Carolyn Maloney is out of the Senate race in New York.
Jenny Sanford is out of the governor’s mansion in South Carolina.
Keith Hennessey: “Markets care about expectations and rates of change. Real people care about levels—Do I have a job? How big is my paycheck? If you focus on the former, it’s good news. If you focus on the latter, it’s still terrible.”
Megan McArdle has it right: “The unemployment rate dropped 200 basis points, from 9.6% to 9.4%. That’s great news. Except that labor force participation also dropped 200 basis points, which is what’s propping up those figures. People basically gave up looking for work, and therefore aren’t counted as unemployed. Still, it is good news, of a sort. Job loss is slowing, and a 12% eventual unemployment peal seems less likely than it did even a few months ago. But we should keep in mind that this also reinforces a grim fact of modern unemployment–it’s getting longer and harder than it used to be.”
And so does Robert Reich: “The economy is getting worse more slowly.”
Obama tells Republicans to shut up—that is: “get out of the way.” But what about the Blue Dogs? Them too. Everyone scram!
The fastest way to spur job growth: dump the Obama agenda. “New hiring will be restrained until businesses see the smoke clear on health care, the cap-and-trade energy tax and rigged union organizing. The faster this agenda is seen to be defeated or watered down, the sooner capital investment and risk-taking will revive, and the sooner robust job creation will resume.”
Imagine—14 percent of voters think Congress is doing a good job. (Who are these people—relatives?) 56 percent say they are doing a poor job, up 9 percent from June.
Unmitigated good news: “U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials are pretty certain that Baitullah Mehsud, the top Taliban in Pakistan, is dead.”
Dana Perino has advice for Republicans on health care, primarily “keep doing what you’re doing—the pressure has worked.”
The Obama administration has made its argument in court to prevent release of the detainee-abuse photos. But if servicemen’s lives are at stake, why isn’t he issuing an executive order?
