# Unemployment and the President's re-election chances **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 9, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423 "2011-07-09T16:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/101 "2011-07-17T11:03:18Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Unemployment was \< 6% in 1979 - 1980 and over 10% by 1983. Unemployment was 7.5% the month carter got voted out of office in 1980, and after hitting a height of 10.8%, Reagan got it down to 7.2% the day he won 49 states and routed Jimmy Carter’s sidekick. The key point you have to keep in mind is that the reason why unemployment was shooting up in Jimmy’s last year was that he and Paul Volcker had the brilliant idea that the way to get rid of double digit inflation was to trigger double digit unemployment. THAT’S why people voted Jimmy Carter out. The awfulness was so bad that they developed a new term for it… Misery Index. Of course, Jimmy had other problems- Looking ineffectual against Iran and Russia (kind of the way the Bamster looks ineffectual in Libya and Afghanistan). Spikes in the price of Gasoline because Jimmy didn’t like the oil industry. (Again… like Obama). Jesus in a Go-Cart, man, this is kind of like a rerun of Jimmy Carter, except that no one is bringing back Disco. so we have that going for us. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/102 "2011-07-17T22:49:38Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Unemployment was 7.5% the month carter got voted out of office in 1980, and after hitting a height of 10.8%, Reagan got it down to 7.2% the day he won 49 states and routed Jimmy Carter’s sidekick. Boy, it’s amazing how often you undercut your own position.. > [@](#): > > (kind of the way the Bamster looks ineffectual in Libya and Afghanistan). Yeah, like Bush did better, or McCain could have done better. Hardly. > [@](#): > > Spikes in the price of Gasoline because Jimmy didn’t like the oil industry. (Again… like Obama). Gas prices have been dropping, slowly and steadily, for months. Crawl out of your basement sometime… ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/103 "2011-07-17T23:34:43Z")
Those figures are not the ones I saw on the bureau of labor statistics. Where are yours from? Oh, right. You can’t be expected to provide evidence for your claims. ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/104 "2011-07-18T10:17:39Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Those figures are not the ones I saw on the bureau of labor statistics. Where are yours from? Oh, right. You can’t be expected to provide evidence for your claims. Given that you are cherry picking by taking 1979 and not 1980, (You know, when America broomed that failure Carter out the door) you don’t have much room to talk. Just be ready to cry in your beer when we broom Obama out, too. ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/105 "2011-07-18T10:20:47Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Boy, it’s amazing how often you undercut your own position… It’s amazing how often you don’t consider an entire premise and focus on ONE LINE. [/QUOTE] Yeah, like Bush did better, or McCain could have done better. Hardly… [/QUOTE] Well, Bush DID do better. He toppled the Taliban, he toppled Saddam and put him on the end of a rope. As for McCain, I don’t think he’d deferred to FRANCE on the Libya thing. > [@](#): > > Gas prices have been dropping, slowly and steadily, for months. Crawl out of your basement sometime… Hey, it was 4.08 a gallon on Friday. That’s still unacceptably high for most Americans. It went down for a week when he released the “emergency reserve”, but then it went right back up again. FAIL. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/106 "2011-07-18T12:24:01Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Given that you are cherry picking by taking 1979 and not 1980, (You know, when America broomed that failure Carter out the door) you don’t have much room to talk. > > Just be ready to cry in your beer when we broom Obama out, too. No “cherry picking”. I presented the figures for 1979-1980. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/107 "2011-07-18T13:59:43Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Well, Bush DID do better. He toppled the Taliban, he toppled Saddam and put him on the end of a rope. Oh, brother… [ol] [li]The Taliban wasn’t the problem, it was al-Qaeda;[/li][li]Saddam wasn’t the problem either.[/li][/ol] > [@](#): > > As for McCain, I don’t think he’d deferred to FRANCE on the Libya thing. I know you get a jones for the Amerika Uber Alles meme, but international cooperation is better than the unilateral “you’re with us or against us” stance that your buddy promoted. > [@](#): > > Hey, it was 4.08 a gallon on Friday. That’s still unacceptably high for most Americans. > It went down for a week when he released the “emergency reserve”, but then it went right back up again. It’s been $3.69 for the past four weeks now where I live. That’s still higher than I’d like, but I live in the real world and I don’t expect the President to be able to fix everything with a snap of his fingers. FAIL YOURSELF. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/108 "2011-07-18T21:09:58Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > It’s been $3.69 for the past four weeks now where I live. That’s still higher than I’d like, but I live in the real world and I don’t expect the President to be able to fix everything with a snap of his fingers. Yea, I’m just thrilled he tapped into the Strategic Reserve…The resulting effects of that still have me in complete awe :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/109 "2011-07-19T02:01:05Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > Yea, I’m just thrilled he tapped into the Strategic Reserve…The resulting effects of that still have me in complete awe :rolleyes: And you think he should have done… what, exactly? [listening expectantly to what will probably be an echoing silence…] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/110 "2011-07-19T02:12:37Z")
Why should the President be doing anything about gas prices? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/111 "2011-07-19T02:45:41Z")
Remind me, who was the head of Al Qaeda, and in fact masterminded 9/11, which as I recall happened on W’s watch? Whatever happened to him? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/112 "2011-07-19T03:03:36Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > From the Gallup poll’s website: > “A Sept. 6-9, 1974, Gallup Poll, which was in the field as the pardon was announced, found that only 38% of Americans said Ford should pardon Nixon, while 53% said he should not. There was little change in public support in additional polling conducted in 1976. By 1982, however, Americans were asked to look back on the pardon, and were more evenly divided in their views. By 1986, more than half of Americans (54%) said it had been the right thing to do.” Yep. After a certain remove, a great many historical events, mightily divisive in their day, appear right and/or necessary. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/113 "2011-07-19T03:46:08Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > And you think he should have done… what, exactly? > > [listening expectantly to what will probably be an echoing silence…] Quit stonewalling and dragging his feet on gulf drilling permits. [ul] [li]Puts thousands of people back to work[/li] [li]Adds more non-Mideast resources into the oil market[/li][/ul] And for Og’s sake, get your mitts out of the Strategic Reserve. Weak attempts at political gain is not it’s purpose. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/114 "2011-07-19T06:55:49Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > Quit stonewalling and dragging his feet on gulf drilling permits. > > [ul] > [li]Puts thousands of people back to work[/li] > [li]Adds more non-Mideast resources into the oil market[/li][/ul] > > And for Og’s sake, get your mitts out of the Strategic Reserve. Weak attempts at political gain is not it’s purpose. He’s already [lifted the moratorium on off-shore drilling.](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/10/obama-administration-lifts-off-shore-drilling-moratorium.html) That was October of last year. Funny, gas prices didn’t suddenly dip below $3.00 a gallon. Could it be that it really didn’t make that much difference at all? Gasp. Shudder. And do you really think the oil companies are going to suddenly start hiring thousands of new people? When they can maximize profits by making the workforce they have produce 140% more for the same pay? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/115 "2011-07-19T10:11:56Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Oh, brother… > [ol] > [li]The Taliban wasn’t the problem, it was al-Qaeda;[/li][li]Saddam wasn’t the problem either.[/li][/ol]. Actually, the real problem over there are regimes that see terrorists as an extention of their foreign policy. So, yeah, those guys are the problem. . > [@](#): > > I know you get a jones for the Amerika Uber Alles meme, but international cooperation is better than the unilateral “you’re with us or against us” stance that your buddy promoted.. Horseshit. Our allies, as this war proves, are pretty much worthless. Fat, bloated little socialist states with effeminate militaries that are ineffective. France and the UK have been going at Khadafi for months, and he’s still there. . > [@](#): > > It’s been $3.69 for the past four weeks now where I live. That’s still higher than I’d like, but I live in the real world and I don’t expect the President to be able to fix everything with a snap of his fingers. > > FAIL YOURSELF. I expect him not to eff it up worse by limiting our production, and starting wars that drive up the price of it. ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/116 "2011-07-19T10:14:04Z")
Something my brother was kind enough to send me… It’s called, “Keep the Change” Stat Jan 2009 Now Change Avg… Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.704 89.6% Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43…48 $105…02 167.7% Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38…74 $107…38 178.9% Gold: London (per troy oz.) $853.25 $1,469.50 70.5% Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 78.1% Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13…75 42.3% Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob $13…37 $35…39 164.7% Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% Real median household income (2008 v 2009) $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10) 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10) 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009) 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009) 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% U.S… Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings 5 9 n/a Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10) 29.9 23.5 -21.4% Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date) 140 164 17.1% U.S… Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% U.S… Money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% U.S… Money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% National debt, in trillions $10…627 $14…052 32.2% ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/117 "2011-07-19T11:22:59Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > France and the UK have been going at Khadafi for months, and he’s still there. No, the Libyan rebels have been going after Khadafi for months. France, the UK, AND the US have provided limited air and advisory support. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/118 "2011-07-19T12:02:24Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Fat, bloated little socialist states with effeminate militaries that are ineffective. Oh, dear. I guess this will be the end result of eliminating DADT. Our entire armed forces reduced to limp-wristed pantywaists unable to overthrow any dictators we need to oust in the name of corporate profits – ahem, I meant, Truth, Justice and the American Way. Oh, Saint Ronnie, where are you when we need you? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/119 "2011-07-23T10:46:48Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > No, the Libyan rebels have been going after Khadafi for months. France, the UK, AND the US have provided limited air and advisory support. Uh, guy, we should have squashed this guy like a bug by now. Only took three weeks to topple Saddam. Only took a month to topple the Taliban. Qadafi is not only still in power, but he’s regaining territory. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423/120 "2011-07-23T11:15:32Z")
I thought this thread was about unemployment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unemployment-and-the-presidents-re-election-chances/588423.md?page=7)