Unemployment

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner didn't like the unemployment facts David Gregory presented to him on a chart during yesterday's Meet the Press.

Unemployment 7.3 percent Inauguration Day. Up to 9.2 percent with the latest report. Up 26 percent.

Geithner's response -- Well, David, that's a--let me just say that's a ridiculous table...

Gregory -- You're certainly not disputing those numbers. And this is what happened with the jobs report this week. The New York Times described it this way. "Feeble Job Numbers Show Recovery Starting To Stall...

Geithner -- The, the economy absolutely slowed in the first half of the year. There's no doubt on that. And when the economy slows, job creation will slow, and that's what's happening. It slowed because...

Geithner then went on to blame, among other things, higher gas prices (a gallon of gas up over 100 percent since Obama's inauguration) and really terrible weather across the country which slowed construction spending.

The weather excuse certainly sounded familiar and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The Big Lug Nut, last July, tried to Blame It On The Rain while defending his poor unemployment record and I-JOBS spending that began in 2009.

That was certainly a winning strategy.

Keep in mind the Obama administration's 2009 stimulus spending was supposed to keep unemployment from reaching higher than 8%.

Now the administration tells us

W.H.: Jobless rate can drop to 8.2% by the fourth quarter of 2012.

If that happens, look for another spike after that because Americans will be adding the Obama/Biden administration to the unemployment rolls.