As someone who looks for pro-liberty positions in candidates I figured Obama'd be a lock for improving our drug laws. The GOP preaches family values but jails young black men like crazy making sure nuclear families don't develop. Well Obama is apparently just a little worse than Bush.

Back when he was running for president in 2008, Barack Obama insisted that medical marijuana was an issue best left to state and local governments. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," he vowed, promising an end to the Bush administration's high-profile raids on providers of medical pot, which is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
Nope.

He's a disappointment in many ways, but he can get away with it because the alternatives are so much worse.

This one is baffling, though. Is he afraid that drug warriors in the DOJ will accuse him of preventing them from enforcing a law that is on the books?

Well, all that bail out and stimulus money had to go somewhere. :right:

Word.

Grump ;)

I've heard the DJ index is a "6-month out predictor".
If so, this trend will not bode well for the GOB campaigns.

The GOP campaigners do not bode well for the GOP campaigns.

Preach.

Rick Santorum: Giving women the absolute freedom to do what he tells them.

Mitt Romney: Consistently sticking to an ever-changing position.

:D

You know things are going badly for Santorum and Romney when Eric Cantor
endorses Romney, but then turns around and offers a jobs bill that Dems will support.

Some of the talking heads on TV now that are glumly acknowledging problems among the GOB candidates,
and suggesting it may be better to concentrate on Congressional elections to keep the House.

It's like wading a river with guicksand bottom, and trying to find a solid place to step before going under.

heehee

Nothing new here. Thats been said since Christie and McConnell declined to run.
Its always easier to be the incumbent.
1) No real primary.
2) Easier to use taxpayer money to campaign.
3) Name recognition/familiarity.
4) Typically far easier to raise campaign donations
and so on.

Also the fact that Obama's been pretty popular and successful, in some parts of the country. To some people, I mean.

I was speaking in general terms, not about him specifically.

Yeah, I know. I'm just saying, he's not only incumbent, he's at least fairly popular too.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15 (see trends).

I'm one of the uncommitted voters who put Obama in the White House. I would be a more natural GOP voter if they didn't fight culture wars and support corporations over individuals. Obama is still beatable if Mitt can change his message back to moderate governorship. If that happens and he loses the GOP will continue the culture war and be completely irrelevant unless someone can explain the reality of the situation to them. Maybe a huge Santorum loss would be best but having him that close with a partisan Supreme Court makes me damn nervous.

I got a whiff of dodgy stats when I noticed the figure they present ( -15) is based on comparing the strongly approve and the strongly disapprove. What about the moderates?
And then why base the data on that particular day? was it, perhaps, a bit of a statistical outlier?

Follow the links to the original source.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._index_history

Ignore the "Presidential approval index" which focuses on the extremists who aren't going to swing. Look at the two columns on the far right, total approve and total disapprove. Scroll back to look over the last couple of months.

Make your own interpretation.

My interpretation is hidden below:
So far this year:
The difference has never been more than 45/55, and has often been within four points.
Disapprove has been higher most of the time, but not always.
over the year, this shows a moderate preponderance of disapproval.


ETA it's worth scrolling at high speed through his entire term.

Of course, the problem for the republican candidates is that people disapprove of them even more.

The R's are in disarray and apparently have no cohesive anything right now.
Dunno, I think too much damage may have already been done.
I'll bet there are tons of Obama commercials already prepared and ready to
run simply based upon his gaffes and statements from the last couple months.

Why for you now convert others' posts to pomes?

FWIW: In 2009, GM employed 12,600 in Ohio, Ford had about 7,000. Honda had 15,000

General Motors has signed a new contract to bring 760 new jobs to Ohio,
increase parts and welding assembly work in Ohio that currently is being done overseas,
and call back of most workers that had been laid off due to parts shortages.
Here are some of the items in the new contract:

What UAW members get under tentative contract with GM

What are the comparative numbers now?

GM will also pay bonuses of at least $182 million to white-collar workers
most of whom make more than $100,000 a year. They'll range from 8-14%.
That's in addition to the over 300 million in profit sharing they already had planned for factory workers.

Additionally there are some who are raising new questions about GM's new tax structure which was
altered as part of the bailout. No word yet on what their new effective rate is now.

The point of my post was that 12,600 direct employees of GM were working in Ohio in 2009,
and the employment multiplier effect added about 14,800 other jobs in the local communities.
That's nearly 30,000 jobs and almost as many families directly related to GM (only).

The recent GM -UAW contract sounds as if those 12,600 employees are/will be back to work,
along with 760 new jobs that are being brought back from overseas.
I'm not seeing a whole lot wrong with all that.

What point(s) are you making... just adding new information, or
- that white collar employees are/were making too much ?
- that GM can/should not to pay bonuses to white collar workers ?
- that the bailout of the automotive industry was wrong ?
- that GM should have gone bankrupt and all those jobs be lost ?
- that there is some sort of tax skullduggery going on ?
.

I didn't read that as jobs added TO the initial 12,600. My bad, apparently.

I do not know the answers. I am asking those same questions.
To your last point regarding the taxes, I just recently learned that their tax structure was altered in the bailout.
What effect it had, I do not know.

NSA whistle-blower: Obama “worse than Bush”

Link

Interesting article.

Hiya Merc, you've been quiet lately ... working long shifts again?

Balls to the wall work, followed by guests from the UK for 10 days (day 5 now) and big Savannah Rugby Tournament this last weekend. Off to the Pink Floyd Experience with the UK guests tonight and back into a short work cycle this week, finishing up with the parade in Savannah on Sat. Guests leave Sunday then back to a balls to the wall work cycle. Life goes on. Thanks for asking.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148293...t-can-they-see

Yay for the surveillance state. :(

In the foreclosure agreement between the 5 big banks and the Federal and State governments,
there remained open the option for the governments to pursue additional penalties.

The first of these actions is being made public today...

Wall Street Journal
RUTH SIMON
3/12/12

Foreclosure Pact Alleges a Pattern of Malfeasance
.

When do the prosecutions begin?

If you get tickets, save us a few seats...

Two weeks ago, it was the just the Dow-Jones.
Now it's more like "We're all baaaaaccccckkk"

Wall Street Journal
Chris Dieterich and Matt Jarzemsky,
3/15/12

US Stocks Higher After Solid Domestic Economic Data
.

Great Unemployment rate info here...

Classic, I am truly sorry your glass is always half empty.

I do know what unemployment is...
Once, I went for 3 1/2 years until I realized that self-employment was to be my way out.
But it took a lot of work to even become self-employed.
Getting up and staying off my butt was more than a full time job.

Outlook is overwhelmingly important, and things are looking up in the US.
That's the reason for my postings on the DJ, etc.
I won't let the nay-sayers keep pounding on Obama as if there was no bottom.
I believe we bottomed out over a year ago, and next year will be much better.

So, I am hoping you too will soon find your way through to a "full glass"

You've completely missed my point, Lamp. Look at the numbers.
Are they improving? Is the U-6 better now than it was?
Is it changing more than the U-3?
Look at this presidency compared to the last one.
Look at the change in U-6 from 2008 to today - do the same for the last administration.
I just though it was a neat tool to use for factual comparison.

Classic, why are you trying to make that comparison ?

The US went through a major financial upheaval in 2008.
It happened to happen at the end of GWB's watch.
The recovery has happened to happen on Obama's watch.

It's not hard to understand that the U6 and U3 were relatively constant before 2008.
It's not hard to understand that the U6 and U3 went up after 2008.

Likewise, it's not hard to understand that the U6 and U3 takes quite a while to come down.
Maybe it's not as fast as some would want it to be..
But by the very definition of U6 and U3, it is what it is.

If your point is something else, please explain in more detail.
.

I wasn't looking at the rates themselves, I was looking at the percentage changes.

???

Sorry, I'm not getting it...

arggghhhh - nevermind.

OK, I'll really try once more to see what you want me to see.

When I open your link and change the years to 1994 - 2012....

I see the U6 curve drop from 12% at a relatively smooth rate,
then in 2001, it bounces up from 7% up to 10%,
then gradually falls in 2005 - 2007, and then skyrockets in 2009.
Since 2010, the U6 seems to have dropped from 17% down to 15%.

The U3 follows the same shape, but the %'s are smaller... about half.

Other than an annoying musical ad about St Patricks Day sales, what else should I be seeing ?

The U-6 has fallen at a greater % than the U-3.
Based upon the economic situation from 2008, I believe this is a better indicator of the unemployment rate.
I'm certainly not seeing it here, but statistically things are apparently better.

NY Times
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
Published: April 1, 2012

As Foreclosure Problems Persist, Fed Seeks More Fines
.

Still waiting on those prosecutions...

and the glass is still half empty

With respect to the prosecutions - its 3+ years later and still COMPLETELY empty.

GM to build 2013 Cadillac XTS in China
From The Detroit News:

Over the next few years it appears as though MORE Cadillacs will be produced overseas, namely in China.
I guess we really don't have an employment problem here.
I am curious as to what the UAW thinks of this development.
Personally, I'm thrilled with them building more vehicles there and not here. :yelsick:

From The Detroit News:

My impression is that the china-built GM cars are just FOR china/east-asia, not being imported back to the states, and that china makes importing cars into china difficult, as well as making their own knockoff versions in their own factories for a fraction of the price.

Thats another part of this which concerns me.

Well, they're going to do it either way - might as well give themselves a chance to compete right?

Thats the 'job creators' making jobs for the Chinese.

Yep :/
We Americans bailed them out and I would have preferred they create some of those jobs here.

A related piece from the economist ...

Selective bin Laden leaking

An unusual way of looking at the unemployment rate.
Tells a different story from the numbers.
EEK!?

And the reality is staring in your face, yet you still refuse to see it.

Classic, I realize I can't satisfy your unhappiness over what you perceive is a lack of justice.
A glass half-full or half-empty comes of a person's own experience and personality.

You apparently feel that individual bankers should be criminally prosecuted
for their decisions and actions that lead to the mortgage and financial crisis.

But the officers of a corporation are essentially immune from prosecutions,
unless they have acted criminally manner (theft, fraud, embezzlement, etc.).
In fact, the corporation is required to legally defend it's officials for their decisions,
and may be required to financially indemnify the officials from any penalties.
The Board of Directors may dismiss it's officials, with or without settlements.
But as such, the penalties that the corporation, itself, can incur are only financial,
and these are usually offset by liability insurance.

Various people, including your nemesis, Obama, have said the
bankers may not necessarily have performed illegally
- immorally, maybe - but illegally, not likely or very difficult to prove.
To attribute lack of federal prosecution to political contributions is dissimulation.

OTOH, individual corporate officers are being prosecuted (fraudulent robo-signing, etc.)
by States Attorney Generals, but these may not be the particular individuals you want to see imprisoned.

Maybe a review at what has been proceeding against Washington Mutual
will assuage some of your dissatisfaction. Here is a bit of WaMu's recent history:
Chase Bank eventually came to own WaMu's assets, and are defending
these "former" executives in a law suite brought by the FDIC.

Here is a link to Bloomberg News:

In 2008, a class-action law suite was brought against WaMu on behalf of it's stockholders.
The sequence of events is in this link:
TheCourt's final decision says, in part:

So far as WaMu officials, Kerry Killinger, Stephen Rotella, David Schneider, are concerned,
they lost their jobs and their penalties were published 12/17/12 in the NY Times.
The article also discusses the reasoning behind the FDIC settlement.

But, I suspect all this will have little effect on your feelings
about Obama and the Dept of Justice, and you will vote accordingly.
So be it... only you can fill your own glass.

LAMP. I've missed you! :)

Still searching the interior of Alaska for HLJ :rolleyes

I guess you may as well go on home. :(

I think he was abducted by aliens. Or he rose up or something.