Previously:
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): and you shall know her by her political enemies (June 22, 2011)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): and you shall know her by her political enemies, part 2 (July 8, 2011)
Crossroads GPS, a republican right wingnut astroturf organization, continues to dump a ton of money into television ads attacking Senator Claire McCaskill (D). The latest attack ad:
Narrator: Claire McCaskill and Barack Obama. Their idea for a next step on the economy? Four hundred fifty billion in more wasteful spending. Senator McCaskill calls this new spending a step in the right direction? Just like their wasted eight hundred thirty billion stimulus last year. And billions more in auto and bank bailouts. Spending billions while step by step unemployment just continues to rise. Perhaps it’s time for them to step in a new direction.
[Paid For By Crossroads Grassroots Political Strategies]
“…And billions more in auto and bank bailouts….”
Uh, who was President in 2008 when the automaker bailouts and majority of bank bailouts occurred?:
History of U.S. Gov’t Bailouts
● Bear Stearns 2008 JP Morgan Chase and the federal government bailed out Bear Stearns when the financial giant neared collapse. JP Morgan purchased Bear Stearns for $236 million; the Federal Reserve provided a $30 billion credit line to ensure the sale could move forward. $30 billion
● Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac 2008 On Sep. 7, 2008, Fannie and Freddie were essentially nationalized: placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Under the terms of the rescue, the Treasury has invested billions to cover the companies’ losses. Initially, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson put a ceiling of $100 billion for investments in each company. In February, Tim Geithner raised it to $200 billion. The money was authorized by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. $400 billion
● American International Group (A.I.G.) 2008 On four separate occasions, the government has offered aid to AIG to keep it from collapsing, rising from an initial $85 billion credit line from the Federal Reserve to a combined $180 billion effort between the Treasury ($70 billion) and Fed ($110 billion). ($40 billion of the Treasury’s commitment is also included in the TARP total.) $180 billion
● Auto Industry 2008 In late September 2008, Congress approved a more than $630 billion spending bill, which included a measure for $25 billion in loans to the auto industry. These low-interest loans are intended to aid the industry in its push to build more fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles. The Detroit 3 — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — will be the primary beneficiaries. $25 billion
● Troubled Asset Relief Program 2008 In October 2008, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which authorized the Treasury Department to spend $700 billion to combat the financial crisis. Treasury has been doling out the money via an alphabet soup of different programs. Here’s our running tally of companies getting TARP funds. $700 billion
● Citigroup 2008 Citigroup received a $25 billion investment through the TARP in October and another $20 billion in November. (That $45 billion is also included in the TARP total.) Additional aid has come in the form of government guarantees to limit losses from a $301 billion pool of toxic assets. In addition to the Treasury’s $5 billion commitment, the FDIC has committed $10 billion and the Federal Reserve up to about $220 billion. $280 billion
[emphasis added]
Karl Rove must think we’re all stoopid. And such chutzpah.
“…while step by step unemployment just continues to rise….”
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics October 2011 employment report:
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — OCTOBER 2011
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend up in October (+80,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in the private sector rose, with modest job growth continuing in professional and businesses services, leisure and hospitality, health care, and mining. Government employment continued to trend down.
Household Survey Data
Both the number of unemployed persons (13.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.0 percent) changed little over the month. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent since April….
For right wingnut republicans doing everything they can to defund government and devastate public employment and then crowing that unemployment continues to rise takes some serious chutzpah. Never mind that private employment is up and the unemployment rate has, as the Bureau of Labor statistics stated, “…remained in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent since April…” with current unemployment at 9.0%. Not only do right wingnut republicans have chutzpah, they are seriously number and fact challenged. But we already knew that.
