There has been a running gag on the right that every time bad economic news comes out, the MSM prefaces it with the word “unexpectedly.”
For example:
- U.S. Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Declines to 63.8 from 71.5 in Index
- Asian Stocks fell as U.S. Unemployment unexpectedly increased
- New York Area Manufacturing Unexpectedly Shrank in July
- Consumer Spending in U.S. Unexpectedly Stagnated in May as Prices Climbed
- An unexpectedly weak jobs report Friday hardened the already deep divide between Democrats and Republicans over the debt limit ahead of a critical negotiating session this weekend.
And that’s just from the last 30 days.
Somehow the MSM finds all this bad news unexpected, and yet via Glenn we see a story that does not include that magic word. And this is a story I would have thought warranted its use:
At least a dozen states ended fiscal 2011 with surpluses. Indiana reported one of the largest, with an extra $1.2 billion in its accounts. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, on Friday authorized bonus payments of up to $1,000 for state employees. An employee who “meets expectations” will get $500, and those who “exceed expectations” will receive $750; “outstanding workers” will see an extra $1,000 in their August paychecks.
Look at the states with surpluses from this story: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, and South Carolina. You will find a common thread in almost all of them. Can you guess what it is?
With the exception of Arkansas, all of these states have Republican Governors.
I guess that would explain the lack of the word “unexpected,” wouldn’t it?
(image via Serr8d’s cutting edge)
El Tejon on July 19, 2011 at 10:21 am said:
Indiana’s surplus is not unexpected. It is by intelligent design (state constitution after debacle in mid-1800s with canals).
BrianE on July 19, 2011 at 10:28 am said:
No, it just means that even the media expect Republican governors to be fiscally responsible.
Tim Milli on July 19, 2011 at 10:37 am said:
No, instead of the word unexpected, the meme is that it’s reckless cuts in school funding, welfare programs that caused the surplus. Fiscal discipline is such a foreign concept to some!
John on July 19, 2011 at 10:38 am said:
The whole “unexpectedly” theme is merely an attempt to prop up Keynesian economics and Obama himself. Since Obama can command the tides (“the moment the oceans began to recede…”) and everyone “knows” reckless government spending fixes economies, good economic news is to be expected.
And when it is not, it is unexpected.
PB on July 19, 2011 at 10:40 am said:
Actually, here in Arkansas, we have a constitutional amendment that forces our Dems to balance the budget every year. They can’t over spend by design. That does not mean, however, that the Dems have not tried to get that amendment repealed every so often by one deceptive method or another, but the low sloping foreheads here in middle America won’t got for it when that issue comes up for a vote. That is not to say that the pointy heads here in Little Rock wouldn’t love to repeal the amendment *for the children!*, but we low sloping foreheads just won’t go along.
dana on July 19, 2011 at 12:18 pm said:
PB…Thanks low sloping forehead types. At some point we will need a free and thriving state to take refuge in.
Jay on July 19, 2011 at 1:30 pm said:
Not unexpected, just pleasantly surprised. All governments should hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Unfortunately, Washington DC never works that way.
John on July 19, 2011 at 11:10 pm said:
Not unexpectedlly, Indiana spent the surplus and didn’t see fit to give the money back to the taxpayers – the ones who really earned it.
serr8d on July 20, 2011 at 9:00 am said:
Oh! Thanks! for the linky there.
That image was developed to fill a request by the inestimable Ric Locke. It didn’t exactly fit his mental image of what he had in mind, but then I’m a stubborn, mule-headed, my-way-or-FU sort guy.
(Oh, and a plug for Ric’s book, Temporary Duty, an excellent job, a very enjoyable SF novella that I just finished reading on my Kindle. For $2.99, you can’t go wrong!)