Jobless rate jumps to 7.6 percent, 598K jobs lost (AP):
Recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, and catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The grim figures were further proof that the nation's job climate is deteriorating at an alarming clip with no end in sight.Some other numbers for the Republicans to ponder as they dick around.The Labor Department's report, released Friday, showed the terrible toll the drawn-out recession is having on workers and companies. It also puts even more pressure on Congress and President Barack Obama's administration to revive the economy through a stimulus package and a revamped financial bailout plan, both of which are nearing completion.
The latest net total of job losses was far worse than the 524,000 that economists expected. Job reductions in November and December also were deeper than previously reported.
With cost-cutting employers in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate bolted to 7.6 percent in January, the highest since September 1992. The increase in the jobless rate from 7.2 percent in December also was worse than the 7.5 percent rate economists expected.
...The average time it took for an unemployed person to find any job - full or part time - rose to 19.8 weeks in January, compared with 17.5 weeks a year ago, underscoring the increasing difficulty the out-of-work are having in finding a new job.
* Factories slashed 207,000 jobs in January, the largest one-month drop since October 1982
* Construction companies got rid of 111,000 jobs.
* Professional and business services chopped 121,000 positions.
* Retailers eliminated 45,000 jobs.
* Leisure and hospitality axed 28,000 slots.
* 598,000 non farm payroll positions lost on a seasonally adjusted basis.
* 2,647 unemployed for more than 6 months.
Oh man, here's a compilation video from Think Progress showing how Senate Republicans don't see a need to act promptly (or have any bright ideas for that matter). My remaining Republican do-nothing Senator Richard Burr and the Palmetto State queen are among those weighing in.
LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We do not need any more news conferences. What we need is getting more than 16 people in a room. We need to slow down, take a timeout, and get it right.
ROGER WICKER (R-MI): As Thomas Jefferson reminded Americans in his day - and I quote - "Delay is preferable to error." Let's not rush into doing this the wrong way.
JOHN ENSIGN (R-NV): So we need to act much more responsibly than this bill acts. It's still time. There is no hurry.
TOM COBURN (R-OK): There's no reason for us to hurry up, number one. There's no reason for us not to look at every area of this bill and make sure the american people know about it.
BONUS BRASS BALLS: Former Chief of Staff Andy Card whines about President Obama not wearing a jacket and tie at all times in the White House (as if Dear Leader always did -- ha -- see this slideshow at Huff Post that proves Card and other cranky GOP babies are lying). LEFT: A jacketless President George W. Bush signs forms with staff secretary Harriet Miers in the Oval Office on January 22, 2001...two days after his inauguration. And as Jamison Foster at County Fair notes, Card is caught in a baldface lie since he's photographed right next to Bush as George Tenet stands there without a jacket on (RIGHT).
So while Card tries to change the subject from the flailing economy to this BS:
"The Oval Office symbolizes...the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I'm going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it's appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President."He needs to think about how Bush and Cheney, even if they were in a suit and tie 24/7, did far worse in terms of respecting and honoring this country by sh*tting on and torching the Constitution for the last eight years.Mr. Card went on to add that, while he would not criticize Mr. Obama for his appearance, "I do expect him to send the message that people who are going to be in the Oval Office should treat the office with the respect that it has earned over history."
Just when you thought the tired Oklahoma bigot Rep. Sally Kern would be retired to the dustbin of anti-gay history (she was re-elected, no surprise, in what is sadly one of the reddest states in the union), she surfaces like a rotting bloated corpse, polluting the Character Conference Center (a former Holiday Inn) in downtown OKC recently with news that she's broken a blazing hot conspiracy wide open -- she has located The Homosexual Agenda. "Big Homo," as Matt Barber calls us, has compiled its plan for world domination based on a 1990 book called "After the Ball," by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen and a book named after a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan." The crowd at the John Birch Society-organized "Clouds Over America" ate it up. (OKGazette):
Among the items in the agenda, Kern said, was getting the public to view homosexuality as a matter of taste, like a preference for strawberry or vanilla ice cream. She quoted the text: "The masses should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavior itself."You know, this batsh*t insanity from homo-hating, illegal pistol-packing legislator Kern is just mind-blowing. She also has a plan of action -- how many voters in her district believe this crap?"You know," Kern said. "I've done a lot of reading on this. I wish I could describe to you their behavior. I will not because I would be redder than this suit. It's their behavior that we oppose.
"This theme of equality and freedom is the approach that the homosexuals are using today - totally perverting the true intention of what our Constitution meant. ... The homosexuals get it - it's a struggle between our religious freedoms and their right to do what they want to do."
Around the banquet hall, Kern's speech met with applause and calls of "Amen!" from a crowd stoked in a crucible of conspiracy and intrigue.
Kern called for a new "Great Awakening," referring to a period of religious revivals from the 18th century considered precursor to the American Revolution.H/t, Rebecca Armendariz."The solution is another Great Awakening, folks," Kern said. "We need a spiritual revival, and that will only come if God's people, especially you pastors, will stand in your pulpits and vocally preach the word of God and thus declare the Lord this sin, and preach it in love, only then does our nation have a chance of overcoming the scourge of AIDS, HIV and the devastating destruction that the homosexual lifestyle is bringing on your children and our grandchildren."
That would be Tim Goeglein, the former Bush Administration aide was forced to step down after admitting he plagiarized numerous columns when he was writing for The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana and last week was hired by Focus to be their chief lobbyist in DC. In fact, in its announcement, Focus explicitly referred to Goeglein as the man who would "be our eyes and ears in Washington."With all the Bush economy layoffs, it's not surprising that to save coin these orgs shack up.
We have written about Schenck a number of times, most recently when he, Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, and Rep. Paul Brown anointed the door at the Capitol before Barack Obama's inauguration. While far from a household name, Schenck has seemingly been becoming more influential over the last few years - he met privately with John McCain during the campaign and even received a VIP invitation to McCain's announcement that Sarah Palin would be his running mate, where he had the opportunity to speak with both of them.
Long-time Blenders might recall that back in 2006, Schenck went up to the Senate hearing room for future SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito and put holy oil on the seats of the major players to ensure confirmation. He did the same for John Roberts, blessing every piece of furniture in the hearing room at that time, according to the WaPo. See my post, "Holy greasing of the wheel, er, ass for the Alito hearings."
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