Romney v. Romney August 8, 2012August 8, 2012 Yesterday I suggested that the 172,000 private-sector jobs gained in July were pretty good, considering the lengths the Republicans have gone to to keep from putting people back to work modernizing our infrastructure. To show the progress made to date, I invited you to “click here to see it in graphic form.” What the opposition tries to pin on Obama are the gigantic 2009 deficit (even though the 2009 fiscal year started more than a month before Obama was even elected, let alone sworn in) . . . and the job losses of his first few months, before he could realistically have had an effect on the job numbers. As the website Political Irony has noted . . . The next time Romney tries to blame Obama for disappointing job numbers, someone should remind him of what he said at a press conference in 2006 to reporters who were trying to hold him accountable for disappointing job creation numbers from his time as governor: “You guys are bright enough to look at the numbers. I came in and the jobs had been just falling right off a cliff, I came in and they kept falling for 11 months. And if you are going to suggest to me that somehow the day I got elected, somehow jobs should have immediately turned around, well that would be silly. It takes awhile to get things turned around. We were in a recession, we were losing jobs every month.” Your comments from yesterday’s post included: Bob Sanderson: “I’m pretty sure you’re right about the (lack of) influence of tax rates on job creators. I own a small business, and I can’t remember ever contemplating my tax rate when considering the hiring of a new employee.” Andrew Lees: “As a small business owner (micro biotech company), I can tell you taxes play almost no role in my business thinking, except to try to avoid doing anything that makes my (tax) life more complicated. It’s affordable health care coverage that is at the top of my list of concerns. Maryland is a good state because there is already something like an insurance exchange for small businesses.” Gene Somdahl: “The ‘job creators’ have had their tax breaks for ten years. Where are the jobs?“ Jeff Cox: “OK, OK. Unless someone drops me on my head between now and November, I will vote for the re-election of the President. However, I would still like some investment insight on your website. Maybe you could approach environmental concerns, jobs and politics all in one stroke. What is the best way to play the growing supply of natural gas?“ I don’t know — but I hear you.