Bikini Graph, the sequel

By GottaLaff

I adore visuals. They're so easy to understand, even for the GOP:


The Bikini Graph is one of my favorites (and Rachel Maddow's).

Think Progress points out that today's numbers refute GOP talking points claiming that the stimulus created government jobs, but the private sector? Not so much. Well, GOP, about that? Not so much:

[T]he GOP should be pleased to note that, of the 290,000 jobs created in April, 231,000 of them were in the private sector. The private sector has actually added 523,000 new jobs in 2010.

This includes 44,000 manufacturing jobs, which is the most manufacturing jobs added to the U.S. economy since August, 1998. Overall, April was the strongest month for jobs growth since March, 2006. For the sake of comparison, here’s the change in monthly job loss or gain since December, 2007.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

Psst! GOP... The stimulus is working. It takes time, just as it took years to screw up the economy, it will take years to turn it around. Just as it will take decades to deal with the Gulf oil volcano. Just as it will take years to improve what's left of our health care system.

And guess what? It all moves along faster when you don't obstruct at every turn. Just an observation.

Chart: Which GOP lawmakers are for/against AZ racial profiling law

By GottaLaff

Think Progress has put together a chart showing which GOP lawmakers have publicly come out for or against the Arizona racial profiling law :

FOR THE LAW	NON-COMMITTAL	AGAINST THE LAW
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA): “They will look at the kind of dress you wear. There’s different type of attire. … There’s behavior things that professionals are trained in across the board. And this group shouldn’t be exempt from those observations as much as anybody else.”	Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ): “And my own view is until the federal government does our part back here by providing the resources that are necessary, and that could include, by the way, the financial resources to support National Guard troops on the border, then you are going to see more of this. It won’t just be the state of Arizona that passes laws like this.”	Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL): “I strongly disagree with the Arizona immigration law.”
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): “[I]f that’s what the people of Arizona want to do, then certainly they have that right.”	Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): “I haven’t had a chance to look at all the aspects, but I do understand why the Legislature would act.”
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK): “I don’t see anything wrong with that [the Arizona law].”	Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “I haven’t studied it.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): “I think that Arizona has a point, which is the federal government has not done a good enough job. … And if it’s a message to the administration they need to do a better job, then a state has to right to send that message.”
Rep. Steve King (R-IA): “I commend Arizona for standing up for the Rule of Law and protecting American workers.”

"I haven't studied it." Neither have I, but I sure get the gist and I have no problem opining about what a terrible law it is. Not exactly a tough call. Study that, senators.

It’s noteworthy to point out that in addition to Diaz-Balart and Graham, one of the only other high-profile Republican to criticize the law is GOP Republican candidate Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American like Diaz-Balart.

Graph-ick! Glenn Beck's ratings go south

By GottaLaff

Read it and weep, Beck:

How could this be? A ratings decline? For Mr. Poopular? But... Glenn Blech is so, so... train wrecky. And you know how everyone loves to crane their necks to catch a glimpse of a good wreck:

Based on the Nielsen numbers, here's a look at Beck's average daily rating over the last month. [...]

You'll note that aside from a temporary spike that came on March 22, the Monday after the historic health care vote, Glenn Beck has spent the last four weeks with between 2.5 million and 2.0 million viewers, which represents a downward trend.

Gee, I can't imagine why viewers would stray from such a fine role model for their kiddies.

I wonder if my pal StopBeck has made an impact. I'm leaning yes.

Media Matters has more wholesome goodness here.

Deficit THIS

By GottaLaff

See how liberally biased Reuters is? At least that's what we should soon be hearing from those pesky Rushpublics once they get an eyeful of this:


No matter how they try to deny it, this is what the Obama administration got stuck with. And digging ourselves out of this won't happen overnight.

Clear? Clear.

H/t: Memaloose

Chart: Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer

By GottaLaff

Via The Nation:


It's always easier to grasp the overwhelming with a visual:

The gap between the top 1% and everyone else hasn't been this bad since the Roaring Twenties

Taegan:

Business Insider: "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Cliché, sure, but it's also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age."

And by creating that kind of gap, the wealthy can create the America that suits them. Equality goes out the window, the ability to buy candidates is exponentially facilitated, and democracy as we know it, or rather knew it, ceases to exist.

How to Cut Iran’s Petrodollars By Over $100 Million A Day

By GottaLaff

Think Progress did an analysis of how a strong carbon cap would would "significantly cut the flow of petrodollars to Iran’s hostile regime".

By changing the way we do things here, vis a vis our consumption of oil, we can control the flow of money, petrodollars, to Iran. And the best bonus of all? We'd be slowing the negative effects of climate change by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Think Progress has more, but meanwhile, here is a visual aid:

Home sales UP: Americans took advantage of a tax credit for home buyers

By GottaLaff

First we had the Amazing Bikini Graph, and now this new report. What will the Rushpublics have left to lie about?

The wobbly housing market is showing a rare sign of strength: pending home sales were up significantly in February, a report released Monday said, suggesting that Americans took advantage of a tax credit for home buyers.

Sales rose 8.2 percent in February, the National Association of Realtors said. Analysts had expected sales to stay flat.

Economists said Monday’s data suggested buyers were re-entering the market as the April 30 deadline approached for a government tax credit of up to $8,000. The tax credit drove up sales rapidly in the fall, when it was originally set to expire, but it has been slow to propel the market this spring.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the association, said Monday’s report “may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales.”

Too bad George Bush still isn't in charge. Things would obviously be so much better.

Dear Rushpublic Party of No, Please do continue those obstructionist tactics in light of this news. It's working so well for you.

Love, Laffy

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow and her Amazing Bikini Graph

By GottaLaff

Lerve, lerve, lerve this segment:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Itsy bitsy teenie weenie economic graph bikini....

Largest Monthly Job Gain In 3 Years: The Chart

By GottaLaff

Look what Nancy Pelosi gave us today:

This morning, the Department of Labor released the March jobs report showing job gains of 162,000 — the largest job gain in a single month in the past three years.

Chart- Health care spending: U.S. v. Abroad

By GottaLaff

Tech issues fixed... Now, take a gander at this:

(click on image to enlarge)

H/t: Jdkidd81

Charts: Tracking the votes in play on health care reform

By GottaLaff

Via the New York Times. They have a lot more, but here are a few stats. Click on images to enlarge:

Chart- Who’s in play: House health-care whip count

By GottaLaff

The Washington Post has a list that they're constantly updating, of who in the House is still in play for health care reform, and how they voted in November.

It also includes each Congress member's campaign contributions from the health industry through 2009, and the percentage of uninsured in their district.

Here's a screen grab, to give you a sample of what you'll see if you link over (click on image to enlarge). I took one sample from those with the lowest dollar amount of donations, and another from those with the greatest:

VIDEO- Fox's Neil Cavuto: "Polls Are Increasingly Looking Worse." Wrong.

By GottaLaff

I posted this yesterday:

Apparently Neil Cavuto didn't see it:

After examining the data, polling expert Mark Blumenthal concluded that “any way you slice it, there does appear to be a real tightening of opinion on health reform although as always, these results are snapshots and subject to change.”

Facts schmacts.

As usual, ClusterFoxers continue to say whatever they want, then quote and requote themselves and each other until they create their very own news cycle. Result: A new meme.

I'm guessing they've all had rhinoplasties.

Not sure why the guy on the right looks so surprised. Lying is a regular feature of Faux News.

Think Progress has more details here.

Health Care Watch: Good news, bad news

By GottaLaff

Ezra Klein has some upbeat news:

That graph is from Pollster.com. It gets even tighter if you eliminate the conservative-leaning Rasmussen poll, whose founder wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed yesterday explaining that the president can't make health-care reform popular because voters believe all sorts of untrue things about it.

And The Hill has some downbeat news:

More than two dozen Democrats are expected to vote against the healthcare reform bill that will hit the House floor in the coming weeks.

At least 25 House Democrats will reject the healthcare reform legislation, according to a survey by The Hill, a review of other media reports and interviews with lawmakers, aides and lobbyists. Dozens of House Democrats are undecided or won't comment on their position on the measure.

Not sure how reliable that is. Time will tell, and way, way too much time has passed. I agree with Ezra's piece: Had we passed it sooner, the Dems would be in much better shape today.

Note: If the charts fail to show up properly, you can view them here.

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow and her must-see deficit chart

By GottaLaff

Earlier, I posted a chart from the CBO that you must take a closer look at. It came straight out of this video, via the inimitable Rachel Maddow and all-around cool guy Will at Work. and what a chart it is!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Charts: "U.S. Federal Deficits and Presidents"

By GottaLaff

I thought you'd find these interesting. There is a lot more to see here at the site called "U.S. Federal Deficits and Presidents" by Stephen Bloch.

Click on images to enlarge.


Notice anything?

H/t: rhondadavis28

The Reconciliation Chart you saw on The Rachel Maddow Show

By GottaLaff

Rachel Maddow displayed this absolutely splendid chart on her show. I was linked to it by the equally splendid Will at Work, who works on The Rachel Maddow Show:

The first bar is the impact on the unified budget balance of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001. The second is the impact on the budget balance of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) of 2003. The third bar is the CBO estimated impact on the deficit of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act proposed in the Senate on November 19, for 2010-2019.

'Nuff said.

More here.

I'll be posting the video segment as soon as it becomes available.

Recovery Watch: Republicans Jeer While Analysts Cheer

By GottaLaff

Sometimes it's so darned difficult to grasp facts. Even obvious ones that show up in reports and charts and stuff. The Rushpublics remind us of that daily.

So, for the very simple among us:

The New York Times’ David Leonhardt:

“Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs [...] The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.”

The economy also expanded at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 5.7 percent last quarter, much of which can be attributed to the stimulus package.

If that was too complicated for the GOP, they can go back and take another peek at the pretty picture above.

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow: "We are smack in the middle of an unprecedented abuse of the filibuster"

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here's President Obama's track record:

President Obama set a new record last year for getting Congress to vote his way, clinching 96.7 percent of the votes on which he had clearly staked a position.

That was a bit less than 4 percentage points higher than the previous record, set by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, according to an annual study by Congressional Quarterly.

Here's the GOP track record:

And if you need a reminder about Rushpublic hypocrisy, here's Rachel at her best.

PhotOh! Charting the economic recovery

By GottaLaff

Let's see how long it takes the right wing talkers to turn this upside down and backwards:

The red bars are the accelerating rate of job loss during President Bush's last year in office; the blue bars are the decelerating rate of job loss during President Obama's first year of office.

(click on image to enlarge)

A picture's worth 1,000... jobs.