Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

President Obama can’t seem to get folks in Washington to listen to him. So he has decided to try his luck elsewhere…

For weeks he has been striving to get Congress to support  his plan to create jobs in the US… with lukewarm reception.

Now he is exploring alternatives to the American Jobs Act, tacitly admitting the bill is unlikely to pass through Congress.

The President will be touring in Las Vegas and Denver, hoping to pressure Republicans in Congress into passing the bill, rallying citizens under the mantra “We can’t wait,” for lawmakers to act.

Polls have shown that the main goals of the bill are widely supported- 63% approve according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll.

The bill, which can be read in its entirety here, focuses on cutting payroll taxes, extending unemployment benefits, funding new road construction, and providing a tax credit to returning veterans.

Opponents of the bill have cited concerns ranging from the proposed level of spending ($447 billion) to the targeted industries losing tax benefits, which include the oil industry.

Opposition has not been limited to the Republican party. Some Democrats are queasy.

“I have been very unequivocal…No more tax cuts,”

said a Democratic Representative from Oregon, Peter A. DeFazio.

Clearly the President has a long road to travel before his Jobs Bill will be passed.

Courtesty Good.is

Moan! Moan! Moan!

It seems everyone is in bad mood about everything these days.

People seem to be especially grumpy about the state of the economy. Just mention President Obama’s $700 million economic stimulus package to ”Tea Party” supporters and you will get an earful.

But is the stimulus working?

Infographic-centric and well-designed blog Good says: IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL!

Politicians up for election have been quick to complain about the ill effects of Obama’s stimulus plan, arguing that jobs haven’t been created .

However, Good makes an important point – “the jury (and by “jury” I mean $278 billion in tax cuts and spending) is still out.”

Obviously, complaining about the economy (especially as it relates to the perception of Obama’s mishaps) is popular before an election cycle, especially by the minority party.

But is it really fair to bash the stimulus package before 35% of it has not yet been spent? It is a “package” for a reason. Or does it not matter at all? After all, shouldn’t the stimulus have shown some indication of it working with roughly 65% of it already out there?

Or maybe it has shown some signs of working. One publication in South Carolina looks at the new stimulus-funded advanced battery plant in Michigan that is now open as one indication of a success. What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment!

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Candles, cake, and intense political debate, what else would anyone want for their first birthday?  Especially if that special someone is the Federal economic stimulus bill!

Now, like most birthday celebrations (except for ours which you forgot) a variety of “gifts” and “wishes” have been flying in.

Led by President Obama, folks are trumpeting the stimulus as a success.

But for all the birthday cheer, there was also a load of Bronx cheers.

Some are questioning whether the bill actually helped the economy, particularly Republicans (who didn’t approve of the stimulus from day one).

Considering the mixed bag of gifts (including one ugly sweater) lets take a look at only a couple of them.

At Slate, Daniel Gross, comments that the stimulus bill has helped this year

there’s still $515 billion worth of tax cuts, contracts and loans, and aids to entitlement programs set to enter the economy in the next two years.

Republican Congressman Tom Price, for Red State, however, reminds us

The number of jobs our economy has lost in just the last year is approaching 4 million, and the unemployment rate has hung around 10% for the past 6 months. And then there’s the 6.1 million unemployed Americans who want to work but aren’t included in the oft-quoted unemployment rate.

Supporting the stimulus, despite the current unemployment, David Leonhardt of the New York Times, notes

Since February, aggregate wages and salaries have fallen, while consumer spending has risen. The difference between the two — some $100 billion — has essentially come from stimulus checks.

Over at the Atlantic, Meghan McArdle, makes a very interesting point that although the stimulus has been good for America’s economy

the main reason we didn’t have the Great Depression is that the Treasury intervened to prop up financial institutions, while the Federal Reserve pumped money into the economy with a fire hose.

With so many people giving so many opinions about the same issue we’re having trouble reaching a conclusion about the stimulus.  Now in a couple of year’s we’ll most likely be able to look back and reach a consensus.

However, we hate to wait.  So why don’t you, our loyal readers, chime in with your thoughts.

Thanks to the AP and Philly.com

We at US Democrazy partied hard this weekend. No, we weren’t indulging in festive Halloween high-jinx! We learned  THE RECESSION IS OVER! Yeah BABY!

Just check out these headlines:

• Ford Posts an Unexpected Profit of $997 Million (New York Times)
• 3 strong economic reports lift recovery hopes (The Associated Press)
• Manufacturing boosts global recovery (The Financial Times)

Everything is looking great, right?  Time to Party!

But, then today… we woke up with a pounding headache.  It wasn’t a hangover, it was some gloomy economists who ruined our party mood.

Take Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate and NY Times Columnist. He says: GOOD NEWS! The recovery is due to Obama’s stimulus package!

But that’s also the bad news — because the same textbook analysis says that the stimulus was far too small … Unless something changes drastically, we’re looking at many years of high unemployment.

That is one big BUT ! (no pun intended)

Free exchange, a blog at our friends at The Economist magazine, agrees with the frightening view that

Essentially, we are looking at a situation in which, … American unemployment will remain near 10% through the end of 2010, at least.

Ouch! That’s a kick in the BUT!

Even the current economic growth is not helping the worst off areas of the country.  Just take a look at the image above.

Now we’re not sure how to feel… is the economy going up or going down?

Either way, this economic roller coaster hasn’t come to a stop.    There’s even a rumor of a second stimulus plan…but don’t celebrate too soon!

Thanks to Wikicommons and Philip Kromer.

We at US Democrazy have been hearing a clunk clunk cha-ching sound every time we go out for a drive. Sounds like a bad transmission. We’d sell the heaving hunk of junk… but no one would buy it… unless your name is Uncle Sam!

That’s right, that clunk clunk cha-ching is the sound of Americans swapping in their old junk box cars for 4,500 federal greenbacks towards a BRAND NEW CAR!!!

You too can trade in your old gas guzzler for government money towards a new set of wheels through the Car Allowance Rebate System, popularly called Cash for Clunker.

Now before you get to excited some small print applies.

1. The car being traded in must be less than 25 years old.
2. The car being traded in must get less than 18 miles per gallon.
3. The car being traded in must be drivable.
4. The car being traded in must be yours (that’s right, put your neighbors car back).
5. Don’t have any emotional attachment to you old car as all traded in cars are scrapped.

Sounds like a great deal?  Well it seems many American’s think so.  The rate of new car sales for the past two weeks has been double of that for the first half of 2009.

In fact the program has been so popular it has run out of the $1 billion dollars set aside to pay for the clunkers!

Don’t worry though, the program is still going and Congress has passed a law providing $2 billion more for Clunkers.

Oh, by the way crummy car collectors may love this program but not everyone shares this sentiment.

An opinion article in the Wall Street Journal commented

The subsidy won’t add to net national wealth, since it merely transfers money to one taxpayer’s pocket from someone else’s, and merely pays that taxpayer to destroy a perfectly serviceable asset in return for something he might have bought anyway. By this logic, everyone should burn the sofa and dining room set and refurnish the homestead every couple of years.

The chaps over at the Economist, however, seemed to like this program saying

The boost in demand that the rebates have brought about is exactly the sort of stimulus that is urgently needed

Rick Newman, blogging for US News & World Report, warns that, as the cars traded in under the program must be destroyed,

there will even be a used-car bubble, with a shortage now leading used-car dealers to stock up on inventory. But when the clunker rebates end, dealers could end up with too many cars, causing prices to seesaw the other way.

Frankly we don’t care what those “experts” have to say.  What we really want is your complaints and snide remarks well voiced discourses and comments.

P.S.  We just called our mechanic and that clunk clunk cha-ching is our transmission.  $4,500 dollars here we come!

Is it to early to measure the stimulus’ effects ?

Sick of BORING in-flight safety videos? Fly Air New Zealand. The airline’s staff wear nothing but body paint during a flight safety video to attract passengers’ attention and hopefully save lives.

It seems like every old blues song starts with “I woke up this mornin’”… followed by any of a number of sad statements. “My baby is gone…. My dog has up and died… My toaster’s blown up…”

These days, the that follow up phrase might just be “My economic stimulus package is showin’ some promise”…

That’s because folks are waking up and seeing some positive effects of the Obama stimulus bill down in good ol’ Mississippi. Mississippi has been singing the economic blues long before the “recession” and housing market collapse happened.  But Kevin Connolly at the BBC says that the Magnolia State may be playing a different tune soon.

According to Connolly’s article (which you can find here), the stimulus plan is helping Mississippi to bolster its tourism industry. The state is focusing on its rich musical and blues history. Head on over to BBC to read and sing the whole scoop!

Still stupified on the stimulus for the states…? Maybe The Boston Globe can help you out.

They say no man is an island… Except for this guy. He is, in fact, a country.

The great Madoff rip-off! Bernie may spend MUCH more than a weekend… in prison.

Wal-Mart takes advantage of the government… Well, the government’s money, at least.

Do we have to check our vision… or did the market actually just go up?

Budget cuts will keep us from talking about the past, according to The Onion.

Image courtesy of New York Magazine.

Is the stimulus plan going to plan?  

Time to skimp on indulgences, unless you’re Catholic!

The Economy is pointing down…  North Korea is pointing missiles!

Fruit flies with funny names stir up controversy. (But what doesn’t stir up controversy these days?)

Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov