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months.  But one of the biggest weaknesses has been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 Americans.  These are teachers and cops and firefighters.  Congress should pass a bill putting them back to work right now, giving help to the states so that those layoffs are not occurring.

In addition, since the housing bubble burst, we’ve got more than a million construction workers out of work.  There’s nothing fiscally responsible about waiting to fix your roof until it caves in.  We've got a lot of deferred maintenance in this country.  We could be putting a lot of people back to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, some of our schools.  There's work to be done; there are workers to do it.  Let’s put them back to work right now.

Rebuilding bridges, roads and schools would be public sector employment.

Obama's meaning is clear. Three days after the voters of Wisconsin repudiated their public sector unions and affirmed Gov. Walker's attempts to rein them in, Obama is insistent that the real problem facing the American economy is a shrinking public sector. Good luck with that message.

The WSJ mentions some measure of health for the private sector and looks at the real problem in the public sector - rising pension and health bills.

CHANNELING MY INNER JPOD:

Let's cut to the real John Podhoretz:

Obama’s explanation for the slowdown in economic growth is that the public sector is hurting, and that’s where Washington must step in and act.

“Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. Oftentimes, cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government,” he said. “And so, you know, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments.”

The president seriously wants to go before the American people and argue in an election year that the wildly unpopular $860 billion stimulus of 2009 needs to be supplemented this year by more direct federal support of state and local government workers?

I’m trying very hard to think of a way this argument is not politically insane for Obama in his quest to win over independent voters who will make the difference in November.

WALKBACK OR WALK-AROUND? Ann Althouse does not think Obama walked back his remarks in a subsequent 'clarification'.

HE'S NOT USING THE WORD 'SOCIALIST', BUT... Mickey Kaus also worries that Obama wasn't gaffeing, he was telling us what he really thinks about the public sector.

Comments

[daddy]

Good Morning.

Liked this quote from Governor Scott Walker today:

“The current administration seems to think that success is measured by how many people are dependent on the government. I think success is measured by how many are not.”

Perfect.

[Clarice]

More news on the SUV driver who crashed into a DC lbby yesterday..He's a prior sex offender and the Police Chief says it doesn't appear to be an act of terrorism, the moog has "mental health issues".

[Clarice]

Except the appendix is on the RIGHT side, Ext.

[narciso]

I saw that, off a link on Treacher's feed;

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/06/suv-drives-into-d-c-building--76794.html

[Janet]

Yeah TK...my son had his appendix out in 1st grade after about a week of stomach flu like symptoms the pain "moved over" more to the right side. His had ruptured, so he had to stay in the hospital for awhile.

[Extraneus]

Didn't he say 8:00 looking at the belly button? My bad if it's the wrong side.

[Clarice]

On my watch 8 is on the left side of the dial. Your watch may differ.

[Janet]

TK did say 8:00, Extraneus. It really sounds like something with the appendix.

[GMax]

It's right on the border with Canada; on Lake Michigan

Half right. On the border with Canada, yes. On Lake Michigan no. That would be Chicago.

Detroit is on the Detroit River & Lake St Clair, which is part of Lake Huron.

[AliceH]

Clarice - that's 8 on your left side, which is the watch's (appendix's) right side.

[Ignatz]

--Except the appendix is on the RIGHT side, Ext.--

Depends on whether you are the watch or are looking at it.

[Clarice]

Aha, Now I see where ext is getting at. Thnx GMax. I remember the ferry from Milwaukee to Michigan across Lake Michigan--but it's the same left/right thing at work.

[Old Lurker]

Do young people even know what a clock face is?

[Extraneus]

TK, the CAT scan that diagnosed my son's appendix was preceded by making him drink around a half gallon of a disgusting drink. I have no idea what that showed up, and didn't see the pics, but I guess his was ruptured and an emergency.

So sad calling his mom, who was on vacation in Hawaii on my child-support payments -- oops! [Down boy.] Anyway, he was very brave.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Porch,

Frederick learned all about clock faces and telling time, etc. in both 2nd and 3rd grade. Including how to calculate elapsed time. He has a watch and its not digital. Told me it makes him feel like a "Mad Man" when he wears it:)

Recipe time: Trying a new marinade for Duck breasts tonight. Lemongrass, scallions, ginger, garlic, lots of spices like cumin and cardamon, cilantro and coconut milk. Have them in fridge last 6 hours.

[Janet]

Do young people even know what a clock face is?

Hah! True...my daughter wears a watch (a very big faced watch) as jewelery but gets the time from her Blackberry.

Missed ya at dinner, OL. I've got a Gadsden flag lapel pin waiting for ya.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of recipes, we've been feasting for the last 2 days on pulled pork sammiches from something I found at the Today show site that I made in the slow cooker. Not bad.

[henry]

JiB, that sounds very tasty! No more duck for me until September. : (

[Janet]

From Stephanie on FB (she's had tons of good links lately)-

[Extraneus]

Actually, reading about it now, I'm sure it wasn't ruptured. The emergency was to remove it before it ruptured and spread bacteria throughout the abdomen. Doesn't seem like TK's daughter's problem, though, because of the few sites I read, it would have ruptured by now.

significant abdominal pain, especially around the bellybutton or in the lower right part of the abdomen (perhaps coming and going and then becoming consistent and sharp)

digestive system animation

low-grade fever

loss of appetite

nausea and vomiting

diarrhea (especially small amounts, with mucus)

frequent urination and/or an abnormally strong urge to urinate

swollen or bloated abdomen, especially in infants

Diagnosis

Because the symptoms of appendicitis can be so similar to those of other medical conditions, it's often a challenge for doctors to diagnose it.

To confirm or rule out appendicitis, a doctor will examine the abdomen for signs of pain and tenderness, order blood and urine tests, X-rays of the abdomen and chest, and a CAT scan.

If the doctor suspects appendicitis, you may be told to stop giving your child any food or liquids in order to prepare for surgery.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/stomach/appendicitis.html#

[gus]

GMAX, please show some respect for the Cheese.
Milwaukee is on Lake Michigan!

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

I haven't seen 60 Minutes in years (actually decades) but I have noticed watching golf on CBS that their trailers have been less edgy subjects and issues now that the Lightbringer is POTUS. Lots of soft, touchy-feely, culture kind of things. Am I hullucinating here? Moonves must miss his non-partisan bias.

[daddy]

.

[Extraneus]

I'm still amazed that Obama and his team were dumb enough to call that press conference in order to claim that more government employees need to be hired at the state and local level.

"Where we are seeing weaknesses in our economy, had to do with state and local government, often times cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal Government, and who don't have the same flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in."

The "flexibility" the federal government has, that states don't, is the ability to run unlimited deficits and create money.

If only the feds would "help" by increasing the deficit in order to give money to the states so that they can hire more non-essential government employees, the economy would be humming!

What an idiot.

[Bruce]

Maybe he's never voted in D.C.

I knew I remembered something about Eric Holder and voting, and here it is: O'Keefe Voter Fraud Investigation: Young Man Offered Holder's Ballot

In a new video ... provided to Breitbart.com, James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas demonstrates why Holder should stop attacking voter ID laws--by walking into Holder’s voting precinct and showing the world that anyone can obtain Eric Holder’s primary ballot. Literally.

[Clarice]

Yes, no ID to vote in DC. But you need one to get into almost any bdg in this city, including the Courthouses and the DoJ.

[Stephanie]

Thanks Janet!

As to the "misstatement"... it wasn't that statement was of a piece with statements by Krugman, Reid and several others over the past several months saying the same thing and agitating for more spending being funneled through the feds to the states. Where funnily enough, unions reside and can get their fix with the new hires and their dues.

What they are arguing for is another stimulus like the first that went to boondoggles that could have money siphoned off to support more big government.

The stupidity was doing this after Wisconsin. It was supposed to be a bone to the unions, but everyone rightly took it as a WTF moment. Cause like usual the progs didn't think about consequences and only saw the good in throwing the bone. Silly really as the bone was still attached to the decomposing flesh and even the MSM couldn't hide the stink.

[daddy]

Global Warming Update:

1) LA Times tells us: The heaviest polar ice in more than a decade is clinging to the northern coast of Alaska and could postpone the commencement of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic until the beginning of August — a delay of up to two weeks.

Shell already has to stop drilling 38 days sooner than they want due to the Federal Govt saying they have to suspend ops by 31 October, 5 and a half weeks earlier than normal due to possible early winter pack ice forming, so overall they are down now to 2 months Exploratory Drilling in the Chukchi, and that's only if they receive further permit approval from the Fed's which they do not yet have. Will keep you posted.

2) ADN posts this Global Warming scare story: Scientific expedition discovers thriving plankton in Chukchi Sea

Just for fun, I took some of the sentences in the ADN story and spun them a different way:

"but life may not wait for the ice to retreat..."
On the other hand, life may wait for the ice to retreat.

"may be on the rise..."
On the other hand, may not be on the rise.

"researchers my be dramatically underestimating..."
On the other hand, researchers may not be dramatically underestimating.

"the observed bloom could mean..."
On the other hand, the observed bloom could not mean.

"might not be good news..."
On the other hand, might be good news.

"this might be changing..."
On the other hand, this might not be changing.

"We have no idea..."
You have no idea.

[Captain Hate]

Moyers discussing Orwell. New grave spinning RPM record set.

[Clarice]

Heh, CH.

I remember with Newt Minow called YV a vast wasteland. At the time it still offered a lot of wholesome family entertainment. It's 99% carp now--I don't know that the news was much better..true there was nothing so awful as MSNBC or CNN but the news was hardly more honest as a rule than it is now; people just were conditioned to think it was and there ws little competition in the idea field..

[Rick Ballard]

"but the news was hardly more honest as a rule than it is now"

I believe life was a bit easier for members of the Turd Gilders Guild when they were shoveling Camelot crap. The tarnish came up on the Kendonesian commie a lot faster than it did on the Kennedy whorehound.

[centralcal]

Clarice and glasater: I thought the iPad video you two posted on FB was hilarious! Still chuckling.

[Jane]

I haven't watched 60 minutes in years either, but started again recently for reasons I can't recall and have seen several weeks of interesting stuff - none of which I can recall. I do recall thinking last time I saw it that I was surprised it was that interesting.

Not much of an endorsement, particularly for someone who always has the TV on in the background, but anyway...

[narciso]

They had the Rodgriguez and Crumpton profiles, back to back, and a few other
in teresting bits.

[Captain Hate]

Ah the turd-vac has been employed. Very clean resolution to a messy problem.

[sbwaters]

"making him drink around a half gallon of a disgusting drink"

Heh. I told the tech who apologetically gave me the potion to check my bile duct before the scan prior to deciding how to operate last week that the concoction was the best thing I had had to drink all week.

Glad I could make someone smile.

[Ignatz]

If A Astor were my wife I would drink it.

[Sara]

That chalky stuff they make you drink before a GI series is gross, gross, gross. I'm wondering why they aren't doing an ultra-sound? On the right side, you have your appendix, gall bladder (higher up), right ovary, right kidney, and whatever intestine is curled on that side. I had similar symptoms when my gall bladder was about to burst and when my left fallopian tube burst from a tubal pregnancy. She's alittle young to be having ovary trouble, I doubt she is pregnant and it doesn't sound like gall bladder from the location of pain, so I would be looking at the lower GI trac, the kidney, the appendix, and the right ovary.

[Sara]

The You Are Not Special

“But, Dave,” you cry, “Walt Whitman tells me I’m my own version of perfection! Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!” And I don’t disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point — and we’re happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it... Now it’s “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans. It’s an epidemic — and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune... -- Full text at You’re Not Special - BostonHerald.com

[Ignatz]

Yeah, I read that speech the other day Sara. Pretty good stuff.

[Clarice]

SBw, Glad to see you making jokes again.

[sbwaters]

Thnx, and glad to see JOMers keeping the world well ventilated.

[Danube of Thought]

When Minow said that most people had about four channels to choose from. Now, while the networks remain the vast wasteland they were then, there's the History Channel, National Geographic, the various ESPN, C-SPAN and much more.

[Extraneus]

Does anyone get this? I don't.

Cost to Lunch With Warren Buffett: $3.5 Million

The annual auction for a private lunch with the Nebraska billionaire closed following a flurry of activity in the final hours Friday night. In the end, the highest bid was a record-breaking $3,456,789.

[sbwaters]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[Danube of Thought]

As I was saying, the Day of Reckoning is arriving:

SAN DIEGO (AP) — For years, companies have been chipping away at workers' pensions. Now, two California cities may help pave the way for governments to follow suit.

Voters in San Diego and San Jose, the nation's eighth- and 10th-largest cities, overwhelmingly approved ballot measures last week to roll back municipal retirement benefits — and not just for future hires but for current employees.

From coast to coast, the pensions of current public employees have long been generally considered untouchable. But now, some politicians are saying those obligations are trumped by the need to provide for the public's health and safety.

[Jane]

Does anyone get this? I don't.

I don't think it was for the thrill of dining with Warren but rather a desire to donate to his charity.

[jimmyk]

TK, I don't know if this depends on where you live, but in a lot of places one has to pull strings to get past the "net poinment July 17" nonsense. I would ask your pediatrician to get an earlier appointment, and if that doesn't work, start asking friends and acquaintances. There's usually a way to get yourself in sooner if you push hard enough and don't take no for an answer.

[boris]

"It's curious that the pain is only in the morning on rising."

TK, Clarice, a possible connection to morning sickness could indicate hormonal disturbance. There also is a condition known as intestinal migrane that can be difficult to diagnose and treat.

[Clarice]

Could be,Boris, but she's only 8 years old.

I feel certain it's a temporary thing related to her taking antibiotics recently--and the probiotics she's now taking seem to be providing some relief. The family history of coeliac dsease is worth looking into as well as consideration of other food allegies.

[Sara]

TK: Check out this article on CVS

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

Along with San Diego and San Jose public emp pension votes, there was a statewide initiative on a new tax for tobacco.
Tax-and-spend lost on this issue too, though the margin was small. An enormous number of uncounted ballots exist still, 4 days later. "This is a corrupt and Democrat state...but I repeat myself"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/06/vote-count-on-tobacco-tax-in-tuesdays-primary-continues-to-narrow.html

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

The hjta.org people keep track of CA tax-related issues (Howard Jarvis "hj" was a leader in the Prop 13 battle) and provide a useful weekly email for any Californians who wish to keep a finger on the pulse, as it were.
A cute new "dogs against obama" photo, LUN, ...I'm still puzzled why they never posted my submission with punchline supplied via JOM suggestions :(

[henry]

Danube, fun factoid-- it was a public pension scandal that allowed Walker to be elected Milwaukee County Executive, in effect launching his career.

[gus]

Tom Ament created Scott Walkers ascension to Governor.
Scott Walker was a young State Assemblyman from Wauwatosa.

[narciso]

How did we ever even tie with this guy;

http://patdollard.com/2012/06/al-gore-mocks-dana-loesch-on-twitter-then-quickly-deletes-it/

[Melinda Romanoff]

Ex-

A chance to dine with an enviable, financial figure while writing it off.

Any inside trader is not a friend of mine, and that's what he's been reduced to.

Charlie Munger, on the other hand, I would make a homemade, open faced, turkey sandwich, with the usual sides.

[narciso]

He's become Ed Rooney, Beatty's seemingly inscrutable magnate in Network,