http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/06/solid-jobs-report-shows-republicans-laser-focused-fake-
scandals.html Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobs report for the month on May. For the fourth month in a row, American employers added over 200,000 jobs. For May, we saw 217,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added to the economy. Also, the months of March and April, which both saw robust job growth, saw very little revision. Overall, we have finally added back all of the jobs that were lost during the Great Recession. The private sector reached pre-recession levels back in March. However, due to Republican austerity measures that have led to the shedding of a million public sector jobs, it took until now for total employment numbers to reach that goal.

The unemployment rate stayed steady at 6.3%, as did the labor participation rate of 62.8%. Wages saw a slight increase, as the average hourly wage came in at $24.38, up five cents. Over the past year, wages have increased 2.1%, essentially staying in tune with inflation. This is one of the key factors of income inequality, as the average worker’s wage has stayed stagnant compared with the economy while those at the top have seen their income increase at a much greater rate. This is one of the arguments for the increase of the minimum wage. With solid jobs gains and a robust stock market, there should be no real reason why employers can’t increase the lower-end wages up a bit more.

For the most part, this report is good news and show that the economy is recovering. While there are definitely more progressive policies that can be put in place to grow the economy faster and create even more job growth, the fact remains that since Barack Obama took over as President, the nation’s economy has reversed course from the downward spiral it was on. In the first full month of Obama’s presidency (February 2009), the unemployment rate was 8.3% and steadily rising. After hitting a peak of 10.0% in October 2009, we have seen it steadily drop. In the past 12 months, the rate has dropped for 7.5% to its current rate of 6.3%. The private sector has seen robust job growth while the public sector, not so much.



Another thing gleaned from this recent jobs report was the growth in the health care field. The amount of jobs added in May in the health care industry was 34,000. This is twice as much as the average over the past 12 months. It appears that another positive effect of the health care law, other than providing millions of people the ability to obtain affordable health coverage, is that a large increase in new patients means the need for more employees to care for them. We should continue to see more jobs added in the health care industry over the coming years as millions of more uninsured people become insured.

Of course, this new jobs report, and the continued improvement of the economic landscape, will not receive much focus from the media or Republicans in Washington. Right now, conservative media and GOP lawmakers would rather talk about the made-up scandal of the day, the release of an American POW who was held captive for five years. Right now, they are trying to figure out a way to make the deal the President made to secure the release of the nation’s last prisoner of war into an impeachment-level scandal. This comes on the heels of them doing the same thing with the deplorable situation involving the VA, Benghazi (multiple times) and the IRS. Scandalmania took full-effect once the GOP realized they couldn’t hammer the President anymore on Obamacare after it was successfully implemented and millions of people had received health coverage through the exchanges.

Now, we see more positive news showing that the President, despite so much Republican obstruction and obstinance, has still been able to persevere and create positive change for the country as a whole. When history looks back at this period of time, Republicans will not be looked upon kindly.

this is what is important,Jobs!Jobs.congress promised.. Except they can't get by the hatred of hating President Obama..President Obama,our leader. oops except their first agenda,is not passing any bills,obstrucing what President Obama presents,and to create as much scandals they can,,again all debunked..it will bite them in the ass.

I am going to ask you nicely to stop posting on top on mine, as I recall you were given an hour limit before you post on top of another topic, lets try to adhere to this . Thank You
Please respond so I know you are not ignoring this

gypsy wrote:this is what is important,Jobs!Jobs.congress promised.. Except they can't get by the hatred of hating President Obama..President Obama,our leader. oops except their first agenda,is  not passing any bills,obstrucing what  President Obama presents,and to create as much scandals they can,,again all debunked..it will bite them in the ass.

 it is amazing the lies Republicans  have stated ,and are creating.and  think we the public can't see it, really is hilarious. what can they expect? America, we the people  patting them on the butt, an saying/OH Shit!  we don't need you!

you post on mine. so different strokes for different folks  why ?

Number 1 I give you an hour to leave your post up as Tyler had ask and i do it out of courtesy, number 2 don't come off with a cocky attitude you have known the rules for a long time. Number 3 if you violate again I will as moderator be forced to take action in the form of a warning.

when was that asked? you post on top of mine,I think most of mine was within one hour,are yours?
plus, I am posting on my own posts. I thought it was agreement, that I would not post on yours posts.

We agreed to not post on each others, to stop arguments, but you couldn't resist to post on the gum chewing post of mine with some off the wall comment. Just stop

OMG can I smile? it was all in fun.if you want to get rid of me,that is your choice,and Marks.

gypsy wrote:OMG can I smile? it was all in fun.if you want to get rid of me,that is your choice,and Marks.

I am not being cocky,just a little humor  my posts will be on my on posts.I will not post on ssc.but the chewing gum thing  was nothing,sorry if I hurt your feelings. but admist all the turmoil!! chewing Gum? funny/least of our worries,wouldyou say petty?
loved it, he was natural

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/05/500-detainees-released-transferred-guantanamo-george-w-bush.html Yet another exercise in exploring the depth of Republican hypocrisy and hysteria. This one is about OH MY GOD IMPEACHING OBAMA BECAUSE GITMO TRANSFEREES!

In a June 2nd press briefing, questions were asked regarding the transfer of the five Guantánamo (Gitmo) detainees in exchange for the successful recovery of Sergeant Bergdahl, a prisoner of war in Afghanistan. Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that there were restrictions made in the prisoner exchange, which is not an uncommon occurrence in armed conflicts.

From the White House transcript:



Q As you know, there have been detainees who have returned to the battlefield. What are the guarantees, other than just a one-year ban on travel on these five detainees that they won’t go back and target U.S. interests, U.S. personnel, U.S. military?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I’ll re-stipulate that prisoner exchanges are not uncommon in armed conflicts. Secondly, I’ll say that without getting into specific assurances, I can tell you that they included a travel ban and information-sharing on the detainees between our governments, between the United States and Qatar. I can also tell you that the assurances were sufficient to allow the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, in coordination with the national security team, to determine that the threat posed by the detainees to the United States would be sufficiently mitigated and that the transfer was in the U.S. national security interest.
So this was done after the appropriate consideration and analysis, and it was the judgment of the Secretary of Defense in coordination with the entire national security team that there was sufficient mitigation in place and assurances in place to allow the exchange.


Republicans are acting as if Obama never should have done this. Senator Lindsey Graham is talking impeachment if Obama releases any more prisoners or tries once again to close Gitmo. Yet, in 2009, PolitiFact confirmed that “More than 500 Guantánamo detainees were released or transferred under Bush.”

Indeed, government documents indicate more than 500 detainees were released or transferred from Guantanamo while George W. Bush was president. A White House executive order issued on the second day of Obama’s presidency said, “The federal government has moved more than 500 such detainees from Guantánamo, either by returning them to their home country or by releasing or transferring them to a third country.”
That’s backed up by a fact sheet from the military task force that runs the detention camp, which says 520 detainees had been released or transferred by March 2009.
PolitiFact then got into the weeds of release versus transfer, with a transfer being a situation where there are restrictions (as appears to be the case with the prisoners transferred in exchange for Bergdahl). Maybe someone should tell Lindsey Graham, too.

But the Pentagon says there is a difference between a release and a transfer to another country. The vast majority of detainees leave Gitmo under a transfer, which means they are transported to another country that places them under some type of restrictions. Some are incarcerated in those countries because of criminal charges, while others face monitoring or travel limitations.
Carney noted we successfully recovered Sergeant Bergdahl (this is exactly the sort of discussion Republicans are hoping to avoid), “(T)his was the right thing to do, because we in the United States do not leave our men and women in uniform behind during an armed conflict. And five years is a very long time to be a prisoner.”

The bottom line is Obama got Osama, and now Obama successfully recovered our single prisoner in the Afghanistan war. So, Republicans are attacking Bergdahl and his family in dishonorable and stunningly disturbed ways, hoping to mitigate what they see as another Obama success.

Republicans have muddied the waters of every single Obama success. There has not been one occasion upon which they have been able to set aside their partisan agenda in order to cheer or praise a positive occurrence under Obama. They made sure no one gave Obama credit for bin Laden and now they’re at it again.

Ironically, even if the Republican smear campaign against Bergdahl and his family was accurate (and no one judging Bergdahl is in any position to sift through the facts as broken down here, so the discussion is irrelevant and ridiculous), the bottom line is we don’t leave our troops behind.

Clueless Republicans might want to note that it’s not because we deem them all heroic characters fit for the black and white world in which conservatives live — the ultimate Good Guy. It’s because practically speaking, we need to protect our assets, including information. If we have reason to suspect an asset has been compromised it behooves us to determine to what extent.

Republicans have chosen to troll Obama’s national security successes until the press is embroiled in discussing their accusations rather than the success. We can’t have a moment of national pride in a job well done—oh, no. Not while a Democrat is in the White House.

Note: Per the Pentagon’s distinction, the title to this article should read “released or transferred”. However, for the sake of brevity and due to common usage in the national dialogue on this issue, we’ve used “released”.