You Can’t Have It Both Ways, Mitt

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicalgarbagechute.com/you-cant-have-it-both-ways-mitt/

You Can’t Have It Both Ways, Mitt
October 5, 2012
by James Schlarmann


I woke up this morning and had a breaking news alert from Politico waiting for me. Unemployment is down to 7.8%, below the 8% mark for the first time since President Obama took office. I’m sure, quite sure in fact, that the folks at Romney/Ryan headquarters probably shit a collective purple Twinkie and immediately went into their bag of spin. “But how many people quit looking for work?!” That will be their refrain. I’m sure it’s been repeated at least 5,000,000,000,000 times on Fox News. But here’s a reminder to Team Money Is The Reason To Live, you can’t have it both ways.

Ever since Romney threw his hat in the ring for this year’s election, back when his opponents were the sorriest cavalcade of clowns and also-rans the GOP has put up in recent memory, Willard has absolutely hammered President Obama on the unemployment number. He kept sticking to the “unemployment has been over 8% for your entire term” mantra throughout the whole process. News of the unemployment number finally dropping below that dreaded 8% line also helps the President get over his rather lackluster debate performance on Wednesday night. Two days is a long time in politics, and clearly this morning’s news is a shot in the arm for the President, hence why Romney will do everything he can to trash-talk the unemployment news.

Yet, we come back to it: Mitt can’t have it both ways. Is he really going to be allowed to campaign for month after month on the fact that unemployment was over eight percent and then suddenly try and tell the country to forget about that numberand focus on those who have dropped out of the workforce altogether? Mitt needs to be held accountable by the voters, and certainly by the President in the next debate. Mitt needs a very public, very personal reminder that his talking point died a sudden and tragic (for his campaign) death.

snip//

The last two years and throughout this election the Right has tried to have their cake and eat it to; to have it both ways. “The economy is broken and we won’t let the President do anything about it so let us take control again. We promise we won’t break it as badly as we did the last time.” That’s their argument in a nutshell.

But the thing about nuts is that sometimes they just don’t need to be cracked.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. "I never said that!!!"

Wait for it................... BTW I agree with the OP. If the Repubs are going to try to pump up the bad numbers, the least they can do is accept the good numbers and issue some kind of pallid/perfunctory statement of optimism about them. No, wait. They can't do that, can they???

[TroyD]

2. Romney is already LYING

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says a drop in the nation's unemployment rate to 7.8 percent "is not what a real recovery looks like." He also argued that the rate is low in part because some people have stopped looking for work.

The latter part in particular appears to be a total lie because the economists and numbers say that the workforce EXPANDED not shrunk.

The pathological lying just doesn't stop!!!

http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.ca/2012/10/gop-8-percent-unemployment-talking.html

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. On NPR they discussed that

the person being interviewed suggested that this was NOT the case FWIW

[TroyD]

4. Suggested what wasn't the case? n/t

[Kber]

5. The total labor pool actually increased.

meaning that the drop wasn't from people dropping out of the labor pool this time. The labor pool is bigger AND more people in the labor pool are employed.

Politics aside, it's a good report.

I work in HR and I can tell you that the labor market is most definitely tightening, at least in Northern NJ. The majority of my candidates used to be unemployed. I couldn't tempt candidates with jobs to take a chance on a start up. Now most of my candidates are either employed, or they have been unemployed for a much shorter time and often have multiple offers.

[TroyD]

6. Good, yes - that's what I said above

Which means that Romney is LYING when he says the workforce shrunk.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. Sorry for the confusion

I meant that it wasn't fewer people in the labor force causing the UE rate to go down according to what I heard on NPR, so another right-wing talking point debunked.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Noticed all the Right wing

papers are running the Willard Bullshit speak message. Four years of Rethug obstruction and the employment numbers are making big time moves in the right direction. Most hiring at this time is part timers such as clerks for retail. When the GOP's anti worker hits the Facebook,Jack Welch the king of out sourcing,you know the thugs are shitting bricks this morning. Chamber of Commerce is in salvage mode to save Willard's sorry ass. Noticed Willard's stump lie fest today was more of the Gallop speak. Don't forget,Bush and Cheney did manipulate tons of things in order to bullshit their agenda. Obama is a stickler for honesty in his administration,working the numbers ain't going to happen.

[NightOwwl]

8. It's a vast left-wing conspiracy!

The leader of the “job truther” movement: former GE CEO Jack Welch.

“Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers,” he said on Twitter.

Rep. Allen West (R-FL) tweeted “I agree with former GE CEO Jack Welch, Chicago style politics is at work here.”

CNBC host Jim Carmer said he was pilloried by viewers for defending the BLS report’s integrity.

“This is very hot. You believe the number, you must be a card-carrying Communist,” he joked on the air.

Conn Carroll, a columnist at the Washington Examiner, suggested that the true conspirators were unemployed Democrats: "I don't think BLS cooked numbers. I think a bunch of Dems lied about getting jobs.

Someone call the waaaambulace!