Kerry's Quagmire: The Economy
From CNNMoney:
"In our second quarter survey, U.S. employers reported the strongest employment outlook since early 2001. The fact that employers expect to hire at the same pace in the third quarter suggests that they continue to feel confident," said Manpower's CEO Jeffrey A. Joerres in a statement.
Manpower found 30 percent of companies said they expect to increase total employment in the third quarter, 6 percent said they would decrease it, and 59 percent predicted no change from the second quarter.
The Manpower survey follows on the heels of three months of strong jobs growth numbers. From the beginning of March through the end of May, nearly 1 million jobs have been created, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
...
The greatest number of employers planning hiring increases in the West are in durable-goods manufacturing (28 percent), mining (27 percent), and wholesale and retail trade (26 percent).
In the South, the most employers projecting a bump in payrolls are in construction (29 percent), services (25 percent), and wholesale and retail trade (24 percent).
In the Northeast, the greatest number of employers anticipating more hires are in education (21 percent), durable-goods manufacturing (21 percent, which is the most optimistic projection in three years); finance, insurance and real estate (19 percent); services (19 percent); and wholesale and retail trade (19 percent).
In the Midwest, the biggest percentage of employers planning a hiring boost are in non-durable-goods manufacturing (21 percent); and in construction (20 percent), transportation and public utilities (20 percent), and wholesale and retail trade (20 percent).
Matt's Chat
Quoth Kerry: "Where are the manufacturing jobs?" Remember that?He is wrong about the economy too...
12:30PM Update
Quote of the Day:"George Bush has been busy clearing brush, and I think we need a president who creates jobs."Here is a bit from Kerry's website:
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
III. GEORGE BUSH’S FAILURE TO FIGHT FOR MANUFACTURING JOBS
* Failing to enforce our trade agreements. President Bush has completely failed to enforce our trade agreements. Some of the major failures:
o Under President Bush, America has become a Punching Bag: The US has been the target of almost one-third of all WTO cases filed since January 2001.
o After finding scores of Chinese WTO rule violations in 2001, 2002, and 2003, the Administration waited until March 2004 to file its first case against China.
o The Bush Administration has sought to gut funding for US efforts to support workers’ rights and combat abusive child labor around the world.
o The Bush Administration waited three years and nearly three million lost manufacturing jobs to make even a token effort to stand up to China on its currency manipulation.
* Failing to have any strategy for manufacturing. The Bush Administration has stood by while nearly three million manufacturing jobs have disappeared without producing anything more than a token strategy for manufacturing. In fact, they would even make the crisis worse by cutting the MEP by 90 percent and moving to eliminate the Advanced Technology Program (ATP).
* Pushed tax cuts for the wealthy rather than targeted stimulus for job creation. The President has consistently proposed plans with little bang-for-the-buck in jumpstarting job growth in our economy:
o No stimulus in the 2001 tax package. The Administration’s original 2001 tax proposal did not include any stimulus – the partial rebate was only included at the insistence of Democrats.
o Ineffective corporate giveaways in the 2002 tax package. After 9/11 the Bush Administration ignored the growing jobs crisis and pushed for a retroactive repeal of the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The Congressional Budget Office wrote that repealing the corporate AMT “does little by itself to change the near-term incentive for businesses to invest.” [Congressional Budget Office, Economic Stimulus: Evaluating Proposed Changes in Tax Policy, January 2002.]
Ineffective capital gains and dividend cuts in the 2003 tax package. In the 2003 the Administration opted for capital gains and dividend tax cuts judged by independent organizations to be extremely poor stimulus. The Congressional Research Service found that a “capital gains tax cut appears the least likely of any permanent tax cut to stimulate the economy in the short run; a temporary capital gains cut is unlikely to provide any stimulus.” [Jane G. Gravelle “Economic and Revenue Effects of Permanent and Temporary Capital Gains Tax Cuts” updated January 29, 2003]
I think the President said it best: pessimism never got anybody a job... John Kerry is trying to convince you that there is some sort of crisis in this country and that President Bush is at fault. But the reality is that our economy is strong and growing stronger.
Mark's Remarks
Sadly, according to some surveys, the Goebellization of news about the economy is paying off. Despite THE FACTS (unprecedented growth in the last 2 years, 1.4 million jobs created since last August alone, home ownership up), over 40% of those surveyed said they had negative views of the economy. What? The answer lies in the strategy taken up by the Dims and the Fascist Media: tell a lie loud and often enough and it will be believed. You know, in Germany, it helped lead to the slaughter of 6 million Jews. What will it do to our economy, if we continue to listen to sloganism and not look at the truth?
