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The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has been weak. The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal.
One year after U.S stocks hit their post-financial-crisis low on March 9, 2009, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen more than 68 percent, and it’s up more than 41 percent since Obama took office. Credit spreads have narrowed. Commodity prices have surged. Housing prices have stabilized.
“We’ve had a phenomenal run in asset classes across the board,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist for Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. “If he was a Republican, we would hear a never-ending drumbeat of news stories about markets voting in favor of the president.”
The economy has also strengthened beyond expectations at the time Obama took office. The gross domestic product grew at a 5.9 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, compared with a median forecast of 2.0 percent in a Bloomberg survey of economists a week before Obama’s Jan. 20, 2009, inauguration. The median forecast for GDP growth this year is 3.0 percent, according to Bloomberg’s February survey of economists, versus 2.1 percent for 2010 in the survey taken 13 months earlier.
“You have to give them — along with the Federal Reserve – – a lot of credit,” said Joseph Carson, director of economic research at AllianceBernstein LP in New York. “A year ago, there was panic, as well as concern. And a lot of the expectations were not only that we were going to have declines in activity but they would stretch all the way to 2010, if not 2011.”
Since then, monthly job losses have abated, from 779,000 during the month Obama took office to 36,000 last month. Corporate profits have grown; among 491 companies in the S&P 500 that reported fourth-quarter earnings, profits rose 180 percent from a year ago, according to Bloomberg data. Durable goods orders in January were up 9.3 percent from a year earlier. Inflation is tame, and long-term interest rates remain low.
Most business news sources are strictly regimented to satisfy conservative investors. Supposedly broader analyses are allowed only to reflect the views of folks investing in buggy whips and Halliburton.
# 28 Breetai said “And for that matter why is Fox news being silent about it as well.? They did write an article about it but buried it.”
Fox is in a worse position then the other major networks. If they tout it, half of their audience believe the black helicopters are on the way to put them in work camps. If they’re against it, the other half thinks we are opening America up for another 9-11.
And there lies the problem for the Repubs in 2012. Those who think Obama is out of the running, it depends on who the other side runs against him.
Huffington Post Reported on it. Why can’t CNN?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100227/us-obama-patriot-act/
Where’s the passion against this shit?! the silence is deafening you douchebags!
Depends. The shit is still in the Depends.
#12 & #14 – That’s why I don’t trust democrats or republicans. They are all full of crap!
I wouldn’t trust ANY politician as far as I could throw em! Yet, the left wingers defend their democratic masters no matter what and the right wingers defend their republican masters no matter what. Hey massa, we sick, our house is burnin down…how delusional!
#17 TheOne – it’s easy. Reduce government to a size where the economy can rely on the free market.
#18 Dallas – Not many service jobs can be exports. Technical assistance by phone is already dominated by India. Of course, in a free market, these things would sort themselves out. One man cannot steer a ship this big. It takes the interaction of millions of people who are free to do so.
So, if Obama is so great, why is he still in Iraq & ramping things up in Afganistan & Pakistan? He’s just as bad as Bush. You accuse republicans of being sheep yet follow their same logic when it comes to your guy.
#22 Hmeyers – You posted after I wrote some of my commentary above…I couldn’t agree with you more. But partisans will only look at the short-sighted good, but ignore the bad. I guess they feel their team needs to win to validate their party affiliation or something. That’s why I don’t associate with any party. Their only goal is to grow in power and wealth while screwing the very people they pretend to represent.
#27 Guyver – Except for Fox news…which is why I always watch the opposite of whatever administration is in power. I never watched Fox news when Bush was in power. Now, I stay the hell away from msnbc…
#28 Bree – None of the news agencies want to be excluded from the white house press briefing parties.
#28
NO.
@Dallas
“Easy fix. Ignore what you consider partisan speak and just look for the facts.”
Fair enough …
“Wrong. We do have exports – and the right ones. I work for Intel. We export a lot of technology. You want to export Barbie Dolls? I don’t. What we want to export is clean energy technology. That is Obama’s vision.”
Our trade deficit is about $700 billion a year. One reason for the huge trade deficit is that have to import a great deal since we no longer produce it domestically.
That in itself, isn’t surmountable.
What is insurmountable is that almost any company will build a factory in Mexico and ship to the US tariff-free instead of building here.
“Clean energy technology …”
That may pay off 10 or 20 years down the road.
“What’s your point? This is common knowledge.”
It may be common knowledge and a long-time trend, but I think you are glossing over the fact that this country is becoming extremely poor, extremely quickly.
” ..that is why the credit rating of the federal and state governments will eventually hit the skids…
Yep. So?”
Imagine the California budget crisis multiplied times 10, 30, or 50. This isn’t concerning you at all?
Let’s see, how hard is it really. If you want to buy congress it won’t work to finance the campaign of just the republicans or just the democrats. If you finance both sides your pork is safe and legislation will favor you, because regardless of who wins the election, your man will win. This ain’t a party issue at all, These people want to be in the government, and that means campaign financing, you need it to get in, and you need it to stay in. So you’ve got to try not to bite the hand that feeds you. Some how we’ve got to get special interests and lobbyists away from our politicians, but instead of reforming campaign financing regulations they’re doing the opposite. Wake up Zombies! Democrat, Republican, who the hell cares, they’re both equally owned.
#36 @Hmeyers
We agree more than disagree.
Trade deficit high? Yes. Oil contributes nearly a third of that which takes me back to my original point that clean, domestic energy is key to our future.
Clean energy . Clean energy , clean energy
1. Produced here
2. Lowers trade deficit
3. A place for Americans to innovate and actually export.
4. Better environment
5. Less money to terrorist nutcase
Explain to me why the conservative nutbags still want to drill drill drill? Are they still into that strategy or did they see another shiny thing? I’ve lost track.
10-20 years? Wrong. Hybrids are here now. Innovation in batter technology. Now is a lot closer to now than 10 or 20 years. Right?
California budget crisis concerning? Yes sit is. Why do you say it is not? Of course it is.
Maybe if we stop incarcerating pot smokers that would help. Protecting our borders. Deal with health care.
This is where I get political on you so shut down.
Republicans are out for a power grab in 2012 as they see as Americans frustrated Obama could not click his heals and make the Cheney abyss go away.
Their answer is suspend governing to shut down progress and prevent any further economic improvement. A growth in the jobs market and unemployment below 8% will be fatal for a Republican comeback. They know it.
The GOP will sell their mother if it meant regaining power. With them comes the Christian taliban that will cling to the GOP again like a parasite clings to a host.
#38 Dallas – Not maybe, definitely. If the war on drugs was ended today, money spent on law enforcement on prohibition would be saved, not to mention saving money spent on jails to incarcerate victimless crimes such as possession of a plant or voluntary transactions. Crime would go down, just like after the prohibition of alcohol was repealed, because the cost of drugs would plummet.
Yeah, Obama’s strategy of bailing out the rich to make himself look good with a successful stock market while unemployment remains high is working out so far, but what will happen in 10 to 20 years when the USA’s debt is 90% of GDP? And you’re right, the GOP would do anything to get power back. But where you falter is that so would the Dems. That’s why much of the stimulus money won’t go into effect until right before 2010 elections (can’t remember where I read that). Politicians are corrupt, end of story. I don’t understand why people put faith and trust in politicians. Even the most trustworthy politician is being paid through extortion. That’s like supporting one gang over another because one is hurting and robbing you less.
One man can’t fix all the problems. It is foolish to think so. Instead of looking to some superman to solve our problems, we should trust ourselves to deal with our neighbors in a voluntary way.
@Dallas
“Explain to me why the conservative nutbags still want to drill drill drill?”
More drilling is absolutely absurd. But why isn’t Obama heftily demanding the gas mileage standard be lifted? Is it because General Motors is now owned by the government?
Why not build some more nuclear power plants?
I almost puked when George W. Bush gave the banks 3/4 of a trillion dollars in bailout money. Then Obama did it too.
There is plenty of blame to go around. I really get tired of hearing it is “the other guy’s” fault.
This country is in grave economic trouble.
All it will take is ONE large company to get the idea of moving it’s research labs to Mexico or Canada and then other companies will jump aboard and all the California/Texas/Seattle white collar jobs will be pushed across the borders. Microsoft could end up being the trend setter.
Even worse if they don’t, they’d probably angle for special interest legislation to keep them in the US for tax breaks.
This is the horrible bargaining position the US is in.
#39–Couldn’tBmoreStupid==Please identify and connect the dots: How can my neighbor and I trust and deal with one another to strengthen the dollar, diminish/reverse the trade imbalance, balance the budget, prevent big bank fraud, improve healthcare, get our troops back home etc?
I can create a number of dots and hypothetically multiply that by 320 Million but the result pretty much doesn’t look like my neighbor and myself—it looks like general society, aka reality, aka nothing like what you post. What you post is about party noise late at night, or picking up leaves in the fall. Sure you ain’t confused?
What you talkin bout Bmore?
WTF??? Obama has gotten nothing but praise and adoration from the media aside from Fox News, despite spending us into a deficit we will never be able to recover from. He never would have gotten elected if this were not the case. When has a Rebuplican ever gotten this kind of treatment from the media?
Everything Obama wants to achieve (Government Health WelfCare, Cap and Trade, more Stimulus / Jobs bills) has increased government spending at its core. Without ANY of these things, we have have a $1.6 trillion deficit this year. Even if we completely got rid of our entire military as well as Social Security, we would still have a deficit for this year! And that doesn’t even begin to account for the fact that we are $12 trillion and growing and debt. So no, there will be no celebration in the media or anywhere else for a president who sends us down this path, no matter what party he is from.
#41 bobbo the clown – All the problems you’ve listed are problems created or perpetuated by the government. The dollar is weak because of government policy. The federal reserve note is backed by nothing and the government prints it at will, inflating it in the process. In a free market society, no one entity would have a monopoly on currency like the government has now. If a bank in a free market society tried printing worthless paper backed by nothing, that paper would decrease in value, and less people would deal with it, opting for paper from a bank that’s backed by real value.
In a free market society, there is no such thing as a trade imbalance. That is because I would not be “represented” by the government of the US. Therefore, the only trade imbalance would be a personal one – if I only bought and bought without selling anything (product, service, what have you) that anybody else desired. Therefore, I’d have to change my occupation to provide something of value that I could sell in order to rectify my own personal trade imbalance. If I own a business it’s the same concept, only on a grander scale.
Ditto same argument for unbalanced budget.
Big banks exist today due to government regulation. Who do you think drafts the legislation before it’s introduced as a bill by some moron legislator on capitol hill? Our so called representatives don’t know much about banking, or anything else besides how to raise funds for campaigns. They get handed about 1000 pages from some lobbyist or some other representative of big business, and they turn around and use it as their own, without reading it. In a free market society, there is no regulation. That way, there is lots of competition, and the banks who serve the consumer the best will become bigger while those who try to pull the stunts the big banks we have now would soon go out of business and there’d be no government to bail them out.
Ditto same argument for healthcare.
There’d be no massive army controlled by special interests to go shoot up foreigners thousands of miles away in the name of the US in a free market society. Just like during the Revolutionary war, free people would get together to form militias to defend themselves from foreign threats. Don’t forget, there was no US military when the British empire (the biggest, baddest military in the world at the time) to defend freedom loving people from foreign aggression.
You see bobbo, we don’t need tyranny to defend us from tyranny. It’s as if I robbed you at gunpoint, and told you, hey, I’m using your money to make sure you have a job, you are able to trade with others, keep me from getting into debt, protect you from getting taken advantage of by the other children, for you to gain my permission to go see a doctor of my liking, and to fund altercations that I’m in to protect my buddies who help fund my little extortion operation. The government steals from us, then promises to protect our liberty. That is sooooo bass-ackwards!
If he’s so smart why does China own us?
Booboo,
Obama isn’t giving health care to all and you know that. He’s done the same thing with big health care as he did with wall st. While he talked smack about big health care in public, he behind the scenes cut nice deals with them that will end up enriching them, assuming what ever horrible health care plan he ends up backing passes congress. Hopefully it will not. Obama has shown he’s no leader but a reactionary two face chicago goon that needs to be voted out of office ASAP. Hopefully 2010 will be the beginning of the end for our first half white all dunce President.
Blah, blah, blah Obama’s Fault
Blah, blah, blah Bush’s Fault
Blah, blah, blah Democrat’s Fault
Blah, blah, blah Republican’s Fault
You partisan tools are sounding like a broken records. Same BS every time.
The reality is, it’s OUR FAULT, we keep voting for these people, their all corrupt and don’t give a rats-ass about any of us.
“Commodity prices have surged.”
Like food, medicine and clothing.
Thanks, B.O.!
I must have missed all these stories in the media when W was president. With Clinton every good piece of economic news was being labelled as proof of his economic policies working, while with Bush they seemed to go out of their way to find negatives. Not economic, but the best example is the AP’s competitor writing As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch
#46 big – You’re right, it is our fault. But whether we vote or not, it won’t make a difference. Because the politicians will still vote. And so will their families. And friends. And special interest groups.
It’s our fault because we keep funding this bipartisan b.s. As long as we keep paying taxes like good little citizens, nothing will ever change.
Americans give their Presidents, a hard time. And seem obsessed with trying to kill them. It ain’t easy trying to help. If you want to be a president, move to France. President la France, Barack Jon Claude Louis Obama. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
# 28 Breetai:
“Is the Patriot Act Okay with you guys now that Bush isn’t president?”
No, dammit!
– – – – –
# 43 BmoreBadBoy, tell us some more fairy tales about the Perfect Free Market! Tell us about how the Perfect Free Market will save the Princess from the evil Government Tax Robber and we’ll all live happily ever after while the sun dawns and the blue birds of happiness sing!
I hadn’t seen this article; but, did notice a couple of folks on Bloomberg TV discussing it, yesterday.
It’s true. Though hacks like Fox Business News or even staid Republican trollops like CNBC would never admit it.
I still find more consistently honest biz news over at Bloomberg. Too bad they lost Bernie Lo in Hong Kong back to CNBC. The latter must have paid a bundle to get him.
Funniest sht this morning! This one middle age woman comes into the cafe to get a morning sandwich. She comes 3min’s after I do. She idles around the place waiting for her sandwich and me for my ice milk cafe.
I look outside at her vehicle, plastered with Patriot Act this and that and starts smiling that this either must be a nutty Republican or a derange tea party member..in my hometown of San Diego.
I didn’t say anything of course, being the nice person and all 🙂 7mins into her wait she starts acting up, like a derange bitch. Everyone in there just kinda stare at her curiously. She starts babling about how long dos it take to make a sandwich, constantly looks at her watch, figgiting, giving the cashier a hard time, complaining over and over and when she finally got her sandwich, snatched it from the counter without a word of thanks and stormed out with an attitude to her Patriot Act covered car.
During her bitching moment I took time to calmly tell her she’s a bitch and then turn to everyone in the place and told them “what a bitch.” I was hoping to see her crash right off the bat in her current state of mind but sadly it was too early in the morning and there weren’t enough vehicles on the road. Sigh, you win this one God!
She was dressed in almost hippy clothing, glasses to make her “look” smart, and a racist fcking face if I ever seen one in my yellow Asian life! well, Brown Asian life!
You Republicans crack me up, Dems too..but mostly Republicans. Keep the insanity coming, they’re fcking hilarious, espeically in the morning!
I just don’t get all the partisan BS. On the Patriot Act issue.
“Obama’s signature comes after the House voted 315 to 97”
315 votes for it 97 against and Democrats the party against it are in control.
Are the Democrats actually in control? I hate to say it looks like Ron Paul accidentally had a moment of cander when he said the CIA is calling the shots and ran a successful coup on the US government.
Because the Politicians are definitely not running things.
#38
I see a problem with producing stuff here as it is. Take for example my colleague here at work; he doesn’t have much to do but instead of helping me and my technician debug/repair/ship/receive and everything else he sits pretty in his office. God forbid he should get his fingers dirty *roll eyes* And it’s not just him either, most of my nice colleagues here don’t expect to do any of the grunt work at all.
Producing here in US you say? Not with this kind of American attitude you can’t. Immigration be damn but at least things are getting down where they need to be. Lazy bunch of retards IMO.
And then there’s one of our factory up north where ALL the white workers get together and waste time instead of doing work. Who does the work and come on time you ask? Why, it’s the Spanish workers, the single Japanese worker and some other asian workers. Why aren’t these wht fcks getting canned? Well…it pays to also be wht and have good relations with the boss and higher up. Yay, win-win for all. Except of course company is doing poor and may shut down.
Mind you I don’t think all white people are this bad, but there are sure many of them out there in every single class level.
#51 Patsy – They are fairy tales, because we are being held back from a voluntary society by government and people like you who support it, mostly out of ignorance and comfort with the status quo. Try to open your mind to new ideas and stop letting those in power think for you. If our so called founding fathers acted like you do, we’d still be under the oppressive thumb of a king thousands of miles away…
Republican #1:
“if we surrender on health-care, we’re doomed.”
Republican #2
“If we don’t, we’re doomed, too!”
Republican #1
“Face it. We’re doomed.”
When the carbon footprint of the average American is higher, I’ll believe there is a recovery going on. The entire purpose of the economy is for Americans to have more private property, live in bigger houses and drive bigger trucks. I say to you Mr. Obama “fix it!”
Why does Bernanke look so uncomfortable in this pic?