By the end of the day President Obama’s less-than-stellar debate performance may be a thing of the past. The President struck something like numerical gold today, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1% to 7.8%, the lowest number since President Obama took office.
Blatantly worried that the rate will only help President Obama politically, some Republicans turned to some of their favorite age-old past times: debunking math and devising conspiracy theories.
Former GE CEO Jack Welch kicked things off with a tweet: “Unbelievable jobs numbers. These Chicago guys will do anything…can’t debate so change numbers.” That was followed by a Facebook post by Rep. Allen West, in which he managed to sprinkle in other Republican scare tactics with the ludicrous idea that nonpartisan statisticians are cooking the books. "I agree with former GE CEO Jack Welch, Chicago style politics is at work here,” Rep. Allen West wrote. “Somehow by manipulation of data we are all of a sudden below 8 percent unemployment, a month from the Presidential election. This is Orwellian to say the least and representative of Saul Alinsky tactics from the book "Rules for Radicals"- a must read for all who want to know how the left strategize.”
On the show today, CNBC's Eamon Javers may have coined a new term, referring to these conspiracy theorists as "jobers."