richard_daily
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So if that's the reason for the financial collapse, why didn't Bush do anything about it in his 2 terms as president?
What happened to all of the doom and gloom economic threads?
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So if that's the reason for the financial collapse, why didn't Bush do anything about it in his 2 terms as president?
jeninflorida
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still trying to show off your stupidity. we get it, you are stupid. no one is trying to dispute that
richard_daily
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Explain it for me in English, which I realize clearly can't be your first language, since you barely know how to use it.
Use simple English... I realize that I'm asking for the only thing you can provide.
While you're at it, what is it that you do for a living again?
RobDownSouth
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I'm calling your bluff.
Show us exactly WHAT changes were made in the 1995 act to "lower credit standards".
There were none.
IrezumiKiss
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mercury14
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If only McCain or Romney were president they'd keep all those retired baby boomers in the work force!
Where they'd have no jobs and go on unemployment and inflate welfare rolls.
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The White House’s Economic Distortions
Two advisers fail to convincingly defend the administration’s policies.
By James Pethokoukis
It’s always Christmas but never winter for Team Obama. Their economic schemes work exactly as planned and never generate unintended consequences. And when reality inconveniently pops in, they ignore it — or at least try to persuade the rest of America to.
After the Labor Department released the unexpectedly weak August jobs report last Friday, top Obama economic adviser Jason Furman took to the White House blog and declared that “incoming economic data broadly suggest that the recovery continues to make progress.”
That was in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, Furman, with fellow staff economist Betsey Stevenson in tow, returned to the blog to dispel the notion that Obamacare might be turning the American labor force into a bunch of part-timers. Rather, the duo explained, the Affordable Care Act “continues to improve the functioning of labor markets.”
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Let’s take those claims in order.
A fairer reading of the employment data reveals a summer of stagnation, at best. First, monthly jobs gains slowed to 148,000 a month in the June through August period vs. 199,000 monthly in January through May. If things continue at this decelerated pace, it will be more than a decade before employment returns to pre–Great Recession levels.
Second, while the unemployment rate fell by three-tenths of a percentage point over the summer, to 7.3 percent, the decline was due to a continuing drop in the labor-force-participation rate, which is now at a 35-year low. Without declining work-force participation, the jobless rate would have risen by a tenth of a point since May, to 7.7 percent.
Third, the employment rate — the share of non-jailed, non-military adults with a job — was the same in August as in May and has barely budged over the past four years.
Where’s the progress in all that?
Now, there are positive signs in some of the more recent and high-frequency jobs data. Initial jobless claims have continued to trend lower, with the four-week moving average now at its lowest level since October 2007. The employment part of the ISM non-manufacturing index, considered valuable for forecasting payrolls, rose sharply in August from July. The number of respondents to the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence survey who said jobs are “hard to get” exceeded the number answering “plentiful” by the narrowest margin since the recession’s start.
Slow but steady wins the race, right? Not when it comes to labor markets, where extended unemployment erodes worker skills and marketability. The glacial recovery in the jobs market risks creating a permanently larger pool of unemployed. An ominous insight from JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli: Federal Reserve policymakers “may gradually be making their peace with a falling [labor force] participation rate.” Without faster GDP growth, faster job creation, and special efforts to target the long-term unemployed, the New Normal job market might be here to stay.
As for Obamacare’s job-market impact, Furman and Stevenson point out that since health-care reform became law in March 2010, 91 percent of the employment increase is due to full-time work. But 60 percent of the jobs created this year, as Obamacare implementation approaches, have been part-time gigs. First Trust economists Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein observe that some of the largest payroll gains recently have been in sectors where firms can more easily shift their employee mix from full- to part-time. Retailers and restaurants now make up the largest share of private payrolls in at least a generation.
“It’s hard to believe Obamacare has nothing to do with this,” Wesbury and Stein conclude.
A San Francisco Fed report supports the White House in part, finding the current level of part-time work largely within post-recession historical norms, but adds that its “persistence during the ongoing recovery is unusual.” The Fed analysis also highlights separate research suggesting Obamacare will likely cause at least some increase in part-time work. Further muddling the picture is that much of this data comes from the more volatile household-employment survey. A fact not in dispute: The Obamacare taxes, when combined with the partial expiration of the Bush tax cuts, have increased top rates on labor income by 20 percent and on investment income by 67 percent. No comment by the White House econ team on how those tax hikes might be affecting economic growth.
Also crystal clear: Four years after the Great Recession officially ended, the American job market remains a mess — whether or not the Obama White House chooses to believe or concede it.
Two advisers fail to convincingly defend the administration’s policies. By James Pethokoukis
It’s always Christmas but never winter for Team Obama. Their economic schemes work exactly as planned and never generate unintended consequences. And when reality inconveniently pops in, they ignore it — or at least try to persuade the rest of America to.
After the Labor Department released the unexpectedly weak August jobs report last Friday, top Obama economic adviser Jason Furman took to the White House blog and declared that “incoming economic data broadly suggest that the recovery continues to make progress.”
That was in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, Furman, with fellow staff economist Betsey Stevenson in tow, returned to the blog to dispel the notion that Obamacare might be turning the American labor force into a bunch of part-timers. Rather, the duo explained, the Affordable Care Act “continues to improve the functioning of labor markets.”
Advertisement
Let’s take those claims in order.
A fairer reading of the employment data reveals a summer of stagnation, at best. First, monthly jobs gains slowed to 148,000 a month in the June through August period vs. 199,000 monthly in January through May. If things continue at this decelerated pace, it will be more than a decade before employment returns to pre–Great Recession levels.
Second, while the unemployment rate fell by three-tenths of a percentage point over the summer, to 7.3 percent, the decline was due to a continuing drop in the labor-force-participation rate, which is now at a 35-year low. Without declining work-force participation, the jobless rate would have risen by a tenth of a point since May, to 7.7 percent.
Third, the employment rate — the share of non-jailed, non-military adults with a job — was the same in August as in May and has barely budged over the past four years.
Where’s the progress in all that?
Now, there are positive signs in some of the more recent and high-frequency jobs data. Initial jobless claims have continued to trend lower, with the four-week moving average now at its lowest level since October 2007. The employment part of the ISM non-manufacturing index, considered valuable for forecasting payrolls, rose sharply in August from July. The number of respondents to the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence survey who said jobs are “hard to get” exceeded the number answering “plentiful” by the narrowest margin since the recession’s start.
Slow but steady wins the race, right? Not when it comes to labor markets, where extended unemployment erodes worker skills and marketability. The glacial recovery in the jobs market risks creating a permanently larger pool of unemployed. An ominous insight from JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli: Federal Reserve policymakers “may gradually be making their peace with a falling [labor force] participation rate.” Without faster GDP growth, faster job creation, and special efforts to target the long-term unemployed, the New Normal job market might be here to stay.
As for Obamacare’s job-market impact, Furman and Stevenson point out that since health-care reform became law in March 2010, 91 percent of the employment increase is due to full-time work. But 60 percent of the jobs created this year, as Obamacare implementation approaches, have been part-time gigs. First Trust economists Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein observe that some of the largest payroll gains recently have been in sectors where firms can more easily shift their employee mix from full- to part-time. Retailers and restaurants now make up the largest share of private payrolls in at least a generation.
“It’s hard to believe Obamacare has nothing to do with this,” Wesbury and Stein conclude.
A San Francisco Fed report supports the White House in part, finding the current level of part-time work largely within post-recession historical norms, but adds that its “persistence during the ongoing recovery is unusual.” The Fed analysis also highlights separate research suggesting Obamacare will likely cause at least some increase in part-time work. Further muddling the picture is that much of this data comes from the more volatile household-employment survey. A fact not in dispute: The Obamacare taxes, when combined with the partial expiration of the Bush tax cuts, have increased top rates on labor income by 20 percent and on investment income by 67 percent. No comment by the White House econ team on how those tax hikes might be affecting economic growth.
Also crystal clear: Four years after the Great Recession officially ended, the American job market remains a mess — whether or not the Obama White House chooses to believe or concede it.
RobDownSouth
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Reality often rains on your parade.
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Ulaven_Demorte
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Someone has a REALLY short memory.
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RobDownSouth
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Nonsense, he's researched diligently back to the beginning of modern history (January 20th, 2009) to reach his opinion!
Busybody
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mercury14
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What would a president Romeny would have accomplished? Be specific about how he would have gotten his plans through the Senate.
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Busybody
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STFU with BS
Ulaven_Demorte
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I hope you don't actually expect an answer. If anything all you're going to get is a copy 'n paste from some RW rag or a dodge using several words that he grabbed from his handy dandy thesaurus, his favorite this week is journeyman.
IrezumiKiss
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Yeah, I noticed that.
Pusillanimous is still in the top five, but benighted, the former #1 champ for over a year on the charts, has kinda dropped down to eight or nine. Jackwagon has been on the DL for way too long, I don't think it's gonna be signed up for another season.
Busybody
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NIGGERIZING TEH US...as he promised a TURD WORLD CUNTRY
UPDATED: Lengthy Senate report details EPA FOIA abuses
By MARK TAPSCOTT | SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 AT 12:28 PM
54Comments Share on print Share on email
103
Topics: Watchdog Senate Environmental Protection Agency Waste and Fraud Accountability Energy and Environment
Photo - Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the misuse of government email accounts by Jackson in conducting official business, as well as use of personal email accounts by her and other federal executives. (Isaac Brekken/Getty Images) Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight...
Environmental Protection Agency officials have from the beginning of President Obama's tenure in the Oval Office "pursued a path of obfuscation, operating in the shadows, and out of the sunlight," according to a Senate report.
The report by Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee provides a detailed description of violations of the Freedom of Information Act and other federal laws and regulations meant to encourage transparency and accountability in the government.
"The agency established an alias identity to hide the actions of the former administrator; has purposefully been unresponsive to FOIA request, oftentimes redacting information the public has a right to know; and mismanaged its electronic records system such that federal records have been jeopardized," the report said.
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"Moreover, EPA’s leadership abandoned the historic model of a specialized public servant who seeks to fairly administer the law and has instead embraced a number of controversial tactics to advance a secretive agenda," the report said.
In addition to multiple abuses of the FOIA, the Senate report claims EPA officials have sought to cover up such activities when challenged by congressional oversight officials.
"As Congress has raised questions about EPA’s lack of transparency, the agency has steadfastly ignored its constitutional obligation to subject itself to congressional oversight, apparently in an effort to prevent the public from knowing what is going on behind closed doors," the report said.
The "alias identity" referred to by the report was the official government email account for "Richard Windsor" that was used by former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the misuse of government email accounts by Jackson in conducting official business, as well as use of personal email accounts by her and other federal executives.
Federal officials are barred from using fictitious names on official email accounts and are required to inform agency FOIA officials whenever they cannot avoid using a personal email account to conduct official business.
Jackson resigned from EPA in December 2012 after it became known the agency's inspector general had opened an investigation. Jackson has recently "lawyered-up," apparently as part of her preparation for the House hearing on Tuesday, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The WFB quotes a Jackson lawyer denying that she has done anything illegal and expects to cooperate fully with the House panel.
Jackson's use of the Richard Windsor account became public last year as a result of publication of a book by Christopher C. Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Horner's book details misuse of government email and the FOIA by EPA officials beginning in the Clinton administration under then-Administator Carol Browner. Browner also served as Obama's "environmental czar" from January 2009 to March 2011 when her position was abolished.
Among other alleged abuses and violations included in the lengthy Senate report are these:
• "The impediments to EPA transparency extend beyond EPA’s framework for managing information and identifying responsive documents. EPA’s shortcomings also involve the manner in which EPA responds to FOIA requests, including the prolific, and often inappropriate, use of exemptions to withhold information from the public...
• "The manner in which EPA has trained its staff on the implementation of transparency laws is insufficient. Regional employees have not taken the proper training and lack a comprehensive understanding of how to process a FOIA request.
• "In one instance, it appears that EPA deliberately altered the date on a FOIA response to avoid the legal consequences of missing a deadline and then excluded this document from a FOIA production to avoid scrutiny and embarrassment.
• "EPA has also exploited FOIA to protect its own interests while disregarding the public interest by acting with bias in processing fee waiver requests and facilitating requests for environmentalist allies."
UPDATE: Additional excerpts from the report
Concerning the "Richard Windsor" email account:
"The committee has uncovered substantial evidence that calls into question the integrity of EPA’s system for identifying and preserving federal records.
"In the first instance, the committee has learned that the agency assigned a secret alias email address to former EPA administrators.
"Further frustrating the integrity of the system is the fact the agency cannot indicate definitively if these accounts were reviewed in records requests.
"In addition, our investigation has revealed that multiple high ranking officials have used non-EPA email accounts to conduct official agency business.
"These practices have the potential to undermine the agency’s ability to preserve records under the FRA and to appropriately respond to FOIA requests." - Page eight
"The fact that the administrator of the EPA operated under a secret identity is alarming enough. However, a congressional briefing sparked additional concerns.
"EPA officials revealed that the agency’s FOIA office, the individuals responsible for proper administration of FOIA, may have been entirely unaware of the Richard Windsor account.
"Moreover, none of the EPA officials present at the briefing knew who was responsible for archiving and preserving the administrator’s emails." --- Page nine
"In fact, none of the officials could even attest to whether any of Jackson’s alias emails were ever archived for federal record keeping purposes; either Jackson herself or a personal assistant performed these duties.
"Such a scheme would allow the administrator to determine the scope of a FOIA response that touched on her correspondence, creating the potential for a conflict of interest inconsistent with the intent of federal sunshine laws." --- Page 10
Concerning use of personal emails:
"Despite the agency’s policy and multiple statements denying the truth, the committee has discovered that former Region 8 Administrator James Martin regularly used a non-official e-mail account to correspond with individuals and groups outside of EPA, regarding agency business.
"For example, Martin regularly communicated with Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund, about agency priorities on a private account.
"On multiple occasions, Martin also corresponded with Alan Salazar, chief strategy officer for Governor [John] Hickenlooper, and staff of the Colorado Conservation League, as well as others. --- Page 11-12
"The use of private email to conduct agency business is not restricted to EPA’s regional offices, as the committee has discovered that multiple senior officials at EPA headquarters engaged in such email practices.
"Notably, former administrator Lisa Jackson on at least one occasion instructed an environmental lobbyist with Siemens Corporation to communicate via Jackson’s personal email account." --- Page 12
UPDATED: Lengthy Senate report details EPA FOIA abuses
By MARK TAPSCOTT | SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 AT 12:28 PM
54Comments Share on print Share on email
103
Topics: Watchdog Senate Environmental Protection Agency Waste and Fraud Accountability Energy and Environment
Photo - Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the misuse of government email accounts by Jackson in conducting official business, as well as use of personal email accounts by her and other federal executives. (Isaac Brekken/Getty Images) Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight...
Environmental Protection Agency officials have from the beginning of President Obama's tenure in the Oval Office "pursued a path of obfuscation, operating in the shadows, and out of the sunlight," according to a Senate report.
The report by Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee provides a detailed description of violations of the Freedom of Information Act and other federal laws and regulations meant to encourage transparency and accountability in the government.
"The agency established an alias identity to hide the actions of the former administrator; has purposefully been unresponsive to FOIA request, oftentimes redacting information the public has a right to know; and mismanaged its electronic records system such that federal records have been jeopardized," the report said.
Sign Up for the Watchdog newsletter!
"Moreover, EPA’s leadership abandoned the historic model of a specialized public servant who seeks to fairly administer the law and has instead embraced a number of controversial tactics to advance a secretive agenda," the report said.
In addition to multiple abuses of the FOIA, the Senate report claims EPA officials have sought to cover up such activities when challenged by congressional oversight officials.
"As Congress has raised questions about EPA’s lack of transparency, the agency has steadfastly ignored its constitutional obligation to subject itself to congressional oversight, apparently in an effort to prevent the public from knowing what is going on behind closed doors," the report said.
The "alias identity" referred to by the report was the official government email account for "Richard Windsor" that was used by former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Jackson is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the misuse of government email accounts by Jackson in conducting official business, as well as use of personal email accounts by her and other federal executives.
Federal officials are barred from using fictitious names on official email accounts and are required to inform agency FOIA officials whenever they cannot avoid using a personal email account to conduct official business.
Jackson resigned from EPA in December 2012 after it became known the agency's inspector general had opened an investigation. Jackson has recently "lawyered-up," apparently as part of her preparation for the House hearing on Tuesday, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The WFB quotes a Jackson lawyer denying that she has done anything illegal and expects to cooperate fully with the House panel.
Jackson's use of the Richard Windsor account became public last year as a result of publication of a book by Christopher C. Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Horner's book details misuse of government email and the FOIA by EPA officials beginning in the Clinton administration under then-Administator Carol Browner. Browner also served as Obama's "environmental czar" from January 2009 to March 2011 when her position was abolished.
Among other alleged abuses and violations included in the lengthy Senate report are these:
• "The impediments to EPA transparency extend beyond EPA’s framework for managing information and identifying responsive documents. EPA’s shortcomings also involve the manner in which EPA responds to FOIA requests, including the prolific, and often inappropriate, use of exemptions to withhold information from the public...
• "The manner in which EPA has trained its staff on the implementation of transparency laws is insufficient. Regional employees have not taken the proper training and lack a comprehensive understanding of how to process a FOIA request.
• "In one instance, it appears that EPA deliberately altered the date on a FOIA response to avoid the legal consequences of missing a deadline and then excluded this document from a FOIA production to avoid scrutiny and embarrassment.
• "EPA has also exploited FOIA to protect its own interests while disregarding the public interest by acting with bias in processing fee waiver requests and facilitating requests for environmentalist allies."
UPDATE: Additional excerpts from the report
Concerning the "Richard Windsor" email account:
"The committee has uncovered substantial evidence that calls into question the integrity of EPA’s system for identifying and preserving federal records.
"In the first instance, the committee has learned that the agency assigned a secret alias email address to former EPA administrators.
"Further frustrating the integrity of the system is the fact the agency cannot indicate definitively if these accounts were reviewed in records requests.
"In addition, our investigation has revealed that multiple high ranking officials have used non-EPA email accounts to conduct official agency business.
"These practices have the potential to undermine the agency’s ability to preserve records under the FRA and to appropriately respond to FOIA requests." - Page eight
"The fact that the administrator of the EPA operated under a secret identity is alarming enough. However, a congressional briefing sparked additional concerns.
"EPA officials revealed that the agency’s FOIA office, the individuals responsible for proper administration of FOIA, may have been entirely unaware of the Richard Windsor account.
"Moreover, none of the EPA officials present at the briefing knew who was responsible for archiving and preserving the administrator’s emails." --- Page nine
"In fact, none of the officials could even attest to whether any of Jackson’s alias emails were ever archived for federal record keeping purposes; either Jackson herself or a personal assistant performed these duties.
"Such a scheme would allow the administrator to determine the scope of a FOIA response that touched on her correspondence, creating the potential for a conflict of interest inconsistent with the intent of federal sunshine laws." --- Page 10
Concerning use of personal emails:
"Despite the agency’s policy and multiple statements denying the truth, the committee has discovered that former Region 8 Administrator James Martin regularly used a non-official e-mail account to correspond with individuals and groups outside of EPA, regarding agency business.
"For example, Martin regularly communicated with Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund, about agency priorities on a private account.
"On multiple occasions, Martin also corresponded with Alan Salazar, chief strategy officer for Governor [John] Hickenlooper, and staff of the Colorado Conservation League, as well as others. --- Page 11-12
"The use of private email to conduct agency business is not restricted to EPA’s regional offices, as the committee has discovered that multiple senior officials at EPA headquarters engaged in such email practices.
"Notably, former administrator Lisa Jackson on at least one occasion instructed an environmental lobbyist with Siemens Corporation to communicate via Jackson’s personal email account." --- Page 12
RobDownSouth
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Vetty's been in a bit of a rut since his subscription to Large-Print Readers Digest lapsed.
No moar "It Pays To Enrich Your Word Power!"
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