Rand Paul is Clueless (unemployment, military, compared, money)

[Loveshiscountry]

Originally Posted by GregW

Not surprising Mr. Krugman had to instruct Mr. Rand Paul. Delusion does not fall far from the tree and he is just a deluded as his dad, Mr. Ron Paul. Both do not have any real grasp on current economics or politics.

"Under President Obama, the federal workforce has grown by 143,000 according to the Labor Department . That’s a lot of new federal workers, though it pales in comparison to the enormous growth of government spending and debt accrued in his same Administration.

Yet Professor Krugman added in local and state workers to inflate this number, an irrelevant point at best. In fact, it was a disingenuous argument, which he then astonishingly gloated about making on his blog.

I prefer to stick to the facts – and the facts are, there are 143,000 more federal workers since President Obama took office. I urge Professor Krugman to join me in debating actual, relevant statistics."

Paul Challenges Krugman to Debate Over Government Employment Figures | WFPL

[knowledgeiskey]

Yawn

[whogo]

Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey

Yawn

Looks like that graph ends in late 2010.

[knowledgeiskey]

Originally Posted by whogo

Looks like that graph ends in late 2010.

Doesn't matter. The government workforce shrunk after Bush left office.

[ovcatto]

God this was such an easy question to look up.

The total number of Federal employees was 2.65 million in 2010 up from the 2.63 million in 2002. Of course the 2010 figure includes the 9.82 thousand that were temporarily hired for the census. So in fact the total number of permanent federal employees is 2.62 total federal employees.

[knowledgeiskey]

Originally Posted by ovcatto

God this was such an easy question to look up.

The total number of Federal employees was 2.65 million in 2010 up from the 2.63 million in 2002. Of course the 2010 figure includes the 9.82 thousand that were temporarily hired for the census. So in fact the total number of permanent federal employees is 2.62 total federal employees.

I wonder of Rand would give up his job as a head start in reducing the federal workforce.

[wutitiz]

The number of federal employees is obviously subject to manipulation by contracting out. Why not just look at overall federal spending?
Federal outlays have gone up every year of the Obama admin except 2009, which year according to the left was actually Bush's fault.
Goldberg ignores Bush's responsibility for $1 trillion deficit in 2009 | Research | Media Matters for America

federal outlays:

2008: $2.524 trillion
2009: $2.05 trillion
2010: $2.162 trillion
2011: $2.3035 trillion
2012: $2.4585 trillion (estimated)

Source is OMB
Historical Federal Receipt and Outlay Summary

It appears that Krugman is wrong.

[knowledgeiskey]

Originally Posted by wutitiz

The number of federal employees is obviously subject to manipulation by contracting out. Why not just look at overall federal spending?
Federal outlays have gone up every year of the Obama admin except 2009, which year according to the left was actually Bush's fault.
Goldberg ignores Bush's responsibility for $1 trillion deficit in 2009 | Research | Media Matters for America

federal outlays:

2008: $2.524 trillion
2009: $2.05 trillion
2010: $2.162 trillion
2011: $2.3035 trillion
2012: $2.4585 trillion (estimated)

Source is OMB
Historical Federal Receipt and Outlay Summary

It appears that Krugman is wrong.

State employees are government workers.

[whogo]

Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey

State employees are government workers.

Great observation, Sherlock. Now tell me what Obama has to do with state and local employees. Did he reward states and localities for laying off workers?

[73-79 ford fan]

Little Rand's dad Ron is a nepotist. So much for that limited constitutional government that Ron Paul talks about with so many family members of his now working for the government.