tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post9049354137630380516..comments2024-03-28T05:37:00.890-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Glenn Kessler and his editors may need a good rest!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-67541840227025445942013-06-20T15:21:09.269-04:002013-06-20T15:21:09.269-04:00Quaker, I agree with you that self-styled "fa...Quaker, I agree with you that self-styled "fact-checker" shouldn't award Pinocchios to false implications. <br /><br />However, I disagree with your last paragraph. The cherry-picking was real. Mr. Obama chose the precise starting date that made him look best. Any earlier or later starting date would have shown worse results.David in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-59707600112852125382013-06-20T12:10:52.481-04:002013-06-20T12:10:52.481-04:00Implied? Perhaps Kessler should have referred the ...Implied? Perhaps Kessler should have referred the story to the Implication Checker. The Fact Checker still awarded Mr. Obama two Pinocchios for stating facts that were perfectly accurate.<br /><br />"When he took office" is a rather odd metric to insist on, don't you think? After all, no president's policies produce instantaneous effects.<br /><br />Yes, you can pick a starting date that makes employment trends during Mr. Obama's tenure look bad. It's nuts to insist he do so as well before he can expect to be judged truthful. Quaker in a Basementnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-57042224227671111472013-06-19T21:23:23.805-04:002013-06-19T21:23:23.805-04:00deadrat, I agree that a President's fiscal imp...deadrat, I agree that a President's fiscal impact shouldn't be measured until the year after he takes office. E.g., fiscal year 2009 actually began on Oct. 2008. Obama shouldn't be blamed for the 2008 deficit. In fact, it may take some time for a President's economic policies to be enacted and then have major impact (good or bad) on the economy. Thus, Bush's policies may well deserve the credit for the jump in federal tax receipts that began in FT 2005.<br /><br />However, I disagree about how much control a President has on the job market. According to CNBC, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100825782" rel="nofollow"> ObamaCare is already hurting the job market.</a><br /><br />Note that the results of this poll are consistent with Kessler's observation that manufacturing jobs grew from 2010 to 2012, but the growth in manufacturing jobs has basically stalled over the past year. The CNBC poll and the pattern of actual manufacturing jobs both suggest that Obama's policies may have a significant negative impact on the job market. However, I think we will need to wait and see whether hiring picks up after ObamaCare is more fully implemented.David in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-40827810776324642442013-06-19T20:30:08.302-04:002013-06-19T20:30:08.302-04:00Because of the government's fiscal calendar, t...Because of the government's fiscal calendar, the first year a new President spends in office operates under the budget of his predecessor. The responsibility for fiscal policy starts the year after, in Obama's case 2010.<br /><br />It would accurate to say that Presidents don't have much control over the job market. deadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-22546482352403589732013-06-19T17:38:29.228-04:002013-06-19T17:38:29.228-04:00Kessler will never top the Benghazi! Column in whi...Kessler will never top the Benghazi! Column in which he said that Obama's Rose Garden statement did not characterize the attacks in Libya as terrorism because the President used the phrase "acts of terror." He cited no examples when this distinction was ever previously relevant but just offered that people tend to write statements carefully.<br /><br />Think on it! Obama's words were carefully chosen. And therefore, a decade after the phrase "Global War On Terror" had established that the "ism" was dispensable in White House rhetoric, Obama was being deceptive.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-31012182660091073492013-06-19T16:55:42.666-04:002013-06-19T16:55:42.666-04:00Obama implied that the economy was doing well and ...Obama implied that the economy was doing well and that manufacturing jobs were growing well. But, Kessler wrote, and Bob quoted him, that different statistics or a different comparison period, would show greater problems in the creation of manufacturing jobs.<br /><br />"<i> the president has long preferred to point to the gain in jobs since early 2010—the low point in employment during his presidency—the fact remains that manufacturing employment is still about 600,000 jobs smaller than it was when he took office. That stands in stark contrast to overall non-farm employment—which is about 2 million jobs larger.<br /><br />Moreover, the growth in manufacturing jobs has basically stalled over the past year. </i>David in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-21939245744566436822013-06-19T16:07:04.022-04:002013-06-19T16:07:04.022-04:00Obama's statement was literally true, but it w...<i>Obama's statement was literally true, but it was deceptive, because of his cherry-picking. </i><br /><br />Please continue. Where is the "deceptive" part?Quaker in a Basementnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-20785338028365135832013-06-19T16:00:44.507-04:002013-06-19T16:00:44.507-04:00This illustrates the problem with the fact-checkin...This illustrates the problem with the fact-checking format. Obama's statement was literally true, but it was deceptive, because of his cherry-picking. I know Bob disapproves of cherry-picking; he deplored it a couple of days ago when climate skeptics were accused of doing so.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it's entirely normal in political discourse to cherry-pick data so as to make the strongest possible case for one's POV. The fact that it's common doesn't make it right. I think politicians and pundits should be criticized for cherry-picking, but that criticism doesn't belong in a fact-checking format.David in Calnoreply@blogger.com