
Marty Lederhandler / AP
Jobs numbers released on Friday showed unemployment dropped to 7.8%—the lowest it has been since January 2009. After an awful debate performance Wednesday night, the numbers were a boost for President Obama.
That prompted some conservatives to suggest there must be something fishy going on. Less than hour after the news broke Friday morning, Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE and a Romney backer, sparked an uproar over Twitter by suggesting the Labor Department was cooking the books to make Obama look good.
Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers
— Jack Welch (@jack_welch) October 5, 2012
Fox News's Stuart Varney got into the act too. "There is widespread mistrust of this report and these numbers because there are clear contradictions," he said. "Oh how convenient the rate dropped below 8% for the first time in 43 months, five weeks before the election."
And conservative columnist Conn Caroll tweeted:
I don't think BLS cooked numbers. I think a bunch of Dems lied about getting jobs. That would have same effect.
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) October 5, 2012
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis called Welch’s comments “ludicrous” on CNBC Friday morning. “I have the highest regard for our professionals who do the calculations,” she said.



This is part of the reason we call them "Wingnuts"
GOING FORWARD!!!!!
The thing is that republicans have been working to destroy jobs in America for the last four years and they have a hard time believing that all their hard work has been for nothing.
Denial isn't just a river in Egypt apparently its also a right wing tactic!
This is unbelievable. It makes one think that Republicans are psychopathic. Who are the people that believe these conspiracies? Please hosts of msnbc don't keep giving so much attention to the negative. Could you for once give Obama a pat on the back instead of celebrating Romney's lies? Obama was shocked and amused that the Romney that showed up for the debate was not the Romney of past months. Romney knew if he embraced Obama's ideas, Obama would be thrown off track. It was a planned strategy and it worked but Romney was lying through his teeth. I just wish Obama had called him on it. He did make one mention of it but did not drive it home. However debates rarely change people's mind. Move on from the debate and celebrate the unemployment numbers. Jack Walsh pays 0 in taxes. He should know how good he has it. Why the rich who have prospered under Obama hate him is beyond comprehension . We must remember, Obama has a very serious day job in contrast to Romney who with his money has been able to make a 10 year career out of running for president.
All this does is show how politicians on both sides will do anything to either stay in power or take power away. I thought being a Politician was supposedly to do what's best for the rest of the country. I wish it was possible to fire every single one of them and replace them with people that really care about the people of this country and not just special interest groups.
Yup ..must be a conspiracy ... can't be true .. Obama just can't be that things are getting better
The "Ultra-Rich" who back Romney, Romney himself, & a great deal of the Republican/Tea Party/Libertarian group understand that very soon non-whites will be the majority in the United States. That fact translates into non-whites holding more political, economic, and judicial power, plus more strength in just sheer numbers. It means more non-whites getting higher educations, more non-whites acheiving statuses equal to or surpassing theirs. They see their grandchildren losing the "Ruling Class" status that they've enjoyed. Voter surpression, union busting, wage surpression, the demonizing of non-white political figures to scare white voters, LGBT bashing, insistance that EVERYONE adhere to their religious views, but most importantly the dogged attempt by Republicans to have these things written into the Constitution via amendments, is a concerted effort on the part of these people to maintain a white, mostly male psuedo-superiority. Remember "Take Our Country Back" by Sarah Palin? Take it back from whom? An elected official such as Barack Obama? Their theory is that the non-white vote doesn't count anyway, so take those away and Obama actually lost to McCain, thereby delegitimizing him as President. And it was never yours to begin with. There were people already living & thriving here when the first whites arrived.
Bet against Obama, bet against your own blessed country! The politics of polarization and partisan denial!
Isn't jobs the number one priority for both parties? Just goes to show you which side is more concerned with taking credit rather than getting Americans jobs. The 47% just got smaller. No wait, that's not right, according to Mitt it must be that the 53% just took on more work, as the 47% don't want to take responsibility for their own lives.
Like I've always said there are racists out there that don't know they are, but there are many blacks out there that don't know they are not white. Why? Maybe by definitions only and I do pity both. We all need to define who we are :-)
We don't need definition. We are all human.
This is hilarious! All of you know that if the tables were turned (if a Republican was president), every single one of you would be coming up with reasons why the numbers couldn't be correct. And this article would be quoting economist, Dean Baker's statement "The jump in employment reported in September was almost certainly a statistical fluke,", and everyone on this blog would be agreeing.
It amazes me the brass balls the republicants have and no sense of decency. They're just a bunch of angry OLD white guys who are exploding because a black man is their boss. Well, soon they'll die off and we won't have to listen to their bull@!$%# anymore. The clock is ticking
A clear indication the Stupids of Washington wants this President to fail at the expense of people needing jobs to support their families. Earlier this year there was a report that said there were 3.8 million jobs that needed to be filled and the country will begin to see the results in September. Why is it so hard to believe the results are coming in and people are getting back to work. The reason is when Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States in 2009 there was another swearing in at a restaurant to make President Obama a one term President so no matter what the President has done it has been viewed as a failure on the President's watch. Mitt Romney was responsible for Bin Laden's death, Mitt Romney help with the bailout of GM and you can go on and on. So although there were over 100,000 jobs filled in September, the right wingers are not satisfied. If Romney was in office then you will see what the position would have been. After all Mitt Romney has said all that needs to be done is put him (a white man) in office and things will instantly get better. How so??? Not passing the jobs bill in different forms, not passing a veterans job bills are clear indications yes Washington is broken all because of this vindictiveness to get rid of one person.
Obama had the convention in a smaller location, because he was afraid he couldn't fill the stadium. (it had nothing to do with the rain in the forecast.) Some parts of the country are still suffering from the worse drought in history, let's blame Obama. Unemployment up, Obama's fault, unemployment improves, must be a conspiracy.....
The Rep. know that they have done nothing to help jobs, or the economy. They are scared that their do nothing work ethic might back fire. Do they want some credit?
Let's give credit where credit is due.
Romney over country. Better if things go bad for the nation but favor Romney.
What sort of mentality do these right wing fanatics have? Chris Matthews read back his tweet to squeaky voiced Jack Welch, and he tried to say he did not say it the way it was read to him? It was exactly the way he tweeted. What outright liars these types are. Someone here wondered if they're psychopathic, and truly I believe they are.
I wonder what the jobs #'s would be if obstructionist Republicans voted for jobs bill?
I'm sick of the BS rich white Ho's like Jack Welch(er) spread over the Conservative wacko airwaves. High gas prices is an organized effort to make Obama/Biden look bad before the election. Like what Big Oil did to President Carter with fake oil shortages.
I am somebody who destroys the GOP spoact.blogspot.com
CAN I GET A WITNESS?
A poor woman came up to Mitt with a baby in her arms and asked: "Can you help us Mitt Romney?" … "Yes" said Mitt (he handed her a brochure from the Mormon church. Beautiful Ann gave them a hug while eyeing the cameras)
suckers, lol
The Caucus Room Conspiracy
October 6, 2012
While the pundits are talking about a fantasy conspiracy, here’s a real one:
On the night of January 20, 2009, while President Obama was celebrating his Inauguration, a group of 12 top Republicans was meeting for dinner at the Caucus Room Steakhouse.
The dinner was hosted by Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz, their Minister of “Truth”. The group included Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Pete Sessions, Pete Hoekstra, Jon Kyl, Tom Coburn, John Ensign, and Bob Corker.
In the four-hour meeting they strategized how to fulfill Mitch McConnel’s dream – make Barak Obama a one-term president. Since, historically, whether the incumbent president got re-elected or not depended on the state of the economy during the course of his term. So the plan was clear: block any legislation that would make Obama look good, especially bills that would create jobs.
Somehow, President Obama managed to get the stimulus passed – without a single Republican vote. Since then, Republicans have filibustered (the word comes from the days of piracy) over 300 bills, including the Transportation bill and the American Jobs Act. So the Republicans have cost the jobs of around three million people, the money their wages would have pumped into the economy, and the payroll taxes they would have paid. Our economy and our people have suffered, some tragically.
I hope someone totals up the actual cost to the country of the Republicans’ conspiracy, for that’s what their secret meeting surely was. As they left the meeting, Gingrich was heard to say, "You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown."
--- Basic material from Robert Draper’s “Do Not Ask What Good We Do”
As a citizen and a former Republican, I am dismayed and disgusted at the un-American activities of these men and their callous disregard for the anguish of other people who have been trying to just feed their families all this time.
These conspirators plotted a stealthy overthrow of our economy and our government by cunning and lies. Some have called it TREASON. They were not just plotting against Obama. They were plotting against the American people.
Whenever people have complained about the dysfunctional Congress, no one has had the knowledge or courage to remind them that it’s all been part of the Plan. President Obama has been trying to do his job for all the People with one hand – or more -- tied behind his back. It’s a miracle that his administration has gotten anything done at all.
I’m confused as to why our punditocracy hasn’t yet loudly exposed these malefactors. If the Department of Justice were to just launch an investigation before the election…
I think we need some fairness in reporting. As its true that Jack Welch and the republicans have an agenda - and one that doesn't favor the middle or lower econ classes in the USA ------
I think the Melissa Harris Perry show did a grave disservice to the truth. All of her invitees proclaimed the goodness and progress of the jobs number out last week. Well, it was a miserable number. 5yrs into a recession and the jobs number was 114k which doesn't even equal the amount needed to maintain an increase in OVERALL jobs in the USA. Moreover, they were private, McDonalds jobs, not manufacturing jobs. True, the Republicans are low lives and interested in deception but so are the democrats.
Ms. Perry ought to find guests who would HONESTLY assess the jobs reports to contribute to the understanding of how POOR the economy is doing to inform listeners and pay less attention to supporting her and the invitees agendas of supporting the democrats....
This election is a perfect example of why racism in America will never end. One candidate is black and he is running against a white candidate that everyone knows lies every time he speaks and yet the race is close. Over 40% of Americans would rather vote for a liar than a black man.