Why thank you Joe.  

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYS8CIYEBgudlm2SjLh0xekik0RwD98QK1182

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that "everyone guessed wrong" on the impact of the economic stimulus, but he defended the administration's spending designed to combat rising joblessness.

Biden said inaccuracies in unemployment predictions shouldn't undercut the White House's support of the $787 billion economic revival plan that has not met the expectations of President Obama's team. Instead, the vice president urged skeptics to look at teachers who kept their classroom assignments and police officers who kept their beats because of financial assistance from Washington.

"The bottom line is that jobs are being created that would not have been there before," Biden said.

But they are not coming at the pace first estimated.

Just 10 days before taking office, Obama's top economic advisers released a report predicting unemployment would remain at 8 percent or below through this year if an economic stimulus plan won congressional approval.

Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unemployment in May rose to 9.4 percent.

Biden said the White House is keenly aware of the gap between the rhetoric used to sell fast passage of the legislation and the reality that has 14.5 million people unemployed. The administration had predicted that the stimulus bill would create or save as many as 3.5 million jobs.

"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," Biden said.

Those projects came from a report co-written by Biden's chief economist, Jared Bernstein. Last week, Bernstein briefed reporters on the stimulus spending and insisted the report was in line with others' research, but not aligned with reality.

"At the time our forecast seemed reasonable. Now, looking back, it was clearly too optimistic," he told reporters last Monday.

The White House has tapped Biden as its chief spokesman on that economic stimulus plan, sending him across the country to drum up support for a plan that has yet to make the impact it promised. On Thursday and Friday, Biden visited Pennsylvania, Kansas and Michigan to highlight projects the stimulus has funded.

The vice president said losses each month have dropped, although the economy is still losing jobs.

"Can I claim credit that all of that's due to the recovery package? No. But it clearly has had an impact," Biden said.

Biden said the estimates were based on standard economic models.

"Everyone guessed wrong at the time the estimate was made about what the state of the economy was at the moment this was passed," Biden said.

Biden appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" from his hometown of Wilmington, Del.



Now I am just saying but perhaps we shouldn't have GUESSED.  You are going to spend how many trillions of dollars on a FUCKING GUESS?  Oops my bad.

Not everybody guessed wrong.

"The bottom line is that jobs are being created that would not have been there before," Biden said.






Oh really, like what jobs and where?  

Oh those gubment positions with ACORN...

Horse hockey...I was right about the stimulus

a lot of people guessed wrong on this whole administration,  so no surprise there...

No, no- it's all about semantics, he just means everyone who supported Obama was wrong.  See, when you look at it in that light he's still right when he says everyone.    This administration is all a group of fucktards.  

Some of us guessed right. It was just "everyone" in the administration that guessed wrong. What a douche.

[vicini]You only think I guess wrong, that's what's so funny!  I switched glasses when your back was turned![/vicini]



I think both glasses were poisoned... just one not as much as the other.  Now excuse me while I go build up my immunity to iocane powder...

I really do not want our country lead by anyone who "guesses" about our economic future.

Even infrastructure build-outs funded by the stimulus will only create short-term employment.

The biggest project I've worked/am working on will create construction jobs for about 1 year.  Furthermore, since those jobs will be subbed out, most of the employment will last 3-6 months per subcontractor.


DOJ and FEMA grants (COPS, AFG,etc.) only fund positions for a maximum of 3 years, after which the recipient agency is responsible for picking up the tab a minimum of one year.  

In one of our counties, we replaced a bridge that had an ADT (avg. daily traffic) count of 4 passenger vehicles.


A vast majority of HR1 infrastructure money was appropriated for large metropolitan cities.  Many of those cities are leaving money on the table since the project, although subsidized by the gov, would result in higher maintenance/life cycle costs over the long-term.


It's a giant FUBAR.  We got small rural counties having trouble paying the bills being offered "green projects" to retrofit 100yr old gov. buildings with solar panels.

"Instead, the vice president urged skeptics to look at teachers who kept their classroom assignments and police officers who kept their beats"

He admits what you just said RIGHT HERE!!  Then again, that is fucking bullshit b/c I bet they STILL would have kept their jobs b/c the states would have had to pony up the funds.  Instead, they saw, (some.  TX and some others said F U) and opportunity for a hand out.

You know, that article/statement from Biden, fucking pisses me off.  He acts like there was NO opposition to this bullshit stimulus bill.  Fuck, it was everywhere!  Independent economists, radio talk show people, a little thing called HISTORY!!!!

Oh, and I just LOVE the selling point quoted so much, and that is the "create OR save (whatever number they pull out their ass) jobs.  From the moment I first saw it, I could see what they were doing, and that is making a claim that cannot be readily disproved.  Similar to what Obama said himself about the "countless" companies that changed their mind about laying people off b/c the stimulus bill gave them hope.

On the upside, they've chosen Joe to be the great explainer of how we should still be thankful.  It ought to bet interesting.

They guessed wrong... with your ability to retire! Thanks Joe.

If you are going to take trillions of dollars away from the American taxpayers, don't guess.   Period.

Also, don't take trillions of dollars away from the American taxpayers and claim you are creating jobs.

This.