$15 minimum wage

[mrgybe]

Boggsy, The slowest recovery from recession since the 1930s. Household income well below pre-recession levels. Much slower job growth than in prior recoveries, and poorer quality jobs. Poverty rate has increased during this "recovery" contrary to prior recoveries. Productivity increases slower than prior recoveries. Yet, as with everything else that is unraveling around the world, President Obama remains blameless according to his dwindling group of faithful supporters. Prior Administrations have provided incentives for growth. Aside from the failed Stimulus Package........which merely propped up bloated local government budgets.......this Administration has not acted to encourage growth (not counting ISIS and global chaos). Quite the reverse.

[boggsman1]

Agree..But market forces or deleveraging is the #1 culprit...not presidential policy. Has Obama made some dubious moves? Yes. But delevering the global credit bubble is 100X anything political. Rarely does presidential policy have a huge impact on the 1100foot freighter better known as the US economy.
BTW-"dwindling group of faithful supporters"? not according to this weeks polling. 48% approval, and 53% on the economy. My favorite poll is the S&P 500...a little list of 500 of America's finest companies.

[swchandler]

Would the Obama Administration have done better if the Republican minority in Congress hadn't promised to oppose and obstruct President Obama's agenda, and then systematically followed through over the course of his administration?

[mac]

Lost on the last protector of the British raj is the fact that the severe recession--caused by Republican policies--has affected the entire world economy. The complaints in the British press, about Britain under conservative rule, posted here, are identical to those made by mrgybe.

It is not merely the evidence of similar circumstances in conservative-ruled countries he ignores--his comments about the stimulus are lies. The bloated local governments he is talking about cut their police departments and teaching personnel. Despite that, multiple credible sources have pointed to the benefits of the stimulus package--particularly in lowering the cost of energy. Pants on fire.

[mrgybe]

[mac]

The Raj, mustache bristling, pretends not to understand the cause of the 2008 recession. By the numbers:

1. In 1999, Phil Gramm, Texas Senator responsible for the conference committee between the House and the Senate, wrote the bill that repealed the Glass Steagall Act.

2. Encouraged by his Secretary of Commerce, and with more than 2/3 of the Congress in the pocket of Wall Street, Bill Clinton signed the bill.

3. Junk loans proliferated--sub-prime mortgages went up by a factor of more than ten-fold. Banks were eager to make high risk loans once the protections of the Glass-Steagall-including conflict of interest provisions--were removed.

An immense housing bubble ensued, here and in other countries--especially Ireland and Spain--and it all came crashing down.

Here from a hedge fund guy named James Rickards, is a succinct explanation:

[mrgybe]

Bill Clinton was a Republican!!? Who knew?

[wynsurfer]

Clinton was a DINO, gave big business just about everything they wanted.

Of course the Repubs blamed Clinton for the whole mess 8 years later when the $hit hit the fan. What a joke!

[mrgybe]

It's inspirational to see the willingness of Democrats to take ownership of their actions or inaction. The current President is following that proud tradition.

[isobars]

These guys don't realize you're being facetious.