Former NYTimes Reporter: GOP Peddling 'Easy Fairy Tales;' Stimulus 'Saved Millions of Jobs'
David Firestone, a former national and Washington correspondent for the New York Times who is now on the paper’s editorial board, was featured on Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal’s blog Thursday, commenting on the GOP debate in Michigan Wednesday night, specifically Rick Perry’s flub when he was unable to name the three federal agencies he wanted to eliminate. However, Firestone informed us, “the real mental lapse” involve Republicans trying to cut government programs in the first place. Meanwhile, Obama's stimulus "unquestionably saved millions of jobs."
It’s easy to ridicule the governor for his brain freeze, but the real mental lapse was trying to persuade voters that these government departments are the malign forces keeping the economy from recovering. Voters may not always grasp complex economic forces, but they know that the impediment to growth is not Education’s “Race to the Top” or Energy’s efforts to encourage solar power and scientific innovation.
And yet candidate after candidate continued to insist that when the government does its job – either by regulating private-sector excess or intervening to save the auto industry – it is “killing America,” in Mr. Perry’s phrase.
....
These candidates are peddling the worst kind of easy fairy tales to those voters who value simplistic prescriptions over hard choices. President Obama may have oversold the effects of his 2009 stimulus program, but it unquestionably saved millions of jobs. Mowing down regulations and government programs at the rate favored by Republican candidates might lower the deficit, but at an enormous cost to public safety, educational quality and innovation that would damage the economy for generations.
Firestone piled up plenty of liberal slant during his years as a Times reporter. The Media Research Center’s Brent Baker revealed in the summer of 2003 how Firestone served as a conduit for liberal groups in a series of stories on child tax credits for the poor. Baker summed up: “All the left-wing rhetoric of anti-tax cut groups is all that's fit to print.” In December 2010, Firestone wrote an editorial condemning Sarah Palin’s reality TV show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” as “some extremist politics mixed in with the supposed nostalgia.”
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Comments
Once upon a time...
Submitted by zenman1661 on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:16pm.
there was an idiot journalist who tried to claim that Republicans were wrong about what is causing the current economic mess, but couldn't explain what the real reason is.
Maybe I can't grasp complex economic forces ....
Submitted by NeoKong on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:30pm.
But how come if Obama saved so many jobs the unemployment rate is so high....?
I guess I'm too simplistic.
neo, that's easy to answer .
Submitted by nixon on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 7:13pm.
neo, that's easy to answer . If the 0 hadn't saved all those jobs, unemployment would be so much worse !
Sarc mode off.
Mr. Firestone, forgive us if
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:31pm.
Mr. Firestone, forgive us if we don't take your word for it that it's "unquestionable."
Any more than we do when a liberal says "It's clear," "Clearly" or "The fact of the matter is..."
Firestone
Submitted by HockeyKid on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:35pm.
must have missed the simple fact that is has taken 3 times (so far) as long as any other economic recovery since 1945, and we're still stuck in the mire. Obysmal's policies have not "saved or created" anything, and anyone who believes that it would be much worse if not for Obysmal needs to get their head checked, then schooled.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
we might not get into
Submitted by jkwtrading on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:34pm.
we might not get into positive territory, before we see much, much worse economic reports..
I suspect soon after November 18 the market will begin a descent even greater than 2007 to 2009. I am expecting almost all of 2012 to be down with a real bottom occurring around November of 2012. We should lose in this move between 6000-8000 points. The move would place us well under the lows of 09 at 6300, possibly around 3800 or near the 1987-1990 highs.
If this move occurs expect the country to be extremely upset. the market acts as mood indicator..up is positive, down is extremely negative. we are seeing, hearing all sorts of wild feelings expressed since this past summer when I suspect the final top was in. we are only partially a small fraction "down" and the mood is real nasty even now.
I agree that if stocks lost nearly two-thirds
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 1:33am.
of their value over the next twelve months, it would not be a good thing. However, I think [and hope] your pessimism is slightly overblown.
Jer
The Stimulus-did what??be specific-
Submitted by JIMMY1660 on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:36pm.
tell us all, and be specific which jobs- were created by BHO and his slush fund.
BHO is a joke you are a bigger joke to pander this nonsense.
"President Obama may have
Submitted by Fredy on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 6:48pm.
"President Obama may have oversold the effects of his 2009 stimulus program, but it unquestionably saved millions of jobs."
The first assumption is that sending cash handouts to state governments made any difference in their hiring, firing, or wage negotiations of state employees. This 'expert' cannot prove this is in fact true. As an example of it not being true, I will point to the facts on the ground in Wisconsin regarding labor negotiations.
Savings
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 7:07pm.
My wife saves money every time she goes shopping. She's got almost enough saved up for that new car she has been dreaming about.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
With no facts to back up this
Submitted by jessieH on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 7:10pm.
With no facts to back up this fools comments, anything he has to say is gossip, like some old woman.
I alone
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 8:27pm.
saved 4 million jobs ... So there.
10 million from me...lol
Submitted by jkwtrading on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:27pm.
10 million from me...lol
Well, you guys are doing
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 11:51pm.
Well, you guys are doing better than me!!! I couldn't even save my OWN damn job.............and I've gone from being self-employed to self un-employed..........and although I've paid into the state and Federal unemployment (unen-joy-ment) systems for year, I'm not qualified to receive it myself.
Good evening killa
Submitted by cocodrie on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 11:57pm.
Welcome to the club. I spent 45 years self employed. According to liberals I didn't have a job because I didn't work for wages.
Jesus Loves You so much He died for you
Sorry Killa,
Submitted by Boudin on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 11:59pm.
Least you have paradise and the surf: ]. Sure hope things turn around for you soon.
Ahhhhh, thanks
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:19am.
Ahhhhh, thanks guys..........I wasn't trying to garner any sympathy on that post - it was meant to be a joke - you guys know me - I was doing the 'demonstrate absurdity by being absurd' a long time before I ever hear Rush talk about it, and I'm sure a lot of other people have done it too.
But, for anyone who HAS been self-employed - they know the deal............plus the fact that I do business in the People's Republic of Hawaii doesn't make things any easier!!!
But my house and land are paid for, and my truck is paid for..........so I've just got to keep above sea level in times like these, just like everybody else. I try and help my one son and grandson when I can, plus my ex.............and I like to have a life too, but sometimes you've just got to lower your horizons and adjust to the reality of the situation, so there's things I'd love to be doing and places I'd love to be going........but it ain't gonna happen now!!
I DO have a project that is set to start after the new year - it's a full size custom house, from dirt to doorknob - so that should keep me treading water for the forseeable future, as well as my employees and subs and suppliers - I try to 'spread the wealth' with them as much as possible - but NOT in the way that Boy Barry defines it!!! We WORK for it!!!
You're right, Boudin - I NEVER forget my geographical location.........those tourists don't see anything that I haven't seen a million times, and I'm STILL amazed by it!!! And when I go surfing, and catch some good waves, and paddle in by the light of the rising full moon, over the majestic mountains.............I"m a pretty relaxed and happy guy!!!
So what would drive me to turn on Stephanie Miller or some other whacked-out lib radio show replay on the 20 minute drive back home to my house in the evenings??? I'm a a friggin' masochist??? A couple of my friends think I'm nuts to listen to any of that, but I do it once in a while. Of course, I also slide in a low-down blues CD or something else that I enjoy if my little peabrain isn't in the mood for listening to the loony tunes.
And, as you know - I get to play music with my friends once in a while for the handicapped people who are getting the chance to go swimming and surfing and spending the day at the beach...........and that is good for the soul, you know???
I haven't seen my sharp and rascally Hawaiian grandson in a few months - jeez, the inter-island plane tickets are close to $200 dollars - but I promised him that I'd see him before Christmas............I miss him too much!!!
Hhmm, well now
Submitted by Boudin on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 11:28am.
I am jealous : ]
We love it here in South Louisiana, although we dont have the surf, we do have great weather and good folks. I have a part time business and a full time job, one day when I like my job less then my business we may go full time self employed. We are building a bigger facility for such, but the fact is, we simply love what were doing on both fronts. We have built (literally the wife, kids and I) our own homes, and paid for it out of pocket. Cars paid for, 1 kid in collage with no loans, the others close by in their own homes that have true equity. Because we bought them cheap, and completely gutted and refurbished them. As that is my business. So, maybe I am not as green as I thought, although I can still skate board a little, I never could do squat on the surf board.
Sounds like ya done allright,
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 11/12/2011 - 12:09am.
Sounds like ya done allright, Boo-deen............that's a good story. Of course, you'd probably get a different take from some lib, like maybe you got 'lucky', or 'won life's lottery', or needed the help of the government to get to where you are now - like that dumb-ass loud-mouth harpie up there in Massachessettes said!!! There's NO WAY that you did what you did on your own, you know???
Your could always hop on the
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:02pm.
Your could always hop on the board and paddle out to the next island.
killa
Submitted by Radical1979 on Sat, 11/12/2011 - 12:14am.
At least you don't have to worry about paying heating bills. That season is here for us.
I think the government (and libs) think every penny made by someone self employed is profit. They forget the costs of materials, labor, permits, etc.
Yeah, and these days
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 11/12/2011 - 12:24am.
Yeah, and these days 'profits' are very hard to come by, especially in the construction business. And the whole element of 'non-profits', or 'not-for-profit' is a big scam anyway. And on top of that.........the government doesn't have to make a profit - if they need more money, they confiscate it, print it, or borrow it.............no problem!!!
Hey Firestone, when you finally pull your head out of Obama's...
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 9:06pm.
___, you might want to give this a read.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
yup
Submitted by JdfinCT on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 9:09pm.
it sure did create jobs..just like the magic windchimes i have keep the ninjas from murdering me in my sleep. Proof..i say so that's all i need, i mean ninjas haven't killed me yet...so it must be true..
B.S. vs. B.L.S.
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:24pm.
Those NYT reporters! They're just so darned cute & cuddly, aren't they?
They don't know about the super secret website that we conspiracy theorists use.
Sssshhhhhhhh....
Don't tell them! It's beneath them. Really. So we'll just keep it between us, okay?
You ready? SHH! Don't tell those adorable NYT rascals, now!
Okay... Here it is.
www.bls.gov
You know what that is? It's a site of government statistics, that, REMARKABLY, never used the bullsh*t, made-up matrix of "saved" "created" or "supported" during the Bush years or any year prior to The Messiah, but has now, has, IN INVISIBLE INK or dots or something, embraced it as a veddy, veddy serious super-smart way to measure imaginary jobs... that are not in evidence ANYWHERE - in ANY data, ANYWHERE on the website but JUST OVERLOOK THAT, okay? Hurry! Don't "read the bill" - that's how it's done, right?
Ssshhhhhh.... Don't tell them the part where it says that they've LOST over TWO MILLION JOBS since Bam-Bam was immaculated.
It's SOOOO magical, that 9.x% unemployment is... you ready? LESS than 7.x% unemployment, which is where it was in January 2009.
It's a happy, magical, gravity-defying place. They may even have Oompa-Loompas.
Shhh!
An editorial board member for NYT? Means "apparatchik"...
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:35pm.
...in the former Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
A rather interesting facet of NYT reporters, editors and writers is their insistence that what they write must suddenly become fact because they wrote it. Funny how reality just does not work that way.
Obama promised
Submitted by tdabbs on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:40pm.
..6.5% unemployment rate by this time. We're over 9%. This is a monumental failure.
I actually think that the 9%
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:24am.
I actually think that the 9% figure is pure balderdash!!! (How's that for a high-falutin' world???) It's got to be in the mid-teens, for sure!!! And I see that Boy Barry has sent out feelers (again!!!) for ideas on how to improve the situation with the un-employed 'black' population. Hell, hasn't this poser-ass piece of Kenyan Kow Krap had any NUMBER of meetings and workshops and programs on how to improve the employment situation - dating back to when he was first coronated???
With Boy BlahBlah...........it's ALL blah blah blah blah blah..........................
FUBO IS FUBAR!!!!
BS = BO!!!
New NYT motto
Submitted by TheHistorian on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:42pm.
"In the tank for Obama, B11iden, and their whole administration since 2011"
Dennis Prager
And can we STOP...
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:53pm.
...with this HORSESH*T meme that BUSH got us into the "ditch" and Republicans are just trying to use "the same policies"??????????????? (I posted my reply to the jobs question a moment ago, but I'm ticked off. I had to comment on THIS BIG LIE, too.)
Just go to Obama's OWN O.M.B. and LOOK UP THE G*DD*MNED DATA. You know what you'll find? A fr*ggin' MOUNTAIN of revenue after the Bush tax cuts. 50+ STRAIGHT MONTHS of growth. You should see the graph! Seriously. BIG MOUNTAIN of REVENUE after the TAX CUTS. The "same policies" will get us OUT of the ditch THIS time JUST LIKE THEY DID LAST TIME YOU LYING S*CKS OF SH*T.
It wasn't tax cuts IT WAS PELOSI'S SPENDING that scr*wed us. Bush's deficits were WELL below $500 B until... PELOSI. (Yes, Bush signed them. Yes. His bad. But ALL SPENDING & TAXING BILLS START IN THE HOUSE.)
Got that? Bush's annual deficits were 1/3 what Bam-Bam's are and his WORST ones didn't start until PELOSI got the purse!
GO G*DD*MNED LOOK IT UP THESE PEOPLE ARE L*Y*I*N*G with IMPUNITY and I can't STAND it anymore.
Jeez Annie............settle
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:29am.
Jeez Annie............settle down!!! Take a chill pill!! Have a stiff drink!!! Smoke a joint!!! You're getting a little too animated!!! I'm going to have to introduce you to my good friend - the lovely Ms. Cajun 2 - so that she can settle you down a little bit. Of course, maybe if you met Dave.........you'd just go even MORE haywire!!! Or if you want to hang out with me - you can be stupid and smart at the same time............but it might have a deleterious effect on your reputation around here!!! Hahahahahahahaha!!!
Gosh, killa...Miss Annie
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:59am.
looks so sweet and demure on her profile page. But now, G*DDAM*IT...I'm S-C-A-R-E-D of her!!!!!!!!!!!
Jer
Yeah, Jer............she does
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 1:15am.
Yeah, Jer............she does look rather 'normal', huh??? A helluva lot more 'normal' than Ms. Botox, Nurse Ratchett,. Moooooooooooooochelle, or any of those friggin' dingbats from the House of MIS-Representatives!!! And lets not EVEN mention those dried-up harpies from those various morning talk shows................they should be out grazing in the green grass with the rest of the over-the-hill has-been wanna-be psuedo-players!!!!
And, hey Jer...........if you're S-C-A-R-E-D of her..............than I'm H-A-P-P-Y!!!!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Is it time for my second black cherry/vodka drink????
killa...I figured you were already on at least
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 1:21am.
your third. But I keep forgetting it's still early out there in paradise.
Jer
Props for...
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:28pm.
..."deleterious."
To those who were alarmed...
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:27pm.
...by my temper tantrum last night (I see 3 comments today about my post w/headline "And can we STOP...").
Yes. I had a wicked fit.
No, it wasn't pretty.
If I could drink, I would. But I can't.
If I could get some p*t, I would. But I'm too chicken to go buy it (You can take the girl out of Catholic school, but you can't take the Catholic school out of the girl.)
(So no booze, no drugs... I guess that leaves sex or something with C-cell batteries, huh? Hmmmm....)
I will try to do better ;)
Thank you for your concern, dear friends. Sometimes a good little stomping fit is all a girl needs to regroup and carry on! Sorry I spilled on you...
That's quite alright, Annie...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 4:50pm.
It's better to vent on occasion than to suppress your frustrations. Can't help you on the dr*gs or b**ze front, but have plenty of batteries if you need a buzz.
Jer
Ahh, Annie...........a couple
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 11:50pm.
Ahh, Annie...........a couple of the best (in the expanded definition of 'best') girlfriends I've had in my life were, what I refer to as,
reformed Catholics'............somewhere along the line they managed to lose the 'guilt' end of the whole deal!!! So there's still hope for you, if you aren't allready there!!!
A couple drinks are good...............pot can make you think too much............and if we're going to talk about sex, we'll have to go to personal messages!! hahahahaha!!! I like your battery statement - very bold............see, you're allready leaving your Catholic hang-ups behind - just keep talking to me - I'll have you 'reformed' in no time!!!
'Deleterious' IS a very good word.............believe it or not, the Killa went to the same uppity private school in Honolulu that Boy Barry did - and I actually got a half-scholarship based on my test scores - which I can damn well guarantee you that he DIDN'T!!
Of course, the only things I was interested in at that school were girls, surf, and rock'n'roll.
And that's STILL basically all I'm interested in!!!! Except that the world has foisted a lot more issues on me than the simplicity of teen-age life in Hawaii..................and rock'n'roll is basically dead, for all intents and purposes.
Saved jobs!
Submitted by Alpha Tango on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 11:34pm.
I can say with absolute certainty that nothing Obama has done has saved any job(s.) The data supports my conclusion much more than it supports liberal David Firestone's ass-kissing fantasies.
It isn't a new thing that the liberal main stream media will lie about anything to inflate and protect socialists and communists.
Just Imagine How Many Jobs Would Be Saved at 20% Unemploument
Submitted by Avitar on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 1:13am.
The total number of employees in the population has been declining since a few weeks after Pelosi-Reid took control of congress. Here in Connecticut we had an interesting number come out. 70% of the unemployed are no longer counted. They have run out of benefits or have lost a fired with cause hearing are no longer eligible for benefits so they don’t count. The actual numbers may be 25% unemployment under Governor Molloy.
"President Obama may have oversold the effects
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 4:21am.
of his 2009 stimulus program, but I unquestioningly assert it saved millions of jobs."
Fixed it.
Anybody ever notice that when
Submitted by Smartypants on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 9:12am.
Anybody ever notice that when liberals claim something is "unquestionable" (or some similar terminology), it always relates to something which cannot be emperically proven? In fact, this verbiage is applied in situations where it is nothing but their own liberal faith that supports their argument. Then, these same libs cackle at and ridicule people who have any sort of religious faith, as if those types are so foolish.
"but it unquestionably saved millions of jobs."
Submitted by WarEagle01 on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 10:07am.
Which is why unemployment went up since its implementation. I guess liberals just aren't that into math.
Yes, but the libs just say
Submitted by Smartypants on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 5:24pm.
Yes, but the libs just say that it would have gone higher w/o the stimulus. As I posted above, they frame everything in a general way such that they can never be wrong.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 1:08pm.
Doncha think?