Straight from the mouth of the man charged with appropriating Stimulus funds overseeing Stimulus fund distribution, VP Joe Biden:
"No one realized how bad the economy was. The projections, in fact, turned out to be worse. But we took the mainstream model as to what we thought -- and everyone else thought -- the unemployment rate would be.""Everyone guessed wrong at the time the estimate was made about what the state of the economy was at the moment this was passed."
No kidding. Biden was forced to make that embarrassing admission Sunday on Meet The Press, when David Gregory began hammering him about the fact that -- even with the Stimulus in place -- unemployment has now exceeded the level that President Obama warned we could reach if we "did nothing" and failed to pass the Stimulus.
Wow. Nearly $1 trillion dollars worth of pork-laden government spending turns out to have been worse than doing "nothing." Knock me over with a feather. I'm sure nobody saw that one coming.
Of course Biden tried to cover for the Obama Administration by reeling off a list of all the jobs that the Stimulus supposedly "saved or created" (a claim which, of course, can neither be conclusively proven or refuted) as well as once again making the fairy-tale prediction that 600,000 jobs will be "saved or created" by the Stimulus bill within the next 100 days. Biden also tried to cushion the Obama Administration's massive deficits by claiming that the Bush Administration wasn't "honest" about spending (since items like funding for the Iraq war and the Medicare prescription drug program were included in spending bills, not in the Federal budget) and declaring that the Obama Administration had actually produced "the first honest budget you or anybody's seen in eight years."
One can argue about the details of the Bush Administration's budgets (conservatives certainly spent the last eight years doing so) but to claim that the Obama Administration has been "honest" with respect to the cost of its massive government expansions, or how we will realistically be able to pay for them, is nothing but pure chutzpa.
All of which makes me wonder -- how many times will Obama's various czars and egghead experts "guess wrong" with respect to health care, energy policy, economics, environmental policy, and foreign policy? The truth is, no matter how often intellectuals congratulate themselves because of how clever they think they are, they still manage to "guess wrong" an alarming amount of the time. That's why free nations with market-based economies have always outperformed nations under single-party rule with centrally-planned economies.
That ought to be worth considering, come Election Day 2010.
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Filed under:
2009 Spendulus Bill
Tags: David Gregory, Joe Biden, Meet The Press, Stimulus, unemployment
Comments (14)
So thats what this idiot wa... (Below threshold)1. Posted by 914 | June 16, 2009 1:15 AM | Score: 10 (12 votes cast)
So thats what this idiot was put on the ticket ? To confess the foul ups of the other idiot. Thereby blinding the truth with idiocy.
Well idiots, it doesnt work.
1. Posted by 914 | June 16, 2009 1:15 AM |
Score: 10 (12 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 01:15
2. Posted by apb | June 16, 2009 1:20 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Gee - couldn't see that coming. Neither could the other several million people that took Econ 101. As for the proles, well, Teleprompter Jesus will still be their savior - they're not bright enough to know how good the country actually was, and what financial ruin will mean.
What a sad spot to be in - watching 'ol jug-ears actually ruin the country the way he said he would...under the not-too watchful eyes of the moron media syncophants. Tragic. Absolutely tragic.
2. Posted by apb | June 16, 2009 1:20 AM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 01:20
3. Posted by LaMedusa | June 16, 2009 1:35 AM | Score: 9 (11 votes cast)
Wow. What a lying dirtbag. Who took the mainstream model? The American people, as*hole, served up by you! How can he be such a slime? His inclusive sidestep is just another example of Biden washing his hands of any responsibility. Someone mentioned a "Thelma and Louise" parody, I would really like to see Biden in the passenger's seat with Barney Frank behind the wheel...
3. Posted by LaMedusa | June 16, 2009 1:35 AM |
Score: 9 (11 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 01:35
4. Posted by LissaKay | June 16, 2009 1:48 AM | Score: 13 (13 votes cast)
Wait ... you mean to say that Obama took the best and most accurate information offered by the best experts on the subject, based on detailed research and investigation ... and got it wrong?
Obama lied! The economy DIED!
4. Posted by LissaKay | June 16, 2009 1:48 AM |
Score: 13 (13 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 01:48
5. Posted by SillyPuddy | June 16, 2009 6:46 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
You know in the private sector when someone bets the farm on a "guess", and it doesn't work out... they are usually replaced.
What's today's "guess" Joe?
5. Posted by SillyPuddy | June 16, 2009 6:46 AM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 06:46
6. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | June 16, 2009 8:00 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Obama lied. The economy died.
6. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | June 16, 2009 8:00 AM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 08:00
7. Posted by Hank | June 16, 2009 8:23 AM | Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
"the first honest budget you or anybody's seen in eight years."
Looks like there isn't going to be an expiration date on the blame Bush strategy.
Eventually this will stop working, except with the MSM.
We need more republicans stepping up and defending themselves.
Last thought....
This should be the makings of an RNC commercial going into 2010.
7. Posted by Hank | June 16, 2009 8:23 AM |
Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 08:23
8. Posted by GarandFan | June 16, 2009 10:29 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
As creative as the Obama administration has been in creating new positions in government with no oversight, I'd think that they'd be as creative in making excuses for their FAILURES. How much longer can "It's all Bush's fault" cover their asses? We'll see how stupid the American public can be in 2010.
8. Posted by GarandFan | June 16, 2009 10:29 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 10:29
9. Posted by Opinionated Vogon | June 16, 2009 10:32 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
A couple of points:
Biden lied with his claim:
"But we took the mainstream model as to what we thought -- and everyone else thought -- the unemployment rate would be."
As this IBD editorials shows :
And what kind of leadership do we have that can continue to promote the fable that the President is responsible for the Budget. That power lies with the Congress. The website How Obama Got Elected shows the ignorance of Obama voters who were clueless to the fact that Democrats including Obama and Biden were in control of Congress and the Budget since January 2007 - long enough to scuttle the economy.
If we had more than a propaganda wing of the Democrat party for a media, they might educate people to these facts.
If you disagree, please cite the legislation passed by our Democrat controlled Congress from January 2007 until Obama was elected to promote economic growth and create jobs. They had plenty of time for dog and pony shows grilling oil company executives. Time to investigate steroid use in sports (I must have missed the part of the constitution where the Congress is empowered to monitor drug use in pro sports *shrug*)
They had time to mandate what kind of light bulb we can use and enact ethanol mandates and block all attempts to produce domestic energy which caused both energy and food prices to climb - all predicted by those on the right.
They had time to pass a minimum wage hike which has the predictable effect of increasing unemployment.
How can our lapdog media sleep at night when they let Biden get away with lie after lie?
9. Posted by Opinionated Vogon | June 16, 2009 10:32 AM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 10:32
10. Posted by alanstorm | June 16, 2009 1:35 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
"how many times will Obama's various czars and egghead experts "guess wrong" with respect to health care, energy policy, economics, environmental policy, and foreign policy?"
My guess, based on performance thus far? Every time. Anybody got another option?
10. Posted by alanstorm | June 16, 2009 1:35 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 13:35
11. Posted by timajin | June 16, 2009 2:14 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Today I did, or did not do my job. Please pay me in full. Thank you. Don't you feel better now? Don't you feel patriotic? Don't you wish you could get paid what I get paid for doing nothing and having never done anything?
GLOD
11. Posted by timajin | June 16, 2009 2:14 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on June 16, 2009 14:14
12. Posted by Trajan | June 17, 2009 1:18 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Biden...the elder croupier working the tables...the MSM hanging on his every word.
They doubled down on Obama. They'll have
to explain to us, the voters, how they shot
the family wad, as their future means of income
dwindles. I, for one, will have my ears stuffed
with cotton
12. Posted by Trajan | June 17, 2009 1:18 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on June 17, 2009 01:18
13. Posted by Trajan | June 17, 2009 1:31 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Several months ago, the Obama braintrust assured us that a tax cheat named Geithner
was "the ONLY man for the job".....so much
for Obama and his braintrust. I don't care
how cute his kids are, or how butch his wife
looks....or how much drool the press can
produce. There's some dangerous s#%t going
on and it's time to admit it.
13. Posted by Trajan | June 17, 2009 1:31 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on June 17, 2009 01:31
14. Posted by CharlieDontSurf | June 17, 2009 9:00 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
I can guess too...and I guess I'll have another beer while I can still afford it.
14. Posted by CharlieDontSurf | June 17, 2009 9:00 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on June 17, 2009 21:00