Political Animal
Blog
What the headline says:
President Obama predicts unemployment could drop to 8% by next year in ‘60 Minutes’ interview
What Obama actually said, in response to a question about whether we might see 8% unemployment by Election Day 2012.
“I think it’s possible. But I’m not in the job of prognosticating on the economy. I’m in the job of putting in place the tools that allow the economy to thrive and Americans to succeed. … I always believed that this was a long-term project. And you know, for individual Americans, who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. Reversing structural problems in our economy that have been building up for two decades, that was going to take time. It was going to take more than a year. It was going to take more than two years. It was going to take more than one term. Probably takes more than one president.
Perusing the media this morning, it’s apparently too late. Mark Halperin ignored the context of the president’s full answer, as did Business Week and a host of other major outlets.
Soon, it will simply be taken as a given: Obama “predicted” the unemployment rate would drop to 8% by Election Day, and the fact that he said he’s “not in the job of prognosticating,” and is looking at this as a long-term effort, will simply be ignored.
Facebook
Twitter
pol on December 10, 2011 9:26 AM:
Well, the headline does say "could."
sjw on December 10, 2011 9:28 AM:
As this site was loading, I was thinking to myself, "Geez, the MSM is so bad ..." and "is it the money that turns journalism students into idiots?" Then I see this story, which provides yet more confirmation of the sad demise of the American media. (At least the internet makes possible an honesty and quality that are unavailable elsewhere.)
c u n d gulag on December 10, 2011 9:38 AM:
This morning, my Mom was watching a rerun of "Lassie."
You remember that show?
Where they paired up American's smartest dog with America's dumbest boy?
And I was wondering - I know the dog's dead, but whatever happened to little Timmeh?
No, "MTP's" Russert was far too bright.
I think, if we look carefully, he turned out to be Mark Halperin, because Lassie makes a hell of a lot more sense than this dumbass, conservative-licking, fuck.
"What Mark, what? What are you trying to tell us, boy?"
'I think he's trying to tell us someone sucks.
I think it's him!'
bleh on December 10, 2011 9:39 AM:
Journalist revealed as lazy, pandering hack.
In other shocking news, sun rises in east, water found to be wet.
T2 on December 10, 2011 9:44 AM:
It's almost as if Corporate Media wants Obama to lose, so they can have Newt Gingrich as president. Who could blame them?
R. Porrofatto on December 10, 2011 9:47 AM:
I guess the Mark Halperins of the world have decided that newspapers aren't dying fast enough so it's time for assisted suicide. Then again, like Fox "News" viewers, their benighted readership might be stupid enough to keep them on life support. Either way, no one will ever feel any shame.
Newton Whale on December 10, 2011 9:57 AM:
Hey, NY Daily News! You're agenda is showing:
"Last month, the national unemployment rate fell slightly, to 8.6%, after having been stuck between 9.0 and 9.2 from April through October, labor officials said."
A 4.4% decline (from 9.0 to 8.6) translates into over 500 points in the Dow. Here is how the same paper described that:
Stocks plunged more than 4% in the worst selloff in over two years amid worries the U.S. economy could slip back into recession and Europe's debt crisis may spread.
The Dow shed more than 500 points - its biggest point drop since October 2008.
"It's a massive pandemonium sell-off. You don't see days like this that often," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, a Manhattan hedge fund. "Clearly, there is a fair amount of panic out there over the U.S. economy and sovereign debt."
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-04/news/29873874_1_debt-troubles-stock-market-plunges-ryan-detrick
If you look at the 6.5% drop since April (9.2 to 8.6), the same paper has described a market drop of that size this way:
"It was sixth-largest daily point plunge in history. The worst ever was the 777-point drop on Sept. 29, 2008, a 7% loss."
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-08/news/29887770_1_first-ever-downgrade-stock-market-fear-index
wvmcl on December 10, 2011 10:13 AM:
I hereby predict that it could rain next week.
And I know I'll be right!
Perspecticus on December 10, 2011 10:15 AM:
Steve, you get a lot of crap from time to time for phrasing that sometimes sounds, for my lack of a better word, naive (basically, anytime you write things along the line of "maybe this time the republicans will act responsibly"). However, after reading this:
"Soon, it will simply be taken as a given: Obama “predicted” the unemployment rate would drop to 8% by Election Day, and the fact that he said he’s “not in the job of prognosticating,” and is looking at this as a long-term effort, will simply be ignored."
I'm kind of nostalgic for the "naïveté" (accents by iPhone).
jjm on December 10, 2011 10:22 AM:
If the unemployment rate keeps going down -- 8.6% isn't that far from 8% now is it?
That said, the media reporting is absolutely rotten.
chi res on December 10, 2011 10:38 AM:
Obvious problem here: Today's "communication-major-journalists" don't know big words like "prognosticating".
Texas Aggie on December 10, 2011 10:59 AM:
It's Mark Halperin. What do you expect? The guy is the offspring of something that crawled out of a septic tank in the middle of a moonless night. And please tell him I said so.
chopin on December 10, 2011 11:07 AM:
Obama COULD add a disclaimer to every single utterance he makes. Sort of a tag line. Kind of along the lines of "But as sure as I open my mouth, the corporate media will misinterpret my words and the GOP will have fainting spells."
Hmmmmm on December 10, 2011 12:31 PM:
Obama's answer won't fit onto a bumper sticker. That's the problem right there. Too many big words for Halperin and the rest of the press.
Anonymous on December 10, 2011 1:32 PM:
People still claim that Al Gore took credit for inventing the Internet, even though he said nothing of the sort and the actual tape is available for all to see, so why do we think the MSM will act any better in this case? It's an easy line the Republicans push, the MSM media eats up, end of story. Much easier than reporting truthfully, adding context, etc.
June on December 10, 2011 1:43 PM:
"Texas Aggie on December 10, 2011 10:59 AM:
It's Mark Halperin. What do you expect? The guy is the offspring of something that crawled out of a septic tank in the middle of a moonless night. And please tell him I said so."
Laugh. Out. Loud. @Texas Aggie, you certainly can turn a phrase!
markg8 on December 10, 2011 7:21 PM:
Simple solution: copy and save Steve's post and paste it wherever and whenever you see some idiot saying Obama predicted 8% unemployment by election day.
Anonymous on December 11, 2011 11:41 PM:
i dont know how many busy working people notice differences in such details.
unemployment rate has dropped from 9.6% and higher to 8.5% and lower this year.
it's not 8% but pretty close and we have yet another year until november 2012.
who knows what economy is exactly like, even though we know that generally it's not going to be that much better.
it'll be all depending on how people generally feel about economy in late summer 2012, not right now.
i think we will get at least limited unemployment insurance and payroll tax cut.
it will be short of a miracle if congress could also pass an infrastructure bill.
but hopefully euromess will be somewhat under control and American jobs and exports will keep increasing. some states are doing quit well, too.
i know it sounds silly but the media could be a little more optimistic and America could have a long term vision.
economy and stocks are a lot about perspectives. if businesses feel confident enough to hire, economy will improve. if they keep hearing bad news, they would feel too cautious to hire.
Brian on December 12, 2011 7:44 AM:
I thought perhaps it was just the headline writer, but the entire article actually is worse than Benen suggests. The whole tone, how quotes are selected and the "context" he places on them is designed to make the Prez look bad.
Stevio on December 12, 2011 7:50 AM:
Hmmm. Let's see how much traction Halprin and his ass hole buddies give to the event if it does hit 8% by election time:
Halprin: "Well, yes, I said he said it, but I didn't think it would actually happen, I mean, who knew? Nonetheless he didn't get it below 8% and he could have said that if he had any guts"
Jon Marfelson on December 12, 2011 10:30 AM:
Actually, the Obama Administration released a chart in support of the stimulus package. In it, the Obama Administration foresaw the unemployment rate to be under 8% - right now.
But let's ignore that chart and harp on the press. Anything to keep The Narrative alive and well.