Re: your photo titled "the stimulus that didn't work" you ran on 9 January had me puzzled. I don't beleive that the Obama Administration would find a problem in that situation. All they would have to do is beat the 'horse' until it delivered, then blame Bush for the 'horse' failing to obey the laws of gravity, and take the rest of the day off to play golf.

Approximately one year ago my comment to friends was obama [purposely not capitalized] would get re-elected because the economy would start going up just about one year before elections. So! What has happened? All of a sudden the jobs are starting to come back and who will get the credit? messiah obama! What did he do to create jobs? Nothing!

Buying American products creates jobs and the American people are tired of buying Chinese junk and have started to go back to American made. Americans have created American jobs, not obama.

It is all a lie!!! Unemployment as measured by the same 1930 stats is 22.5%. Any new hires last month reflected seasonal Xmas hires. Hang em high for the treason and lies!

Friday's employment report and subsequent improvements we saw in 2012 are not a result of anything Obama or the democrats did or did not do. The improvements are the result of the 2010 elections that saw a shift away from the craziness of the current administration and the election of common sense governors and representatives that put a stop or slowed down the spending lunacy of Obama's first two years. Yes, it is a small step but hopefully one in the right direction that we will continue on with this years elections and not a step backward with the reelection of Obama.

I note that the usual media outlets talk about the umeployment rate shrinking but do not bother to mention the fact that many folks have just stopped looking or applying for work. The dictatorial and tyrannical democratics have brought this country to its knees, their aim is to totally bankrupt the country and replace our republic with a third world, despotic dictatorship. The democrats hate the Constution and only use it when it benefits THEIR purposes. Truly, this next election is the most important in our country's history. It will determine if we continue as a free republic or become a totally controlled nanny state where all are dependent on the government and free enterprise is choked off.

Very few federal programs approved during the past thirty or forty years are of overall benefit to the country or its citizens, the stimilus included!

Too many people who are not willing to plan ahead, work and provide for their own future say that our system has failed us. They are wrong; we have failed our system by continually circumventing it to provide for inept. undeciplined or lazy citizens, all at the expense of the average working people!

George Will is correct using the taxpayers money to bend the government and others any damn way they feel. The Ameerican voters have been lied too by elected officials it is hard to believe any of them. I am reading another book about Obama and it says in very plain words, that even if it was found conclusively that Obama is not an American citizen the courts nor congress has the will power to remove him. I am fast losing confidence in my elected official, except a very, very few.

In the middle east when the jackass is lifted off the ground by it's load, the animal has additional weight applied to it's back.....I am not a Deemer by any means but I know when this goverment is asking to much and I am tired of being treated like a jackass.

It may well be that a seasonal quirk added 42,000 messengers and couriers to the totals, but that will be lost in the headline reporting. It will be given back next month. It's inconsequential to the overall story. Likewise, a normal labor participation rate would yield much higher unemployment. But that's academic.

Translated: The media is lying (lost in the headlines). Real unemployment is anywhere from 12-15%. That is academic. Once again Chairman Obamao has fun with numbers and blatantly lies to the sheeple. The economy is horrible, and no smoke blown up a skirt can change the reality. If you belive this bovine excrement, then follow Obamao over the cliff to the destruction of America.

Jill, you are getting warm. In the book, "The Roots of Obama's Rage," it is explicit about Obama's mission. America is a rogue elephant and needs to be taken to her knees along with a U.S. military that is too strong and needs to be dismantled. Sound familiar doesn't it? George Will is also on spot, that our government steals money from taxpayers in the guise of a representative Republic and bends the rules in any way they see fit. I trust very few of my elected officials. In another book I am reading, it says that even if it were found conclusively that Obama was not an American citizen, the Courts nor Congress would have the will power to remove him.

The "one-time" $800 billion stimulus didn't stimulate anything except government. And federal spending has not come down from the "one-time" stimulus level. We would have $2.4 trillion less in debt if not for the 3 year stimulus binge.

I don’t know “how much better” the economy would be? But I know it would be better without the stimulus. It’s stupid to take money away from tax payers with a proven record for creating jobs and wealth and give it to people in Washington with a proven record for squandering wealth.

@John:

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

However, government bureaucracies often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."

4. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

5. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.

6. Appointing a committee to study the dead horse.

7. Waiting for the horse's condition to improve from this temporary downturn.

8. Providing additional training to increase riding ability.

9. Passing legislation declaring "This horse is not dead."

10. Blaming the horse's parents.

11. Acquiring additional dead horses for increased speed.

12. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."

13. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.

14. Commissioning a study to see if private contractors can ride it cheaper.

15. Removing all obstacles in the dead horse's path.

16. Taking bids for a state-of-the art dead horse.

17. Declaring the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.

18. Revising the performance requirements for horses.

19. Saying the horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.

20. Raising taxes (any excuse will do).

And if all else fails:

21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position

I don't know what the unemployment rate would be had taxpayers been allowed to keep that $800 billion, but I do know unions have been feverishly returning as much of that $800 billion to Democrats so the unions can get more bailouts.

ditto to what tim said.

Obama is being so insulated by the MSM that it's downright scary. We saw a true example of MSM depravity and bias when the MSM attacked "Joe the Plumber" for causing Obama to admit he (Obama) intends to punish the already hard-working by taking more from them. The media will attack anyone who dares question why unemployment is over 40% higher than Obama predicted, why the "stimulus" only "saved" union jobs, why taxpayer money is going to foreign companies, why he doesn't urge Harry Reid to act of the plethora of jobs bills languishing in the Senate. No, you cannot criticize Mr. Obama - he has such a frail, fragile ego.

We should all remember that old saying" the government does not give anything that it has not taken from someone else !"

No, the TARP did not create more jobs, most economists agree that it saved us from a worse financial melt-down and even fewer jobs. In addition, most of the TARP money has been repaid with interest.

@ Terry Lee Moser

What do you base your fantasy on? The govenment still ownes Government Motors (GM), and what stock was sold off went to the unions, not the stockholders. Only the ministry of propoganda (the media for you useful idiots out there) lies that the stimulous saved us. Tarp money has not been repaid, it was washed and sent back by the unions to the democrat re election fund. TARP went to states to prop up failed education and entitlement systems, It wasn't spent on shovel ready jobs, as Chairman Obamao joked, there weren't any. Service Employees Union got money, and sent it right back to Obamao. TARP money was thrown down a pit with the Democrat Corruption at the bottom. Get a clue, the media is lying to you.

Lawrence Kudlow should read the article in the Jan 9th issue of GetLiberty.org. It's title is "Obama's Lost Labor Force". It documents the real situation.

It has never been more important, no imperative, in America's history to liberate itself from the defunct and ruinous mind(s) that threatens the very foundations of its constitution, freedoms, and free enterprise, then it is right now at this point in its annals.

The Obama administration has made the Roosevelt administration look like amateurs, since communism is mostly obsolete around the world.

They are slowly, albeit successfully, bringing it back in all its inglorious infamy to America.

The Current administrations policies of massive entitlement spending, like food stamps, welfare and social security benefits for everyone who applies, is greatly lowering the number of people drawing umemployment. I was fired by UPS after my three combat tours in Afghanistan and the administrative hoops you have to jump through to apply and get unemployment benefits are ridiculous to impossible to comply with. The unemployment rate is such a joke and a lie that anyone using that as a meter of anything is woefully ignorant of whats going on.

Not true. The Stimulous was perfect. It paid off Dem Governors mdeficits and added to the bottom line of numerous Unions.

WAS THERE NOT LESS GOV'T INTRUSION IN 2010 WITH A GOP HOUSE?

THE IMPROVEMENTS WOULD BE A RESULT OF THE LESS INTRUSIONS.

This has been bothering me a long time, and with elections nearing, I would like an honest answer from someone who can explain it to me, an average citizen/taxpayer.

Since when and how did Social Security become an entitlement? I've paid for it for over 55 YEARS----it is MY money, not an entitlement.

In my humble opinion this country would be well on its way like it should and would have been if it had a president that knew what he was doing. All I have heard him say since he has been in office was no more than tell a bunch of lies and he ought to be ashamed of his record and have resigned long before now.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the old first-page format was a lot quicker to scan for columnists, and the one-line headline made it easier to determine what I wanted to read. Thoughts, anyone?

Actually, the White House figures for unemployment are too high. The true number is 0% unemployment. That's right, zero. I just didn't count the people in front of the unemployment office, and those attending the job search seminar, and those writing resumes in the library, and, uh, a few others........ (Hey, it works for Gummint, doesn't it?) Let's go play some golf!

The Democratic Party's 2009 stimulus was their opening salvo in a vicious strategem to bankrupt the nation and throw borrowed money to the rich fatcats who supported the election of Mr. Obama. Once the country falls into economic disaster and the aggitation of the ones who did not get their share erupts into violence, the DNC will call for a cessation of rights in return for order, an all-to-often socialist tactic.

Dear HANK: The answer is simple. The US Treasury took a certain amount from your paycheck over 55 years. They will give you back what they determine you should get hoping you will never get all they took. Meanwhile, "your" money has already been spent to pay back several folks who retired over twenty years ago or pay for a load of other folks who never did work. Since the Treasury no longer has "your" money and there is no enough coming in from others like you, they borrow it from China and they call it an entitlement to make you think you are getting a little something you worked for. Clear?

Now Flip Romney says he enjoys firing people. Some job creator he will be. Well Mr Romney I am not going to vote to hire you in the first place. You are a very poor excuse for a Republican. A B R = Anybody But Romney. Just say No to Romney and lets get a good Presidential candidate in place.

The only one that will get America back unto the road the Founding Fathers built; it is none other than Ron Paul! Every single one of the rest of the aspirants to be Commander in Chief are nothing but Imperialists, period end of discussion.

Of course the Republican Party despisess Ron Paul and is doing everything possible, even dirty stuff, so that he does not get into the Oval Office.

"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliance with none". By Thomas Jefferson.

Ron Paul, is the only Candidate that is a true Constitutionalist while even Republicans refer to him as being a Isolationalist! Does Ron Paul not follow exactly what Thomas Jefferson said, per above?

Yes, all past Empires self-destructed, right? America has been on the road of self-destruction for a long time already! The ingrediesnt of any Empire of the past has been as follows: Open borders plus militarism. Does the USA not match those same ingredients so to speak? You be the judge!

Lastly, while America's military might has and is circling the globe, another nation of millions of illegals has peacefully settled in with the help of so called good Conservative Americans citizens to where now their language is now treated equal to the English language. Yes, making the USA a true two headed monster.

God Almigthy have mercy upon America, perhaps there might be a turn from the evil road of self-destruction, by electing Ron Paul, who would be like a George Washington, leading out in a new emancipation from present America!

Reading The Patriot Post has sparked an interest in scrutinizing politicians, to see if they are upholding their oaths to "...support and defend the Constitution of the United States...". An interest which has blossomed into a study of the Constitution, taught by a man with a PhD in Constituional Law, available (free) at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/scott-bradley-to-preserve-the-nation and as Scott opines, "Having a politician that votes in line with the Constitution 90% of the time is like having a spouse that only cheats on you 3 times a month."

I personally would like to see a state by state breakdown of those figures, it would probably reveal that the most liberal states like California and Michigan are still in the clutches of a deep recession with no job growth, as here in California, businesses are still fleeing the state.

In response to the economy vis a vis the "stimulus", I offer the following quote from Henry Morganthau, Tresury Secretary in the FDR administration:

"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. … And an enormous debt to boot." Henry Morganthau, Jr.

Where are the links to my favorite commentators? They used to be there. Perhaps somehow I missed the column that described the change. It was easy to read the latest column of my favorite writer, but now I can't even find the archives. Wven if I could find the archives I would have to sift through various writers' columns to find the latest one. Things have changed for the worse.

We all need to read Applied Economics by Thomas Sowell. The book is written by a professor in plain language not as a college text. It should be read before the next time you vote. It is a study that ties political decisions to the outcomes in the past. It covers ALL the CURRENT HOT BUTTON TOPICS. Please look at it! It is a book to enable anyone, to understand the key economic issues of our time---MEDICAL CARE, HOUSING, RENT CONTROL, IMMIGRATION, and DISCRIMINATION. It shows examples of governments that have applied fixes to these issues and where and how they failed. YOU WIL REMEMBER MANY OF THE EXAMPLES PERSONALLY. It shows the necessity to think and act beyond the immediate to the long-range effect of any legislation. The book stresses long-run repercussions to decisions and policies. I have read the book twice and have now read Basic Economics by the same author. Thomas Sowell also writes for Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, The NewYork Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and other newspapers across the country. He has had a long career at Cornell, UCLA, Amherst and other academic institutions and think tanks.

Go to the library and check them out. I have spent over $90 for hi books and think they are worth every penny. These are books with logic and knowledge that I treasure. Applied Economics should be required reading before any one votes in a national election. All congressmen, senators, and their staffers should also be intimately familiar with them and the concepts presented.

Sweden has public health care and a 69% tax rate to pay for it. Canada has public health care and the wait between being diagnosed by your primary care physician with cancer to an appointment to see a cancer oncologist is 3 years or longer. Is that really health care? The Obama care law had many chapters on taxes and with many people viewing your business with the authority to withdraw money from your bank to pay for your medical procedures. It is law and you don’t really want it and it is not really insurance when some one else pays for it with your money from your bank. It was passed before any one had a chance to read it and before congress knew what it said or how it would work. It was written not by congress men or senators but teams of special interest groups with many agendas besides health care.

As one of those people who is on a limited income it was my pleasure to help The Patriot Post continue with it's excellent staff and contributors. I make sure I budget for donations to a few organizations each year and quite frankly, the Patriot Post heads my list as one of the most deserving for your focus is on what I consider a deadlier disease than many; the insidious undermining of the very foundation our nation has fought to maintain throughout my lifetime (I'm 76), the Constitution. Thank you all.

The stimulus is (almost) irrelevant. The uncertainties surrounding the socialist agenda of this administration, czars and all, is much more relevant. Without this uncertainty, real unemployment would be trending down to roughly 9% today. Higher because more people would be trying to participate in a more vibrant economy.

Particularly enjoyed and agreed with the Colonel writing from Afghanistan who noted you don't demand cash contributions from those of us desperately broke and unable to contribute even modest amounts of money to those like you worth supporting.

Never found anyone I could agree with 100% on means etc. but, as a forcibly retired Texas lawyer, I note that, for a non-lawyer, you get the Constitution and its interpretation, etc. right, and cover some things the liberal media won't touch.

Have been watching the Obamacare arguments in Supreme Court, and other related things, with particular interest. The real question, as one Justice aptly put it, is whether there is, or is not, anything the Constitution simply does not authorize and empower the federal government to do. That's the bottom line. Are we a Constitutional federal government of defined and limited functions and powers, or a totalitarian dictatorship of whichever temporary majority gains control? The left's arguments, back to the New Deal and "switch in time that saved nine," twist the clear sentence structure and meaning of Article II of the Constitution dealing with the powers of Congress, in which the "general welfare" clause is a limiting principle, and only certain broadly defined, but defined, powers are granted to Congress, i.e., the federal government's law-making arm, to make the so-called "general welfare clause" a grant of power, which would make the rest of the granting language irrelevant surplusage contrary to every canon of construction and to the arguments of both the federalists such as Madison and the anti-federalists including Jefferson who the left likes so much on other points of construction. As for the whole argument that there is another, independent grant of function and power in the broad language of the taxing and spending powers, that, too, makes no sense and renders the grants of specific functions and powers to Congress, which controls taxing and spending, meaningless surplusage and would contradict the specific language, contrary to any proper English or legal construction of the carefully drafted language.

I had hoped that the conservative Justices would pull back from Wickard v. Filburn but the "conservative" Justices instead used it in Raich to uphold national marijuana laws against California's attempt to legalize it if not in interstate commerce. Now how can the Court or its more conservative Justices invalidate the "mandate" and Obamacare without having to go back and reverse their earlier decisions upholding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.?

The current system is costly and failing. I was a solo lawyer, small businessman, for most of my working life, represented and sued insuance companies, and saw a steady stream of health insurance salesmen, and the current regulatory and underwriting systems are a scam. After I lost one coverage that was misrepresented and there was nothing I could do about that, nobody would cover my office and our families.

Obamacare dumps millions more into Medicaid. That's not insurance. I was horrified to learn that it is, instead, a loan and they can override our homestead and exemption laws and take your home, etc. The "reimbursement" rates here in Texas are so low that most doctors won't see even their established patients on Medicaid even if Medicare is primary, and don't get me started on the $20 Billion scam we just went through with one private company and are now dealing with another version of "managed care" where I am currently trying to appeal denial of care under rules of which they "notified" me only after the fact, in type suitable for engraving on the head of a pin that I can't read, the citations and text of which I can't find.

What I fear is that this will come out "you can't do it that way but the taxing and spending power etc. will let Congress establish a socialist government or a socialist, "single payer" health insurance system in which all decisions are made by corrupt officials.

I wish I believed that the Repubolicans had any more of a real solution, with real numbers, for the health insurance problem, or the unemployment, under-employment, or broader economic crisis, which both parties conspired in creating, than the Democrats. Both have been lying to us brazenly for a generation during which the looming crisis was obvious to Chase Bank and to anyone else who passed Economics 101.

This Presidential etc. election cycle has me totally frustrated. The Republicans act like they're trying to throw it.