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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (121428)	1/8/2012 9:32:49 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224705

Obama's Low Expectations On Jobs Employment: The White House spins the new job numbers as evidence the economy is coming back from the Bush recession. Truth is, the economy continues to struggle against the weight of Obama's misguided policies. Friday's numbers showed employment climbing 200,000 and the jobless rate dropping for the second month in a row, to 8.5%. Fully 30 months into the recovery, any good jobs news is welcome. But this latest report isn't much to cheer about. After all, Obama once promised unemployment would be around 6% once his stimulus plan kicked in. And the current rate is still much higher than the post-World War II average of 5.8%. Still, Obama's top economic adviser, Alan Krueger, says the report "provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal," and that "it is critical that we continue the economic policies that are helping us to dig our way out of the deep hole." As long as the economy shows signs of life, this is sure to be Obama's signature campaign theme. To wit: Republican laissez-faire policies led to a recession that was so deep it took a very long time to recover. But my policies are working. Stay the course. If that were true, then why are so many indicators worse today than when the Obama recovery officially started back in June 2009? The labor force, for example, has shrunk by more than 840,000 over the past 30 months — it fell 170,000 in just the past two months. That's virtually unheard of in previous recoveries. At a similar point in the Reagan recovery, the labor force had expanded by more than 4 million. The labor force participation rate — a measure of how many are employed or looking — is now just 64%, well below the long-term average. When you adjust for that unusually low participation rate, unemployment would be more like 11.5%. A separate Bureau of Labor Statistics measure that includes all not normally counted as unemployed — such as discouraged and underemployed workers — puts the real unemployment rate at an astounding 15.2%. Far from rescuing the economy, Obama's massive spending hikes, towering deficits and expansive regulations managed to turn what should have been a normal recovery into an historic slog. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney had it right when it said that "eventually our economy will recover, America always does. But President Obama's policies have slowed the recovery and created misery for 24 million Americans who are unemployed, or stuck in part-time jobs." Indeed, the only way Obama can make these mediocre results look good is by setting the country's expectations so low than even a tiny step forward seems like a giant leap. He mustn't get away with it.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (121428)	1/8/2012 9:33:17 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	5 Recommendations Respond to of 224705

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (121428)	1/8/2012 9:36:13 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224705

Karzai’s Ultimatum Complicates U.S. Exit Strategy By MATTHEW ROSENBERG 25 minutes ago President Hamid Karzai’s demand that the Americans cede control of an Afghan prison exposes a deep vein of mistrust amid talk of partnership.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (121428)	1/8/2012 10:20:46 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224705

Afghan Commission Accuses U.S. of Detainee Abuse . Article Video Comments (54) more in World \| Find New $LINKTEXTFIND$ ». Email Print Save ? More . .smaller Larger Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan investigative commission accused the American military Saturday of abuse at its main prison in the country, repeating President Hamid Karzai's demand that the U.S. turn over all detainees to Afghan custody and saying anyone held without evidence should be freed. The demands put the U.S. and the Afghan governments on a collision course in an issue that will decide the fate of hundreds of suspected Taliban and al-Qaida operators captured by American forces. The head of the Afghan investigation said U.S. officials told him many of those militant suspects were taken based on intelligence that can't be used in Afghan courts. The dispute that has unfolded in recent days recreates many of the thorny issues surrounding the controversial U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. There, as at the prison in Afghanistan, American forces are holding many detainees without charging them with a specific crime or presenting evidence in a civil court. Detainees interviewed during two visits to the U.S.-run portion of the prison outside Bagram Air Base north of Kabul complained of freezing cold, humiliating strip searches and being deprived of light, according to Gul Rahman Qazi, who led the investigation ordered by President Karzai. Related Video Twin blasts in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif targeted Afghanistan's minority Shiite community Tuesday, killing more than 60 people in one of the war's deadliest attacks. Dion Nissenbaum has details on The News Hub. Photo: AP .. Another investigator, Sayed Noorullah, said the prison must be transferred to Afghan control "as soon as possible," adding that "If there is no evidence ... they have the right to be freed." U.S. Embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said Saturday that American officials only received the commission's report after its press briefing. He said all allegations of prisoner abuse are seriously investigated and repeated that the U.S. is committed to turning over all its prisons in Afghanistan "in a responsible manner." Mr. Karzai on Thursday abruptly demanded that the U.S. military turn over full control of the prison, officially known as the Parwan Detention Center but generally referred to as the Bagram prison, within a month. A spokesman for the president said Saturday that he made the announcement in response to the investigation team's report. The president's demand for full control of the prison took many by surprise, since the U.S. and Afghan governments had been working on a gradual timetable for transferring responsibility for the prison over the next two years. The escalating dispute could also threaten delicate negotiations the U.S. and Afghanistan for a strategic partnership deal that could leave a small American security force after most foreign troops withdraw in 2014. The status of detainees is a key unresolved issue in the talks. According to Mr. Qazi, U.S. officials at the prison said they have delayed turning over about 90% of the estimated 3,000 detainees held at the prison near Bagram because it fears the suspected militants are too dangerous to be released, as they likely would have to be under Afghanistan's judicial system Officially, U.S. and Afghan militaries jointly run the facility, but the Afghan side controls a small portion with about 300 detainees whose cases are slated to be tried by Afghan judiciary. The U.S. military runs the larger portion of the prison. Mr. Qazi, who led the ad hoc investigation of the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution, said U.S. prison officials told only 300 of the nearly 3,000 detainees had legal cases against them. He said he was told that that 2,700 others were suspected Taliban who were captured using intelligence that could not be used in a court. "The foreign friends told us that based on the rules of the battlefield, they are dangerous and cannot be set free," Mr. Qazi told reporters Saturday. Nevertheless, the commission repeated Karzai's demand of full Afghan custody of all prisoners as soon as possible, though it did not set a deadline. "Inside Afghanistan, having a prison run by foreigners is not allowed with the respect of Afghan constitution," Mr. Qazi said. Besides Afghan militant suspects, the prison near Bagram also holds foreign al-Qaida suspects from several different countries captured in what the U.S. considers battlefield conditions. It's unclear what would happen to those foreign suspects if they were turned over to Afghan custody.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (121428)	1/9/2012 9:25:14 AM
From: LLCF	Respond to of 224705

Awwww, looks like my guy R. PAUL may be done too!!! ca.news.yahoo.com The only guy on the stage that knows bupkiss about economics.... too bad. Romney = last man standing after all? DAK