First of all, it's a reader's letter. Second, as far as I'm concerned, they can have him.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by alanwoods]

I fixed the link.

Is this really the position of the Left? If so, desperation has driven them to abandon their traditional principals in order to cover the decision to support an unaccomplished huckster peddling nothing more than hope.

Virtually every justification is based in concept of the well-off doing fine, or in many cases far better than fine. If the success of the upper classes is the only justification the Left has that Obama is a successful President, then their principals are a hollow shell. And just like the vacuous promises of the President, most of these "measurements" are built on artificial manipulation and con-artistry.

-- "Corporate profits at record high" - in most cases, not due to high sales, company growth, or new ventures. It's built on a combination of money printing at the Fed, and drastic cuts to enhance profitability.

-- "The country's adding 200,000 jobs per month" - and we're also holding near 300,000/mth in new claims for unemployment benefits. This is the slowest recovery in living memory from an employment perspective. We have the lowest labor participation rate in many decades, and depending upon how you slice the population, portions are experiencing high double-digit unemployment percentages. Then there's the wage deflation problem, as our anti-business climate lowers opportunity for all, dropping wages for many trying to find new positions after better-paying old ones disappear. The 6% number is grossly manipulated and inaccurate.

-- "US GNP growth is the best of the OECD countries" - maybe, but most of those countries are Western European socialist democracies that have screwed their economies even worse than we have. Not all, but many.

-- "The dollar and stock market are at the strongest levels in years" - all artificially created by money printing from the Fed. The bottom will eventually fall out of that, creating an epic crash where the lower classes will face civil catastrophe, and the uber rich who benefited from all this will jet away to safety - their fortunes intact.

-- "Gasoline prices are falling" - true, which benefits everyone. Hope it lasts. That could be helped by more aggressive US drilling and okaying the Keystone pipeline - all things Obama dislikes.

-- "Oil production increasing" - not because of Federal support or a sane national energy program. Most new oil discovery and drilling is from private lands, not Federally controlled.

-- "Deficit is decreasing" - in what terms? Only by percentage measurement because Obama's first years had an unusually high deficit, and the latter ones look better by comparison. 2014 is predicted to be just slightly under half a trillion. HALF A TRILLION! Wow, what a penny-pincher that Obama is. While its true that spending is a Congressional responsibility, the President will broach no spending cuts.

-- "The wealthy are making astonishing amounts" - while the gap widens and the lower classes have less and less opportunity. Is this really the case the Left wants to make for supporting this President? Talk about discarding your principles.

-- "America is leading he world once again in international respect" - this one is just laughable. Obama's respect internationally is at all-time lows.

No need to go further. This is the most desperate attempt imaginable to create positive spin for a failed President. I hope the Canadians take him, and he gets to prove again how big a phony he really is.

I have a question for you. If the Fed is printing all of this money, why aren't we experiencing a huge inflation?

Read this.

http://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2014/09/how-much-money-is-the-fed-printing/

Typical whining by Fuji - the 6% number is calculated the same way it always has - it wasn't changed under Obama...

The Keystone pipeline will add a total of 50 jobs - and the oil that will run thru it will be exported - it will have no impact on the price of oil...

The stock market doesn't only help the wealthy - it helps everyone with a 401k or IRA.....

According to my financial analyst, the amount of money printed by the fed has been reduced by large amounts in the last few months - it's not all needed anymore .....

Now you are complaining that oil production is being done privately, not by the government - isn't that the conservative wet dream? I can't believe you even said that....

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by Sang]

Is this really the position of the Left? If so, desperation has driven them to abandon their traditional principals in order to cover the decision to support an unaccomplished huckster peddling nothing more than hope.

Virtually every justification is based in concept of the well-off doing fine, or in many cases far better than fine. If the success of the upper classes is the only justification the Left has that Obama is a successful President, then their principals are a hollow shell. And just like the vacuous promises of the President, most of these "measurements" are built on artificial manipulation and con-artistry.

Seeing success in these areas isn't abandonment of any principles. Liberal principles (and conservative principles) stem from how the success is obtained.

No need to go further. This is the most desperate attempt imaginable to create positive spin for a failed President. I hope the Canadians take him, and he gets to prove again how big a phony he really is.

So much for my request to refrain from mindless bashing. I expected more from you Fujirich. Usually I learn from you. Some liberals who are disappointed in Obama and the lack of change, are ASKING and HOPING to be sold by Republicans right now, and none of them are capitalizing and succeeding.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by BoytonBrother]

The Keystone pipeline will add a total of 50 jobs

The Alaska pipeline ran only 800 miles, and almost 30,000 were employed to work that project.

The Keystone pipeline will add a total of 50 jobs

The Alaska pipeline ran only 800 miles, and almost 30,000 were employed to work that project.

According to Forbes, that number was much lower, maxing out at 20k but closer to 9-10k for most of the construction period. Keystone would be less because the terrain is not as remote and has less basic infrastructure needs.

But I assume what Sang was referring to is ongoing, post-construction permanent jobs. And according to the Forbes article, "the lesson from Trans-Alaska however, is that long-term employment in these areas is unlikely to increase nearly as significantly as some people would like to believe."

Pipe Dreams: How Many Jobs Will Be Created By Keystone XL?

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by gondicar]

The Keystone pipeline will add a total of 50 jobs

The Alaska pipeline ran only 800 miles, and almost 30,000 were employed to work that project.

According to Forbes, that number was much lower, maxing out at 20k but closer to 9-10k for most of the construction period. Keystone would be less because the terrain is not as remote and has less basic infrastructure needs.

But I assume what Sang was referring to is ongoing, post-construction permanent jobs. And according to the Forbes article, "the lesson from Trans-Alaska however, is that long-term employment in these areas is unlikely to increase nearly as significantly as some people would like to believe."

I know several people that worked on the Alaska pipeline. It's true they were not employed over the long term, but long enough to return to Texas with bucketloads of cash, all of them.

Another factor that's not given enough weight IMO is the number of local businesses that would benefit all along the construction route. Those workers will need food and lodging among other things, positively impacting cities and towns for thousands of miles.

And for the environmentalist in you, wouldn't it be beneficial to transport this oil via pipeline rather than by rail or tanker?

if Richard Brunt says so then it must be true...

after all, who would know better than him?

The Keystone pipeline will add a total of 50 jobs

The Alaska pipeline ran only 800 miles, and almost 30,000 were employed to work that project.

According to Forbes, that number was much lower, maxing out at 20k but closer to 9-10k for most of the construction period. Keystone would be less because the terrain is not as remote and has less basic infrastructure needs.

But I assume what Sang was referring to is ongoing, post-construction permanent jobs. And according to the Forbes article, "the lesson from Trans-Alaska however, is that long-term employment in these areas is unlikely to increase nearly as significantly as some people would like to believe."

I know several people that worked on the Alaska pipeline. It's true they were not employed over the long term, but long enough to return to Texas with bucketloads of cash, all of them.

Another factor that's not given enough weight IMO is the number of local businesses that would benefit all along the construction route. Those workers will need food and lodging among other things, positively impacting cities and towns for thousands of miles.

And for the environmentalist in you, wouldn't it be beneficial to transport this oil via pipeline rather than by rail or tanker?

My uncle worked on the pipeline. It was a nice short term gig, and that's not a bad thing, but it certainly didn't set him up for life or anything even close to that (he eventually had an nice career as a high school English teacher). But the reason I replied was to point out the false comparison between 30k construction jobs that you posted and the projected 50 permanent jobs that Sang posted.

Regarding the job question as it relates to Keystone in general, the Forbes article is a good read.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by gondicar]

Is this really the position of the Left? If so, desperation has driven them to abandon their traditional principals in order to cover the decision to support an unaccomplished huckster peddling nothing more than hope.

Virtually every justification is based in concept of the well-off doing fine, or in many cases far better than fine. If the success of the upper classes is the only justification the Left has that Obama is a successful President, then their principals are a hollow shell. And just like the vacuous promises of the President, most of these "measurements" are built on artificial manipulation and con-artistry.

-- "Corporate profits at record high" - in most cases, not due to high sales, company growth, or new ventures. It's built on a combination of money printing at the Fed, and drastic cuts to enhance profitability.

-- "The country's adding 200,000 jobs per month" - and we're also holding near 300,000/mth in new claims for unemployment benefits. This is the slowest recovery in living memory from an employment perspective. We have the lowest labor participation rate in many decades, and depending upon how you slice the population, portions are experiencing high double-digit unemployment percentages. Then there's the wage deflation problem, as our anti-business climate lowers opportunity for all, dropping wages for many trying to find new positions after better-paying old ones disappear. The 6% number is grossly manipulated and inaccurate.

-- "US GNP growth is the best of the OECD countries" - maybe, but most of those countries are Western European socialist democracies that have screwed their economies even worse than we have. Not all, but many.

-- "The dollar and stock market are at the strongest levels in years" - all artificially created by money printing from the Fed. The bottom will eventually fall out of that, creating an epic crash where the lower classes will face civil catastrophe, and the uber rich who benefited from all this will jet away to safety - their fortunes intact.

-- "Gasoline prices are falling" - true, which benefits everyone. Hope it lasts. That could be helped by more aggressive US drilling and okaying the Keystone pipeline - all things Obama dislikes.

-- "Oil production increasing" - not because of Federal support or a sane national energy program. Most new oil discovery and drilling is from private lands, not Federally controlled.

-- "Deficit is decreasing" - in what terms? Only by percentage measurement because Obama's first years had an unusually high deficit, and the latter ones look better by comparison. 2014 is predicted to be just slightly under half a trillion. HALF A TRILLION! Wow, what a penny-pincher that Obama is. While its true that spending is a Congressional responsibility, the President will broach no spending cuts.

-- "The wealthy are making astonishing amounts" - while the gap widens and the lower classes have less and less opportunity. Is this really the case the Left wants to make for supporting this President? Talk about discarding your principles.

-- "America is leading he world once again in international respect" - this one is just laughable. Obama's respect internationally is at all-time lows.

No need to go further. This is the most desperate attempt imaginable to create positive spin for a failed President. I hope the Canadians take him, and he gets to prove again how big a phony he really is.

What he said. I will just add that any article that states that America leads the world in international respect is so ridiculous and patently false that there is no point in reading further.

I will just add that any article that states that America leads the world in international respect is so ridiculous and patently false that there is no point in reading further.

How do you define "international respect" and what qualifies you as the judge?

Thew whole thing does not even warrant a response....

Thew whole thing does not even warrant a response....

And yet you responded.

Being from Canada, and politically agnostic, I would suggest that Obama would not last a week in this country. He will however do very well on the speakers tour when he is done in 2016. The man sure can talk!! Let me know when he actually does something.

Secondly, the pipeline will create an enormous amount of work on both sides of the border and while the construction jobs will eventually disappear there will be many small businesses created and expanded to maintain the line in every state that it goes through not to mention all of the ancillary jobs that will come from it. 50 jobs is just a ridiculous acertation.

The markets will continue to move higher until inflation is a factor. Capital formation is the cornerstone of the capitalist society that we all live in. While big publicly traded companies get the all the news the real driver of your economy and ours (behind egregious government spending) are entrepreneurs taking risks and starting or continuing to run small businesses that account for about 80% of GDP.

So you can keep him because in two years time it wont matter anymore anyway...........

This was posted in another thread, but I'm very curious to hear the responses from conservatives on this article.

Who in the hell is Richard Brunt?

Wow. I ask for serious input from conservatives in order to learn, and only Fujirich offered a somewhat serious answer. The rest dismissed it and spewed mindless bashing. Says a lot to me.

Maybe it says all it needs to.

Not surprising Conservatives would dismiss the article as they keep clinging to their false accusations that Obama's Presidency has been a failure.

One of Obama's biggest critics, and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, wrote an excellent article on why his administration has been a success so far despite the GOP's continued and blatant obstructionism.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/in-defense-of-obama-20141008

What I find curious is I have posted the link to his article several times yet Conservatives choose to ignore it as it blows holes in their failure claims.

I agree with Mr. Krugman that Obama is far from perfect, but then again no President is, but he has done a credible job in his 6 years in office despite the train wreck he inherited.

Wow. I ask for serious input from conservatives in order to learn, and only Fujirich offered a somewhat serious answer. The rest dismissed it and spewed mindless bashing. Says a lot to me.

Seriously, Who is Richard Brunt?

Does it really matter who he is if he brings up valid points?

Does it really matter who he is if he brings up valid points?

Yes, it most certainly does. Because it goes to credibility, making the "validity" of said "article" extremely subjective. Richard Brunt has written something you agree with and that makes it "valid"?

Laughable.

And because he is not a well known columnist it makes his points less valid and also because you don't agree with them? just as laughable. If something is true it doesn't matter who writes it BIG.

So exactly what did he write that was not true in your mind?

BIGV, I know you aren't serious but I'll bite to hear your response. He's a regular guy from Canada who wrote a letter to his newspaper. If his statements are false, then its a bogus letter. I admit, the international respect line is quite the stretch, but the rest is accurate from my research. Although as Fujirich pointed out, how those results came to be is what's in question. Seems like the conservative response is that the statements aren't accurate or they were manipulated. I know the employment statement is indeed fact. You would think he would get credit for that but I guess some people think that only the negative attributes of this country are due to his leadership, and the good ones stem from something else.

Does it really matter who he is if he brings up valid points?

Yes, it most certainly does. Because it goes to credibility, making the "validity" of said "article" extremely subjective. Richard Brunt has written something you agree with and that makes it "valid"?

Laughable.

At least this guy has his real name attached to what he wrote, and that alone gives him more credibility than almost everyone here (myself included)...

Meet the Canadian who said, 'Send Obama our way'

Speaking of credibility, this quote from Mr. Brunt makes me think that maybe he does post here after all...

What bothers me about all politics today is, everyone claims to have a monopoly on "the truth." But the credibility of sources varies so widely. People twist information to make new "facts," when the reality is not what they wish it was.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by gondicar]

Does it really matter who he is if he brings up valid points?

Yes, it most certainly does. Because it goes to credibility, making the "validity" of said "article" extremely subjective. Richard Brunt has written something you agree with and that makes it "valid"?

Laughable.

At least this guy has his real name attached to what he wrote, and that alone gives him more credibility than almost everyone here (myself included)...

Meet the Canadian who said, 'Send Obama our way'

Speaking of credibility, this quote from Mr. Brunt makes me think that maybe he does post here after all...

What bothers me about all politics today is, everyone claims to have a monopoly on "the truth." But the credibility of sources varies so widely. People twist information to make new "facts," when the reality is not what they wish it was.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by gondicar]

Well said, for every positive that can be posted for Obama the conservatives will find a way to discredit it or claim he had nothing to do with the success. But then again Liberals do the same when a Republican is in office so there really is no being objective in politics IMHO.

BIGV, so then do all of us here (including you) lack credibility too and therefore we don't make any valid points?

What's important is the content of the letter and how much truth there is in each statement. Fujirich seems to think they are true, but should not be credited to Obama. I don't know about you but I believe Fujirich to be well informed and credible....his opinions are just wrong. Haha, kidding Fuji.

[Edited on 11/18/2014 by BoytonBrother]

Well said, for every positive that can be posted for Obama the conservatives will find a way to discredit it or claim he had nothing to do with the success. But then again Liberals do the same when a Republican is in office so there really is no being objective in politics IMHO.

Exactly....