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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 (132146)	5/9/2012 2:52:50 PM
From: locogringo	3 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224724

In 90% of the US, gas was never close to $5 a gallon. I love to see lying liberals backtrack and spin even more. Now it's 90% <snicker> and what is the definition of "close to $5"? Is that the national average of $4.90, or the price of $1.79, as it was under President George Bush? Pathetic, but expected from a washed up liberal grasping at razor blades to make his FAILED hero look better.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (132146)	5/10/2012 8:37:36 AM
From: TideGlider	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224724

Unemployment claims fell 1000 ! Now there is another one week trend for you lol It's improving...right?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (132146)	5/10/2012 8:41:15 AM
From: TideGlider	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224724

DATA SNAP: US Mar Trade Gap Widens On Oil, China Imports Last update: 5/10/2012 8:30:01 AM ======================================================! March International Trade !Consensus: ! Mar Feb ! $50.0B ! Deficit: $51.83B $45.42Br ! ! Exports: $186.77B $181.49Br !Actual: ! Imports: $238.60B $226.91Br ! $51.83B ! ======================================================! By Tom Barkley and Jeffrey Sparshott Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. trade deficit widened in March, with a wave of oil imports and Chinese goods proving enough to overwhelm record-high exports. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services ballooned 14.1% to $51.83 billion from a downwardly revised $45.42 billion the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The February trade gap was originally reported as $46.03 billion. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the deficit to expand to $50.0 billion. The price of oil spiked higher in March amid renewed fears about the ongoing conflict with Iran, driving up the cost of petroleum imports and lifting the trade gap along with it. However, oil futures have since fallen below $100 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as concerns have eased about supplies, reaching the lowest levels of the year earlier this week. In March, the average price of imported crude oil jumped $4.32 to $107.95 a barrel, its highest level in nearly a year. Along with a rebound in import volumes, that raised the cost of crude imports to $29.24 billion from $23.39 billion in February. Crude import volumes rose to 270.9 million barrels from 225.7 million. Meanwhile, the trade deficit with China expanded 11.9% to $21.67 billion, after the Chinese lunar New Year celebrations helped to reduce imports from the country the previous month. Imports rose 12.0% to $31.50 billion, compared with a 12.2% gain in exports to $9.83 billion. The report follows last week's high-level talks between the two countries, in which China agreed to take some modest steps to move away from export-led growth, including addressing export subsidies and import tariffs. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he expects those steps, as well as a further appreciation of the yuan, to provide more opportunities for U.S. companies. The overall U.S. trade gap has created less of a drag on the economy so far this year, subtracting just slightly from the 2.2% growth rate in the first quarter, according to Commerce's initial estimate of gross domestic product. During the final quarter of 2011, the deficit subtracted nearly 0.3 percentage point from GDP, despite a stronger 3.0% growth rate. Thursday's report showed that the real, or inflation-adjusted deficit, which economists use to measure the impact of trade on GDP, rose to $48.92 billion in March from $44.09 billion the month before. U.S. imports increased 5.2% to a record $238.60 billion, not adjusting for inflation. Exports also reached a new high, rising 2.9% to $186.77 billion. Outside of petroleum products, imports of capital goods like computers and telecom equipment hit a fresh high, as did purchases of autos and auto parts. Meanwhile, deficits with other major trading partners widened, as well. The gap with Japan reached its highest level in nearly four years, expanding 2.3% to $7.15 billion. The trade shortfall with Canada rose 7.3% to $3.06 billion and the deficit with Mexico increased 5.6% to $6.14 billion. Despite recent date suggesting the euro zone has already entered into a recession, both exports and imports to the region rebounded in March. The trade deficit with countries using the euro rose to $8.81 billion from $5.81 billion in February. The Commerce Department report on trade can be found at census.gov. -By Tom Barkley and Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9275; tom.barkley@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 10, 2012 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT)