April 02, 2004

Atriosterical
Posted by Jon Henke

Atrios is an idiot. Sure, I know that's not news, but I think it needs to be mentioned now and then. Today's evidence? Conspiracy theories.....

First, let's start with this post...

So, let's choose our criteria in advance. Anything under 140K is seriously bad. A number between 140K and 240K isn't particularly good, but at least a sign that things could be picking up. And, anything under 306K is proof that the tax cuts are not working as promised.
Fair enough. Whatever numbers come out, he's already staked out his "Bitching Points", but at least they're fairly credible, if a bit simplistic.

And then the numbers come out.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 308,000 in March, and the
unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.
Doh! The numbers exceed any margin in which Atrios could bitch. Oops. So Atrios, with nothing to complain about, offers praise.

Of course, I'm just kidding. Atrios says "the spinners can have their day", but immediately starts being an idiot....

I think if we needed proof that the Rovians have taken over the BLS it's in this press release. I cannot remember ever seeing a BLS press release report a .1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate as "about unchanged." This is astounding. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
You're wrong. Here's the January 1998 BLS press release...
The unemployment rate, at 4.7 percent, was about
unchanged from November, and the number of nonfarm payroll
jobs increased by 370,000.
And what were those "about unchanged" unemployment rates? From BLS:
November - 4.1
December - 4.0
Here's the August 2003 statement:
Both the number of unemployed persons (8.9 million) and the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) were essentially unchanged in August.
Essentially unchanged in August? Yet, the July unemployment rate had been 6.3%.

I could go on and on. You get the idea.

--------------------------------------------------------
And while I'm at it, since Atrios is ok with calling Glenn Reynolds a fascist/nazi, can we assume he's no longer upset about "questioning people's patriotism"?


UPDATE: Atrios gets the idea, too, updating with this - "I'll retract that accusation. Similar language has been used in the past."

TrackBack

Comments

I'm gonna go shoot me a crow and cook it up for Atrios.

Posted by: Steverino at April 2, 2004 09:56 AM

You'd be better served shooting Atrios...

Posted by: shark at April 2, 2004 10:01 AM

Atrios, like other lefties, is considered a varmint, so there's no bag or possession limit on his like. But I hate wasting ammo on unintelligent creatures.

Posted by: Steverino at April 2, 2004 10:38 AM

Yeah. One of the Kerry spinners on Fox News this morning was yelling: "but, but, but, it doesn't count the people who became discouraged and stopped looking for a job!"

Posted by: George at April 2, 2004 11:27 AM

I don't know how many anti-Bush people read this site, but here are some open questions to all of them:

Is your hatred for George Bush so great that you cannot accept what is obviously great news for this country? Does politics so skew your thoughts that you'd rather more Americans remained out of work just so that Bush will not be re-elected? If 300,000 jobs had been lost last month, would you be celebrating that fact? Finally, do you think that rooting for your country to fail is unpatriotic and that rooting for people to remain out of work inhumane?

Posted by: Steverino at April 2, 2004 02:52 PM

Jon and McQ...thanks for continuing to point out the stupidity and beyond of Atrios et al. I never ever visit those types anymore.

It just reinforces my wisdom in moving from left to right. :)

BTW, Bill Hobbs pointed out that the uptick in unemployment per cent is due to folks who had previously been discouraged moving back into the workforce. Guess they sense things are looking up.:)

Posted by: Syl at April 2, 2004 03:43 PM

workforce=laborforce

Posted by: Syl at April 2, 2004 03:46 PM