If the election were held today, Bush couldn't run... it's called the U.S. Constitution buddy, you swore you'd kill or die for it... sad you haven't read it.

When ever you can not refute what is said, you attack the person with some asinine statements.

Yeah, but this comment thread is packed with refutation, and the only asinine statements are coming from the guy being refuted.

I am not the one comming up with the news about the economy. Take a LOOK:

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence was steady in the latest week but remained near seven-month lows as high gasoline prices and a shaky job market took their toll.

ABC News and The Washington Post said their Consumer Comfort index was unchanged at -17 in the week ended June 4.

The survey's components suggested fewer Americans felt comfortable about their personal finances, but a slightly larger number also said it was a good time to make purchases.

Confidence measures are generally viewed as a barometer of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

While consumers do not always act in accordance with their statements to surveys, broad downward trends in sentiment do usually herald more turbulent economic periods.

Analysts generally expect the economy to slow this year as a tapped-out housing market peters out and persistently high energy costs eat into spending.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday the U.S. economy was starting to shift to a slower pace of economic growth but the Fed needed to be vigilant to make sure inflation stays under control.

"It is reasonably clear that the U.S. economy is entering a period of transition," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for a group of bankers. "The anticipated moderation of economic growth seems now to be under way."

Bernanke expressed concern over rising core inflation, saying it had reached levels that "if sustained" would be at or above the upper end of the range he views as consistent with price stability.

"With the economy now evidently in a period of transition, monetary policy must be conducted with great care and with close attention to the evolution of the economic outlook as implied by incoming information," he said. "Given recent developments, the medium-term outlook for inflation will receive particular scrutiny."

US stocks slip amid interest rates fears

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June 7, 2006 - 8:04AM
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NEW YORK - US stocks slipped amid fears that inflation will lead to the US Federal Reserve hiking up higher rates even as the economy slows.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 46.58 points to 11,002.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 1.44 points to 1263.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 6.84 points to 2162.78.

Trade Deficit Widens, Import Costs Rise: U.S. Economy Preview

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Rising oil prices widened the U.S. trade deficit and drove a gain in the cost of imported goods, economists said in advance of government reports this week.

The trade gap rose to $65 billion in April from $62 billion the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Import prices rose 0.7 percent in May, after a 2.1 percent gain the previous month, economists project a separate report the same day will show.

Surging fuel costs may be leading to a slowdown in consumer spending and hiring that is likely to cause the economy to lose momentum this quarter. Federal Reserve policy makers meeting at the end of the month face the task of determining whether slower growth or faster inflation poses a bigger threat to the economy.

``Higher rates and higher commodity costs have been a double whammy for the economy,'' said Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight Inc., a Lexington, Massachusetts, forecasting firm.`` We have seen very concrete evidence of a slowdown. The Fed is going to have to regroup.''

The Commerce Department is due to issue its April trade report on June 9. The deficit reached a record $68.6 billion in January.

The Labor Department report on May import prices, also scheduled to be released June 9, will give economists a jump on predicting what effect oil prices had on last month's trade account.

The cost of imported petroleum rose 11.5 percent in April from a month earlier, the biggest increase since March 2005, according to the Labor Department's import-price report issued last month. Compared with a year earlier, the price was up 32.5 percent.

Service Industry Growth

Rising gasoline prices drove consumer confidence down last month and restrained sales at some retailers. A slowing in consumer spending probably held back growth in service industries last month, a private survey due tomorrow is expected to show.

The Tempe, Arizona-based Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing businesses, which covers almost 90 percent of the economy, fell to 60 in May, the lowest since January, from 63 a month earlier, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed. Readings greater than 50 signal expansion.

Retailers, builders and real estate companies probably contributed most to the drop in the index, economists said.

``Fuel prices continue to be a top concern for our customers,'' Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said last week.

Store Traffic

May sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.3 percent, at the low end of Wal-Mart's forecast range. Store traffic at the world's biggest retailer fell last month as shoppers made fewer trips and limited spending to items such as food, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said.

The U.S. economy, the world's largest, will probably grow at an annual pace of 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent this quarter, about half the previous quarter's 5.3 percent pace, according to a forecast by economists at Banc of America Securities LLC in New York.

In other reports this week:

Wholesalers boosted inventories by 0.5 percent in April after a 0.2 percent gain a month earlier, a Commerce Department report June 8 is likely to show, according to the survey of economists.

Consumer credit probably rose at a $3.5 billion annual rate in April compared with a $2.5 billion increase the previous month, the Fed is expected to report June 7. A jump in auto loans after sales improved that month contributed to the increase, economists said.

The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits probably fell to 330,000 in the week ended yesterday from 336,000 the previous week, the Labor Department is expected to report June 8.



Friday, June 2, 2006

Rising gas prices hurt U.S. auto makers, help Japan's

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT -- Increasing gas prices took a toll on the U.S. auto industry last month, flattening sales and causing steep declines for some trucks and sport utility vehicles but giving a boost to Japanese automakers whose new subcompacts hit the market at the right time.

General Motors Corp. said sales were down 12 percent for the month, while Ford Motor Co. reported a 2 percent decline and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group saw sales fall nearly 11 percent.

If the election were held today, Bush would lose Big time!

Bush would win again col, because democrats have nothing to offer but more taxation, and more welfare state. You know, just like you.

All the bloggers on this site that support Bush act just like him-- When ever you can not refute what is said, you attack the person with some asinine statements. You have not disproved one thing I have said about this economy AND HOW POORLY THE VAST MAJORITY ARE DOING UNDER THE BUSH POLICIES!.

Now you are just whining. And you act just like a liberal. Whenever you are proved wrong and shown something that refutes your ridiculous accusations you either abandon the thread or start off about something else. If you think the majority of this country is "doing poorly" you must live in a cave. That's all we hear from you people for the past years. Oh, the economy is so bad. Everybody is living on welfare. What a joke you and your pathetic book are.

I am not the one comming up with the news about the economy. Take a LOOK:

You didn't TAKE A LOOK AT POST #8. You ignored it.

What Bush is offering is creating REAL HARM to the majority of this country which is worse then anything the Democrats have suggested. I have not supported new welfare of any type. What I have said is we must PAY for what we are spending and yes that will mean the tax cuts to the wealthy MUST GO!

IslandDog

I guess you must not have read my book or you would not make such a statement about it and you show how uninformed you truly are about the issues facing our country!

What Bush is offering is creating REAL HARM to the majority of this country which is worse then anything the Democrats have suggested. I have not supported new welfare of any type. What I have said is we must PAY for what we are spending and yes that will mean the tax cuts to the wealthy MUST GO!

There is no "harm" coming to the majority of this country. This is typical scare tactics from democrats like yourself who tell us the next depression is coming. All this is about is taxing successful Americans. Every single post you have made turns into this. You still will not answer the basic questions posted to you.

Are you a socialist?
What percentage should the "evil rich" be taxed on income?
Why haven't you responded to post #8?

I guess you must not have read my book or you would not make such a statement about it and you show how uninformed you truly are about the issues facing our country!

Col if your book is anything like your posts here....full of half-truths and misspellings, I would never read it. You have shown time and time again that nothing matters to you but blaming Bush. You have blamed every national and world problem on Bush without any logical thinking or facts to back it up. You completely ignore ANYTHING that refutes what you write. Any idiot can write a book now. It's nothing special to it. So stop acting like you are some authority because you get numbers from a government website and tell us that your .0002 decrease in something matters in the real world.

That is why nobody buys your book. How many have you sold col?

See Island Dog, He believes the economy is falling apart because that is the only logical reason no one is buying his book. Because sales were down today from yesterday this is a direct correlation to what is happening in the rest of the US economy. This is supposed to be his retirement money and everything revolves around it.

Why haven't you responded to post #8?

C'mon COL Gene, even if they're not numbered for you (the forums have numbered posts, the individual blog sites don't), you can still count to 8. So ignorance is no excuse.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8! I knew you could!

Refute #8. Consider anything that anyone has said to you. Somehow everything anyone else says is wrong, huh? That's a convenient little world you live in. No wonder you've sold less than five books.

Wait, this is hilarious: surveys are wrong! And the pundits admit it! From Gene's own citation:

Confidence measures are generally viewed as a barometer of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy. While consumers do not always act in accordance with their statements to surveys...

So what they're saying is that surveys can turn out to be... >>gasp<< inaccurate!

I saw # 8. MY comments about unemployment are that in 2000 it was 3.9% and that is not changed by #8. I have documented that the NEW jobs pay less then the jobs that were lost. That is not changed by #8. I have said that GDP is up but that does not translate into a better life for the average worker. The increase in wages in May does not change the fact that NET over the past two years Average Weekly Wage is still down and over the past 5 years it is flat. It does not change the impact of higher energy costs on MOST Americans. CNN today was talking to independent truckers that are getting killed (50% drop in their net income) because of higher energy costs. # 8 does not alter the problems the U S Auto makers or the Air lines are having. # 8 does not alter the over $800 Billion trade deficit or the $600 Billion dollar budget deficit. # 8 does not change THE MAJOR DROP IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE OR THE 70% OF Americans do not APPROVE OF THE WAY BUSH IS HANDLING THE ECONOMY. # 8 DOES NOT CHANGE WHAT I POSTED ABOUT THE IMPACT OF INFLATION ON LOWER END RETAIL STORES.

How about addressing these issues!

I saw # 8. MY comments about unemployment are that in 2000 it was 3.9% and that is not changed by #8.

Unemployment is still at record lows, and is still very good in this country. Only you would complain about the difference.

I have documented that the NEW jobs pay less then the jobs that were lost.

ote]
And I have shown that you were incorrect, just like John Kerry was.

THE MAJOR DROP IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE OR THE 70% OF Americans do not APPROVE OF THE WAY BUSH IS HANDLING THE ECONOMY. # 8 DOES NOT CHANGE WHAT I POSTED ABOUT THE IMPACT OF INFLATION ON LOWER END RETAIL STORES.

You mean 70% of 1000 Americans polled by a biased news source that oversamples democrats. Why do I have to keep correcting you on this?

You are getting owned again col. Time to start another Bush bash thread.

There's always ways of skewing numbers to make things look worse. When unemployment is low we complain about "THERE'S NO NEW JOBS!!!!" Then when we create jobs at the upper end, people complain about the poor entry level people that can't find work. Then when we create entry level positions, people like Col Gene start their socialist-superhero crap and start complaining that the "weekly wages" are less even though the hourly wages are actually going up almost every month.

When GDP goes up, they complain that not enough of it is being exported. They can't explain how they'll force China to behave without harming US exports further, though. They complain about fuel costs and again don't offer anything in the way of a suggestion as to how to stop China from doubling their oil intake every few years.

People see through this after a while, Col. The Chicken Littles have been whining about a dismal economy just around the corner for years, and yet the economy is fine. The problems we have most certainly can't be signed away with the swish of a pen, and MOST CERTAINLY WOULD BE MADE FAR, FAR WORSE BY REMOVING CAPITAL FROM THE ECONOMY THROUGH IDIOTIC TAX HIKES TO SUPPORT CORRUPT CONGRESSMEN.

People who care offer tangible evidence of something not being done. People who just want to make political points just pick half the truth and skew it as hard as they can. People like the Col come off as fascists because they are trying to pose the idea that the President can with an iron hand just force things to change. The Col knows Bush can't do that, but it doesn't serve his irrational hatred to admit it.

The study for the U S Conference of Mayors DOES document that the newly created jobs do pay significantly less (21% less on the Average) with fewer benefits then the jobs that were lost between 2001-2003. The exact source is U.S. Metro Economics 2004-2005 Report which was released in Jan 2006.

I did not complain about the current unemployment rate but documented that in 2000 it was lower.

The 70% approval of the way Bush is handling the economy is from ALL polls not any single poll. The consumer confidence is a separate group and has shown the feelings of consumers that DRIVE the economic activity with their buying.

What about ALL the other factors I have included? I see you are silent!

Col, let's elect democrats. They will let the illegals in and we will have a whole new class of welfare recipients and unemployed workers. Go Democrats!

Let's split the control between the GOP and the Democrats. That way we will not get policies that ONLY play to one side!

A new set of numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics actually shows solid growth in employment in relatively higher -paying occupations including construction workers, health-care professionals, business managers, and teachers, and virtually no growth at all in relatively lower-paying occupations including office clerks and assembly-line workers. It's the most detailed breakdown yet -- looking at 154 different job and industry groupings. These statistics are a FactCheck.org exclusive -- supplied to us by BLS at our request and not previously published. Another statistic often overlooked by Bush critics is that average earnings of rank-and-file private-sector workers have increased since Bush took office, though modestly. Even after adjusting for inflation -- including the rising price of gasoline --those earnings are up just over 1% since January 2001, despite the recession and the initially slow recovery.

I did not complain about the current unemployment rate but documented that in 2000 it was lower.

A couple points lower col. So what. It's still very low, and if people would get up and work instead of relying on government, it would be much lower.

The 70% approval of the way Bush is handling the economy is from ALL polls not any single poll. The consumer confidence is a separate group and has shown the feelings of consumers that DRIVE the economic activity with their buying.

Most polls are slanted col. Do you understand that the polls commonly oversample democrats? Bush was elected and re-elected. Democrats offer nothing to this country except more welfare and more taxes.

What about ALL the other factors I have included? I see you are silent!

Do not tell anybody about being silent. You frequently abandon your own posts because you can't handle what is being preseted to you. HERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU HAVE BEEN SILENT ABOUT.

Are you a socialist?

What percentage of income should the "evil rich" be taxed?

Why you can't you just answer these simple questions without your typical anti-Bush bs?