So, I did some searching.
From http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/08/full-text-of-obamas-jobs-speech/
My comments interspersed. This is going to be a long one - bear with me.
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Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and fellow Americans:An economic crisis made immensely worse by you and your comrades in the Demonrat Party, of course.
Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country. We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that has made things worse.
This past week, reporters have been asking “What will this speech mean for the President? What will it mean for Congress? How will it affect their polls, and the next election?”I am sure this speech will be given glowing reviews by your sycophants, but let's see what you have to say. Maybe you will actually offer a workable solution!
You mean like yours truly, out of work since February 2010, and with property taxes and health care costs - soon to be made to balloon by OsamaCare, to pay?
But the millions of Americans who are watching right now: they don’t care about politics. They have real life concerns. Many have spent months looking for work. Others are doing their best just to scrape by – giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; postponing retirement to send a kid to college.
These men and women grew up with faith in an America where hard work and responsibility paid off. They believed in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share – where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits; maybe a raise once in awhile. If you did the right thing, you could make it in America.Point. That's what the American Dream is all about.
But for decades now, Americans have watched that compact erode. They have seen the deck too often stacked against them. And they know that Washington hasn’t always put their interests first.The erosion was caused by who, and what party, in most part?
The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.You mean the circus you and your clowns have been running for the last decade or so?
Those of us here tonight can’t solve all of our nation’s woes. Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives.Yes there are. First and foremost is to reduce the federal government down to its' Constitutionally prescribed duties, and get it out of the business of micro-managing every aspect of American life.
I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.Are we going to get the time to read and understand THIS bill - or will we again have to "pass it to find out what's in it"?
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away.Before we read and understand it?
Correct me if if I am wrong, but I know of NO government-created job that EVER was a lasting benefit to the country, nor of one that actually helped get the economy going. Jobs that help come from the private sector.
Everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin. And you know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, smaller companies haven’t. So for everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for “job creators,” this plan is for you.OK - so you admit it.
Pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or raise workers’ wages. Pass this jobs bill, and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. If you have 50 employees making an average salary, that’s an $80,000 tax cut. And all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012.A $1,600.00 tax cut per employee. Where are the businesses supposed to get the money to "raise wages" or "hire new workers" if the market for their products is depressed, as it is after all your "stimuluses".
It’s not just Democrats who have supported this kind of proposal. Fifty House Republicans have proposed the same payroll tax cut that’s in this plan. You should pass it right away.Again with the rush. Let's see if 50 RINOs are behind this, or 50 conservative Republicans.
Pass this jobs bill, and we can put people to work rebuilding America. Everyone here knows that we have badly decaying roads and bridges all over this country. Our highways are clogged with traffic. Our skies are the most congested in the world.How are new bridges related to air traffic?
Bush's and your stimuluses both promised to put people to work. Didn't happen. People who don't learn from history tend to repeat it.
This is inexcusable. Building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an economic superpower. And now we’re going to sit back and watch China build newer airports and faster railroads? At a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right here in America?Yes, we are, if we are intelligent. Smart people know better than to try to "keep up with the Joneses" when they have no income and no prospect of relief any time soon.
There are private construction companies all across America just waiting to get to work. There’s a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that’s on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America. A public transit project in Houston that will help clear up one of the worst areas of traffic in the country. And there are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school – and we can give it to them, if we act now.Ah! It's "for the children"!
Talk about mixing metaphors. I would think roads are a lot more critical than aging, but safe, schools.
The American Jobs Act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools. It will put people to work right now fixing roofs and windows; installing science labs and high-speed internet in classrooms all across this country.Yes! Every one of God's chilluns needs high speed Internet - so they can stream your gospel!
It will rehabilitate homes and businesses in communities hit hardest by foreclosures.WHY are they foreclosed? Could it be because your comrades coerced banks to issue loans to people they knew wouldn't be able to repay them?
It will jumpstart thousands of transportation projects across the country. And to make sure the money is properly spent and for good purposes, we’re building on reforms we’ve already put in place. No more earmarks. No more boondoggles. No more bridges to nowhere. We’re cutting the red tape that prevents some of these projects from getting started as quickly as possible. And we’ll set up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue loans based on two criteria: how badly a construction project is needed and how much good it would do for the economy.Promises we've heard before, and seen broken.
This idea came from a bill written by a Texas Republican and a Massachusetts Democrat. The idea for a big boost in construction is supported by America’s largest business organization and America’s largest labor organization. It’s the kind of proposal that’s been supported in the past by Democrats and Republicans alike. You should pass it right away.Again with the rush.
How about naming the two authors, so we can get an idea of what their pedigree is?
Pass this jobs bill, and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. These are the men and women charged with preparing our children for a world where the competition has never been tougher. But while they’re adding teachers in places like South Korea, we’re laying them off in droves. It’s unfair to our kids. It undermines their future and ours. And it has to stop. Pass this jobs bill, and put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong.How about some citations on this claim. Here in Wisconsin, we have union teachers QUITTING in droves, rather than pony up 5% of their salary toward health care and retirement.
Wisconsin is actually HIRING teachers because we've had the guts to shut down some of the public union's power to command the legislature.
Pass this jobs bill, and companies will get extra tax credits if they hire America’s veterans. We ask these men and women to leave their careers, leave their families, and risk their lives to fight for our country. The last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home.So, why not kill off some of the bureaus like the EPA, OSHA, NLRB, that are hamstringing American business, and then there would BE jobs for our returning vets.
Didn't I hear recently that you were considering saddling our servicemen with higher health care costs? And why do we have to send them care packages with necessities like rifle cleaning kits? Could it be because of all of that money spent on repaying the banks that fed the housing bubble?
Pass this bill, and hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people will have the hope and dignity of a summer job next year. And their parents, low-income Americans who desperately want to work, will have more ladders out of poverty.How? Are you going to order businesses to make jobs just for the undereducated and unfit for employment that have been generated by decades of welfare?
Pass this jobs bill, and companies will get a $4,000 tax credit if they hire anyone who has spent more than six months looking for a job. We have to do more to help the long-term unemployed in their search for work.Where is the money going to come from? YOu always carp about tax cuts "costing the government money".
This jobs plan builds on a program in Georgia that several Republican leaders have highlighted, where people who collect unemployment insurance participate in temporary work as a way to build their skills while they look for a permanent job.AH, make-work, paid for by tax payers.
The plan also extends unemployment insurance for another year. If the millions of unemployed Americans stopped getting this insurance, and stopped using that money for basic necessities, it would be a devastating blow to this economy.Kick that can down the road another year, maybe past the next Presidential election?
Democrats and Republicans in this Chamber have supported unemployment insurance plenty of times in the past. At this time of prolonged hardship, you should pass it again – right away.How many times have you said "right away" now? A bunch!
Pass this jobs bill, and the typical working family will get a fifteen hundred dollar tax cut next year. Fifteen hundred dollars that would have been taken out of your paycheck will go right into your pocket. This expands on the tax cut that Democrats and Republicans already passed for this year. If we allow that tax cut to expire – if we refuse to act – middle-class families will get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time.I remember a time when you told us that we ought to end those tax cuts "for the rich". What changed your mind?
We cannot let that happen. I know some of you have sworn oaths to never raise any taxes on anyone for as long as you live. Now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise middle-class taxes, which is why you should pass this bill right away.Finally, you admit what conservatives have been saying for years. Getting smart in your old age, Barack?
This is the American Jobs Act. It will lead to new jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans, first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed. It will provide tax credits to companies that hire new workers, tax relief for small business owners, and tax cuts for the middle-class. And here’s the other thing I want the American people to know: the American Jobs Act will not add to the deficit. It will be paid for. And here’s how:I'm sure we can find $1.5 trillion in cuts - really easy - just repeal ObamaCare!
The agreement we passed in July will cut government spending by about $1 trillion over the next ten years. It also charges this Congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. Tonight, I’m asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the American Jobs Act. And a week from Monday, I’ll be releasing a more ambitious deficit plan – a plan that will not only cover the cost of this jobs bill, but stabilize our debt in the long run.
This approach is basically the one I’ve been advocating for months. In addition to the trillion dollars of spending cuts I’ve already signed into law, it’s a balanced plan that would reduce the deficit by making additional spending cuts; by making modest adjustments to health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid; and by reforming our tax code in a way that asks the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. What’s more, the spending cuts wouldn’t happen so abruptly that they’d be a drag on our economy, or prevent us from helping small business and middle-class families get back on their feet right away.Ah - another delayed effect - so it will be easier to hide the unintended consequences tha will assuredly arise.
Now, I realize there are some in my party who don’t think we should make any changes at all to Medicare and Medicaid, and I understand their concerns. But here’s the truth. Millions of Americans rely on Medicare in their retirement. And millions more will do so in the future. They pay for this benefit during their working years. They earn it. But with an aging population and rising health care costs, we are spending too fast to sustain the program. And if we don’t gradually reform the system while protecting current beneficiaries, it won’t be there when future retirees need it. We have to reform Medicare to strengthen it."We had to destroy the village to save it" I know I hear that sentiment before...
I’m also well aware that there are many Republicans who don’t believe we should raise taxes on those who are most fortunate and can best afford it. But here is what every American knows. While most people in this country struggle to make ends meet, a few of the most affluent citizens and corporations enjoy tax breaks and loopholes that nobody else gets. Right now, Warren Buffet pays a lower tax rate than his secretary – an outrage he has asked us to fix. We need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake, and everybody pays their fair share. And I believe the vast majority of wealthy Americans and CEOs are willing to do just that, if it helps the economy grow and gets our fiscal house in order.And here it is - as expected, we have to tax the very people responsible for whatever jobs America has left, because they are greedy SOBs who don't "pay their fair share" as calculated by Warren Buffet, who has all his billions squirreled away in safe havens, and won't even notice the new taxes - or he would never have said what he did.
I’ll also offer ideas to reform a corporate tax code that stands as a monument to special interest influence in Washington. By eliminating pages of loopholes and deductions, we can lower one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Our tax code shouldn’t give an advantage to companies that can afford the best-connected lobbyists. It should give an advantage to companies that invest and create jobs here in America.You know what would give a HUGE advantage to American businesses? A complete repeal of all taxes to be replaced with a fixed sales tax on corporations only, a tax that could never be increased - EVER. Force the federal government to live on a small, fixed percentage of GNP, or starve. With taxes removed from our businesses, we might be able to recover some of our manufacturing from Asia!
So we can reduce this deficit, pay down our debt, and pay for this jobs plan in the process. But in order to do this, we have to decide what our priorities are. We have to ask ourselves, “What’s the best way to grow the economy and create jobs?”Get government out of the way. Simple answer, and always to be ignored by you and your ilk.
Should we keep tax loopholes for oil companies? Or should we use that money to give small business owners a tax credit when they hire new workers? Because we can’t afford to do both. Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires? Or should we put teachers back to work so our kids can graduate ready for college and good jobs? Right now, we can’t afford to do both.How about NO federal subsidies for ANY business. That, and removal of all the bullshit regulations that were never Constitutional in the first place would light a fire under our economy - and make it soar, not incinerate it slowly as your current policies do.
This isn’t political grandstanding. This isn’t class warfare. This is simple math. These are real choices that we have to make. And I’m pretty sure I know what most Americans would choose. It’s not even close. And it’s time for us to do what’s right for our future.Finally? It's about time you did the right thing!
Although, what YOU think is right most Americans would not agree with.
The American Jobs Act answers the urgent need to create jobs right away. But we can’t stop there. As I’ve argued since I ran for this office, we have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start building an economy that lasts into the future – an economy that creates good, middle-class jobs that pay well and offer security. We now live in a world where technology has made it possible for companies to take their business anywhere. If we want them to start here and stay here and hire here, we have to be able to out-build, out-educate, and out-innovate every other country on Earth.So, close the Department of Education, and put that money into paying down the huge debt you've already saddled our progeny with.
This task, of making America more competitive for the long haul, is a job for all of us. For government and for private companies. For states and for local communities – and for every American citizen. All of us will have to up our game. All of us will have to change the way we do business.Hell, NO. You change the way YOU play your game, and let us continue doing what made America great.
My administration can and will take some steps to improve our competitiveness on our own. For example, if you’re a small business owner who has a contract with the federal government, we’re going to make sure you get paid a lot faster than you do now.Federal contractors are something we should be looking at - how many of those contracts are political payment for votes delivered?
We’re also planning to cut away the red tape that prevents too many rapidly-growing start-up companies from raising capital and going public.Long overdue, and like the "Paperwork Reduction Act", will probably kill more small startups than ever.
Do I sound pessimistic? Long experience with "government aid".
And to help responsible homeowners, we’re going to work with Federal housing agencies to help more people refinance their mortgages at interest rates that are now near 4% — a step that can put more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket, and give a lift to an economy still burdened by the drop in housing prices.I remember you and your comrades discussing removing the mortgage deduction from income taxes.
Who is going to guarantee the mortgage refinance? Your administration is currently working on suing the banks that made the loans earlier Demonrat congresses coerced them into making, because they tried to minimize their exposure to these toxic loans.
Other steps will require Congressional action. Today you passed reform that will speed up the outdated patent process, so that entrepreneurs can turn a new idea into a new business as quickly as possible. That’s the kind of action we need.Huh? Patents in the USA were modified to be more in line with China, last I heard. You fixed that?
Now it’s time to clear the way for a series of trade agreements that would make it easier for American companies to sell their products in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea – while also helping the workers whose jobs have been affected by global competition. If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. I want to see more products sold around the world stamped with three proud words: “Made in America.”Then don't fuck around with "trade agreements" - allow our own companies to become competitve by reducing their cost of complying with tax laws and regulations!
And on all of our efforts to strengthen competitiveness, we need to look for ways to work side-by-side with America’s businesses. That’s why I’ve brought together a Jobs Council of leaders from different industries who are developing a wide range of new ideas to help companies grow and create jobs.Is your buddy from GE going to be there?
Already, we’ve mobilized business leaders to train 10,000 American engineers a year, by providing company internships and training. Other businesses are covering tuition for workers who learn new skills at community colleges. And we’re going to make sure the next generation of manufacturing takes root not in China or Europe, but right here, in the United States of America. If we provide the right incentives and support – and if we make sure our trading partners play by the rules – we can be the ones to build everything from fuel-efficient cars to advanced biofuels to semiconductors that are sold all over the world. That’s how America can be number one again. That’s how America will be number one again."Green" jobs don't exist. They will never exist.
Electric cars are a pipe-dream.
Advanced biofuels are another pipe dream. There's oil in them thar fields! Drill, baby, drill!
And how about some help getting us a real, workable fusion power system? Trillions for battery research for those mythical electric cars we won't be able to charge after the EPA shuts down our power grid with unreasonable pollution rules, but not one cent towards getting more conventional nukes up and running, or toward useful fusion research.
Now, I realize that some of you have a different theory on how to grow the economy. Some of you sincerely believe that the only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most government spending and eliminate most government regulations.And be repealed instantly if it fails. Let's use my common sense here, not yours, OK?
Well, I agree that we can’t afford wasteful spending, and I will continue to work with Congress to get rid of it. And I agree that there are some rules and regulations that put an unnecessary burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it. That’s why I ordered a review of all government regulations. So far, we’ve identified over 500 reforms, which will save billions of dollars over the next few years. We should have no more regulation than the health, safety, and security of the American people require. Every rule should meet that common sense test.
But what we can’t do – what I won’t do – is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades. I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety. I reject the argument that says for the economy to grow, we have to roll back protections that ban hidden fees by credit card companies, or rules that keep our kids from being exposed to mercury, or laws that prevent the health insurance industry from shortchanging patients. I reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy. We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom, where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollution standards. America should be in a race to the top. And I believe that’s a race we can win.God. You missed throwing in the kitchen sink, but got most everything else in there.
Lawyers could force workplace safety a lot more cheaply than OSHA, and with less risk of becoming an entrenched bureaucracy that has to continually grow it's power.
What have credit card rates and rules to do with jobs? Americans need to learn to refuse a bad deal, and to read the fricking fine print!
Are you suggesting industry will start maketing mercury based paint again if the government does not keep making ever more rules?
Health care providers are vulnerable to the same lawyers who would encourage safe workplaces in a free economy.
Danm! YES we need to roll back "collective bargaining rights"! How about to pre-FDR levels?
In fact, this larger notion that the only thing we can do to restore prosperity is just dismantle government, refund everyone’s money, let everyone write their own rules, and tell everyone they’re on their own – that’s not who we are. That’s not the story of America.Bull. It's the story of socialism and bureaucracy. America is not defined by unions and government clerks.
Yes, we are rugged individualists. Yes, we are strong and self-reliant. And it has been the drive and initiative of our workers and entrepreneurs that has made this economy the engine and envy of the world.Damn straight. And in 2012, we will demonstrate this by handing you and your comrades their walking papers!
But there has always been another thread running throughout our history – a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation.Who said that? Marx? Lenin? Engels? Mao? Stalin? Pol Pot?
We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union.Some of us see Lincoln as one of the greatest destroyers of a free society in history.
But in the middle of a Civil War, he was also a leader who looked to the future – a Republican president who mobilized government to build the transcontinental railroad; launch the National Academy of Sciences; and set up the first land grant colleges. And leaders of both parties have followed the example he set.Yep. Build governmental power at the expense of the states and their residents.
Ask yourselves – where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways and our bridges; our dams and our airports?Well, since many of those airports and bridges were built without governmental aid, this is a null statement.
What would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on public high schools, or research universities, or community colleges?Probably in possession of a populace better educated than public schooling has provided! Private colleges and schools did quite well up until the 1880's.
Millions of returning heroes, including my grandfather, had the opportunity to go to school because of the GI Bill. Where would we be if they hadn’t had that chance?Probably the would have figured it out on their own and succeeded because of their own efforts. We will never know, because big government is always there to make sure no one ever fails, as long as they are willing to hold on to the government's apron stings nad never dare think for themselves.
How many jobs would it have cost us if past Congresses decided not to support the basic research that led to the Internet and the computer chip?Probably further on than now, since CONgress also drove those semiconductor businesses and manufacturers offshore with overweening regulations and taxes.
What kind of country would this be if this Chamber had voted down Social Security or Medicare just because it violated some rigid idea about what government could or could not do? How many Americans would have suffered as a result?You mean, ideas like "let's make sure this law is Constitutional"? Indubitably in better shape than today!
No single individual built America on their own. We built it together. We have been, and always will be, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all; a nation with responsibilities to ourselves and with responsibilities to one another. Members of Congress, it is time for us to meet our responsibilities.The responsibility of CONgress is to act within the limits of the Constitution, nothing more.
America is NOT a socialist country, try as you might to tell us it's always been that way.
Every proposal I’ve laid out tonight is the kind that’s been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past. Every proposal I’ve laid out tonight will be paid for. And every proposal is designed to meet the urgent needs of our people and our communities.Really? Then why haven't any of these universally welcomed ideas been implemented until now? Why did you have to saddle our great-grand kids with huge debt first, then think of ways to fix the mess you made?
I know there’s been a lot of skepticism about whether the politics of the moment will allow us to pass this jobs plan – or any jobs plan. Already, we’re seeing the same old press releases and tweets flying back and forth. Already, the media has proclaimed that it’s impossible to bridge our differences. And maybe some of you have decided that those differences are so great that we can only resolve them at the ballot box.Which media? Your captive "lame stream media" or the people who tell it like it is?
But know this: the next election is fourteen months away.We know. Counting the seconds.
And the people who sent us here – the people who hired us to work for them – they don’t have the luxury of waiting fourteen months. Some of them are living week to week; paycheck to paycheck; even day to day.Who got them in that condition? Who triggered the depression we are suffering through now?
They need help, and they need it now.So, help. Get the hell out of the way and let the economy recover!
A good first step would be to take back all stimulus funds from outfits like Solyndra and use it to pay down the national debt. Seize all the assets of all the directors and shareholders, and make them all take a nice perp walk on national TV. Send every government employee involved with Solyndra in any way on the same perp walk - yourself included!
I don’t pretend that this plan will solve all our problems. It shouldn’t be, nor will it be, the last plan of action we propose. What’s guided us from the start of this crisis hasn’t been the search for a silver bullet. It’s been a commitment to stay at it – to be persistent – to keep trying every new idea that works, and listen to every good proposal, no matter which party comes up with it.Good of you to admit your failure before the bill is even voted on - might make it more likely to be rejected!
Regardless of the arguments we’ve had in the past, regardless of the arguments we’ll have in the future, this plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of this country. I also ask every American who agrees to lift your voice and tell the people who are gathered here tonight that you want action now. Tell Washington that doing nothing is not an option. Remind us that if we act as one nation, and one people, we have it within our power to meet this challenge.I'll remind you of your oath of office - that you protect and defend the Constitution, and follow the laws of the land. You and everyone in CONgress.
President Kennedy once said, “Our problems are man-made – therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.”Government-made, to be precise. The solution is to cut, and cut some more, until the federal government is at a pre-Lincoln size and budget.
These are difficult years for our country. But we are Americans. We are tougher than the times that we live in, and we are bigger than our politics have been. So let’s meet the moment. Let’s get to work, and show the world once again why the United States of America remains the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.Don't you mean "Allah"? Or, did you mean Rev. Wright's version of God?
Only eight instances of "right away" in his speech. I wonder who wrote it? Did he have the TOTUS in operation?
The unemployment rate for blacks surged to 16.7% in August, its highest rate since 1984, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Just days after Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Ken Melson was forced into a make-work job at the Justice Department and long-time Janet Napolitano confidant U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke abruptly resigned, the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious rapidly gained momentum with evidence of a coverup instigated within hours of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s death.
