The first journalist busted Obama straight away.

[scooterbug44]

I got annoyed with the reporters - he holds a press conference on the economy and the stimulus package and the 2nd question is about Iran. I know that was because it was his first press conference, but I wanted to focus on the economy and the proposed solutions. That said, he wasn't very clear on his plans for Afghanistan and I had a please don't let this be deja vu moment.

Overall, I found his answers to be consistent and honest and was pleased to be able to watch my president for more than 30 seconds without getting so frustrated I had to change the channel. Hopefully it helped more people understand what is going on.

I definitely agreed with the way he presented the issue and the need for action. Remembered the downward spiral from HS Econ class and as you can see from the graphs posted in earlier responses, it is going to hail at an amazing rate.

 

[Bob]

May you live in interesting times is a Chinese proverb. Well....these certainly are interesting times.

When we start nit-picking and whining about unspecified earmarks and blaming Clinton's initiative to increase home ownership (and correct me if I'm wrong, but the people who are upside down bought 2003 or later, right? when Bush pushed for low interest rates to keep us out of a recession after 2001? A supply-side stimulus that had a rather unfortunate consequence, but I digress...), I just hope we can all think of that job loss image...and how at some point a correction becomes a panic...and think how nice it would be if we could just be focused not on strategy for 2010, but how to turn this thing around and spare the American people a great deal of unnecessary pain.

I still haven't seen a better plan....

a better analogy to this recession would be 70/80s.

 

[30ashopper]

japan is as large as how many of our states?

Exactly, they blew 2.2 trillion on a state, and it still didn't work. How much should we be willing to spend on 50 states, only to have it not work? Maybe we will find out. Or maybe it will work out? Who knows.

 

[traderx]

What is a better vs. worse plan? Search around for top economist blogs and start reading. There's quite a bit of discussion and various ideas being tossed around. Obama has clearly chosen his one solution.. it isn't the only one out there.

Here's another nice graph in line with your's repunzel which helps put things in perspective -

The orange line in the middle is "us".

30ashopper, you beat me to the punch.

The graph that depicts the number of job losses is bogus. The first order of business in graphics presentation of statistics is to form a graph that depicts consistent data. With unemployment, that is best done as a percentage.

Not to say we don't have problems. This recession could get out of hand. It still may. We are going to get some version of a stimulus package and it will be the Great Experiment. We will finally put Keynes to the test. If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh.....King Crimson.

 

[Rita]

Yes, and it's nice to see a President and White House hold a town hall meeting without screening the attendees; to give out tickets on a "first come, first served" basis; and to actually answer questions from people who did not vote for him.

It is a refreshing change.

Good point. I thought about this also while watching. He covered a lot of territory in his answers. I hope the viewing #s were good, because I think it is important enough people should have watched.


.

 

[rapunzel]

What is a better vs. worse plan? Search around for top economist blogs and start reading. There's quite a bit of discussion and various ideas being tossed around. Obama has clearly chosen his one solution.. it isn't the only one out there.

Here's another nice graph in line with your's repunzel which helps put things in perspective -

The orange line in the middle is "us".

That's my point...I've read tons of picking apart of individual provisions of the plan, but I haven't seen anyone put forward an alternative plan that would have more support, be more likely to work. That's why I believe the opposition to the Obama plan is more about positioning for 2010 than any attempt to improve the economy or fix a problem.

President Obama is basically saying to those who don't support the stimulus, "Tell me how to improve it, and we'll work to make it better." The answer he seems to be getting is, "No, we'd rather just divorce ourselves from the process so that we can throw stones come election season. Oh, and we'll undermine confidence in the plan, too...so our gamble is more likely to pay off."

Give me a link to an alternative comprehensive plan. I haven't seen one.

 

[rapunzel]

30ashopper, you beat me to the punch.

The graph that depicts the number of job losses is bogus. The first order of business in graphics presentation of statistics is to form a graph that depicts consistent data. With unemployment, that is best done as a percentage.

Not to say we don't have problems. This recession could get out of hand. It still may. We are going to get some version of a stimulus package and it will be the Great Experiment. We will finally put Keynes to the test. If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh.....King Crimson.

It's the same graph, just with more recessions plotted. Mine just showed the most recent for sake of comparison. Mine is linked from the Department of Labor Statistics, the other is one uploaded to Photobucket. As for your percentage argument, vs. off peak -- you have a point...but if you note the 1990, 2001, and current lines on both graphs, it doesn't change my point at all.

Oh, and by the way...that orange line represents Dec. 2007. It's not as current as the first one, which represents Jan. 2009; I am going to go out on a limb and say things have gotten a bit worse in the last 14 months.

 

[traderx]

It's the same graph, just with more recessions plotted. Mine just showed the most recent for sake of comparison. Mine is linked from the Department of Labor Statistics, the other is one uploaded to Photobucket. As for your percentage argument, vs. off peak -- you have a point...but if you note the 1990, 2001, and current lines on both graphs, it doesn't change my point at all.

Oh, and by the way...that orange line represents Dec. 2007. It's not as current as the first one, which represents Jan. 2009; I am going to go out on a limb and say things have gotten a bit worse in the last 14 months.

I am colorblind hence cannot distinguish the red one from the orange one from the green one. <--like the blue face to the left.

The graph you posted shows employment changes in numbers of jobs; the other graph depicts percentages. Since base GDP and total employment change over time, percentages are a better illustration.

 

[scooterbug44]

Whichever graph you look at, there's a line that is heading downward at a steeper rate than other recessions - so action is obviously needed.

I'd rather DO something than sit around arguing and ensure that nothing good happens through our inaction.

There are the people who whine about things and there are the people who go out and make things happen. Guess which ones I want on my side when things are going to sheet?

 

[amp in srb]

I am all for picking this apart bit by bit. Please go ahead. But, seriously, you are mistaken that a journalist, fresh off of 8 years of W, "busted" Obama.

There is substantial conversation about unemployment rates, trends and possible impact from the stimulus bill. That's good. We should have this dialogue.
There are graphs too!!!!!

I have some as well.

Household Unemployment. How many of you are actually living this right NOW???? I know many people who are losing homes, jobs, lives, loves.........you name it. This is no joke. Certainly not a time for half-steps. Much less non-steps. Let me repeat. There is no time to do nothing.

Weird how in Dec 2007 Household unemployment dropped almost off the chart.............Even in a different study, compiled by different researchers. Spare the analogous blah blahs. History lessons aren't needed. This is not Japan. There was no Hiroshima 45 years prior and certainly very different infrastructure issues. As well, I would argue a wholly different commerce and trade focus. Money flows much differently for us now than it did for them then. It DOES NOT COMPARE. Maybe slightly, but not enough to warrant the level of scrutiny and comparison leveled recently both here and in the media.

But really, when the money starts flowing where are you going to stand? On your conservative platform? Or with your hand at the faucet?

I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am just saying be mindful of what you are writing about and mindful of who it is ultimately written about. You may just piss of someone who lost a job.