Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 20, 2012 at 12:59pm

Only slightly off-topic, but let's take a look at the Unemployment Rate over the last five Presidencies:

Permalink Reply by Colleen on October 20, 2012 at 1:13pm

Ah tough to visually analyze because the scales are all different, but you can look at overall trends.  There are also some interesting analyses here - Truthful Politics.

Permalink Reply by James Cox on October 20, 2012 at 11:47pm

Damn, who did this crapy stat. representation? Someone should look this up and rescale the data set!

Permalink Reply by Unseen on October 20, 2012 at 1:21pm

This is even further off topic, archaeopteryx—and I know you didn't design the graphs—but I think when graphs are to be compared, all the graphs should use the same scale. Look, the bottom lines range from 3.5 to 7.5. If they all started at 0, one would have a picture that looked less extreme.

BTW, Clinton had the lowest unemployment rate at about 4. Reagan had the highest at about 11% according to the graphs.

Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 20, 2012 at 1:36pm

I'm more concerned with how they ended their terms. Though I disliked Reagan personally, his 11% unemployment rate occurred early in his administration, and he got a handle on it. Obama inherited his from Bush II, and he's getting a handle on it.

Permalink Reply by Unseen on October 20, 2012 at 1:55pm

And there's only so much Obama can do. Like he said in the second debate, "a lot of those (unskilled, low-level) jobs won't be coming back." We need an education and re-education program on a very large scale, making higher education cheaper, not more expensive every year the way it has been. We also need to decide what to do about people who aren't suited to those more skilled jobs. Will it become their "job" to be unemployed, perhaps earning money through public service?

Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 20, 2012 at 2:27pm

I hate to admit this, but my first year of college, at a state institution, my hourly tuition rate was about twice the price one could make, working an hour at McDonalds' - work 32 hours for MickeyD, and your tuition was paid for the semester. Tuition at the SAME college, is now $208.75 per credit hour - wonder what that ratio is now?

Permalink Reply by Unseen on October 21, 2012 at 12:26am

But you're subscribing to the myth that this sort of thing (like gasoline prices) is in the hands of the President. The public believe it is, so both the incumbent and his opponent have to behave as though it is, but in fact these are markets (yes, jobs is a market) and are subject to market forces operating worldwide and not just within American borders. 

Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 20, 2012 at 1:52pm

This is from Bush's last year, but it mentions Romney and it's funny, so what the hell --?

Permalink Reply by Unseen on October 20, 2012 at 2:49pm

LOL

You must not be familiar with Lewis Black. He does almost nothing but angry rants. It's his "thing."

Permalink Reply by Unseen on October 20, 2012 at 6:29pm

Lewis Black's rants are hilarious. Luckily, there are many to be found on Youtube.

Just follow this link.

Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on October 20, 2012 at 8:15pm

Hey, remember that discussion topic someone posted some time back, where there was a video of a Black minister telling his congregation that women needed subjugation? Do you recall the name or who may have posted it? I need the video --

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