It finally sank in somewhere that the republicans won’t compromise on anything. Period.

This morning in Richmond, Virginia:

President Obama:….we gotta give them a little help to do the right thing. [voice: “That’s right.”] So I’m asking all of you to lift up your voices, not just here in Richmond, anybody watching, listening, following online, I want you to call, I want you to email, I want you to tweet [laughter], I want you to fax, I want you to visit, I want to, you to Facebook [laughter], send a carrier pigeon [laughter]. I want you to tell your congressperson, the time for gridlock and games is over. [applause] The time for action is now. [cheers] The time to create jobs is now. [applause] Pass this bill.

If you want construction workers on the white, work site, pass this bill. [applause] If you want teachers in the classroom, pass this bill.  [applause] You want small bus, business owners to hire new people, pass this bill. [applause] You want veterans to get their fair share of opportunity that they helped create, pass this bill. [applause] You want a tax break, pass this bill. [applause]

Prove you will fight as hard for tax cuts for workers and middle class people as you do for oil companies and rich folks. Pass this bill. [applause] Let’s get something done. [applause]

The next election is fourteen months away. [voices: “Four more years.”] We cannot wait. The American people do not have the luxury of waiting another fourteen months for some action. Some of you are living paycheck to paycheck, week to week, day by day. [applause] Now is not the time for people in Washington to be worrying about their jobs. It’s time for them to be worrying about your jobs. [applause] Now is the time to put Americans back to work. Now is the time to act. [applause]

We are not a people that just look and watch and wait to see what happens. We’re Americans. We make things happen. [applause] We’re tougher than these times. We are bigger than the smallness of our politics. We are patriots and we are pioneers, and innovators and entrepreneurs, who through individual effort and through a common commitment to one another will build an economy that is once again the engine and the envy of the world. [applause] And we will write our own destiny.

It’s within our power. [voice: “Uh, huh.”] But we’ve got to seize the moment. So let’s just shake off all the naysaying and the anxiety and the hand-wringing. Enough of that. Let’s get to work. [applause] Let’s show the world once again why America is the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you, everybody. God bless you.  [applause] God bless America.[applause]

Others haven’t quite figured out that the word “compromise” to republicans only means that they are entitled to get everything they want. Yesterday:

McCaskill statement on President’s address to Congress

…Weeks on the road getting input from Missouri’s manufacturers has led me to believe we can keep creating more jobs with some commonsense ideas-more efficient job skills training, a crackdown on unfair trade practices that put our companies at a disadvantage, guarding against any excessive regulation, and making sure our small businesses have the tools needed to succeed.  The devil is in the details, and I’ll be taking a hard look at the President’s ideas in the next few days. But the bottom line is that Congress must come together and compromise to tackle this challenge.  If there’s one message I hope Congress left with tonight, it’s that putting more folks back to work is more important than who’s going to win the next election.

[emphasis added]

Uh, you think Lucy isn’t gonna pull the football away Charlie Brown?

The usual republican suspects blather their memes and talking points:

Congresswoman Hartzler issues statement in response to President Obama’s jobs speech to Congress

…President Obama needs to visit with small business owners, as I have, and ask them why they are not hiring. It’s not due to the cost of the proposed salary that could be averted through tax credits: It’s due to the onerous policies of Washington. President Obama would have been better off proposing a repeal of his health care bill which is causing skyrocketing increases in health care premiums; repealing the Dodd-Frank banking bill which is stifling credit for our business owners; reducing the cost of energy by promoting the use of American energy; and sending us the Free Trade Agreements that he has been withholding for too long. These proposals would go further toward creating jobs than championing another spending bill. Last year’s $800 billion stimulus package didn’t create private sector jobs. I don’t believe these proposals will either.

There’s something familiar there. Do you think the samples of either “manufacturers” and “small business owners” had anything in common? Just asking.

Did they talk to unemployed and underemployed people? Just asking.

Back to Representative Vicky Hartzler’s (r) bold statement: “…Last year’s $800 billion stimulus package didn’t create private sector jobs…”



Oh, really?

Here’s another statement (along with an explanation):

The ARRA created 1.503 million jobs

Many readers have asked me to comment on a recent paper by two US academic economists which is being promoted by Greg Mankiw that estimates the employment impact of the spending component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The authors say that the fiscal stimulus spending destroyed (net) around 600 thousand jobs in the private sector. When I read their paper, using their rules of interpreting their results I concluded they found that ARRA created 1.503 million jobs. But if I use the rules that the profession typically employs I find that their paper finds nothing of interest at all. Their econometric models yield no worthwhile results. The question that Greg Mankiw should answer is why is he promoting such a non-result as if it is important?….

….I would think that given the gravity of this sort of study, you would want to be very certain that your results were robust. At the very least a 5 per cent level of significance (the norm) would be chosen. Going to a 10 per cent level would be a very odd decision indeed….

[emphasis added]

Go. Read the whole thing. You’ll easily understand it if you aren’t vacuous.