Since that's pretty much a symmetrical normal distribution, it suggests that neither Bush nor Obama had much actual effect.

They are like kids in the cookie jar. They know they are going to get busted, but tomorrow is a long time when you have a need.

even if we are gullible enough to believe these numbers, it works out to over $35,000 per job. If there had been a temporary tax cut and a worldwide reduction of tariffs, how many jobs would have been saved or created? If we keep going we should be able to grow our economy to compete with Greece.

I believe the graph is part of a blatant attempt by Obama to take undeserved credit for something he in fact helped create. Obama could have chosen any number of other graphs: unemployment rate, annual debt, deficit. Why show this one? The answer is obvious. On a quick glance it shows a value that was quickly dropping, just as quickly rising. Great visual impact but highly misleading.

By the way, Charlie, I'm not a statistician but I'm fairly certain a normal distribution is a specific curve describing probability data. The job losses per month are a time series so it is incorrect to speak of it as a normal distribution. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution

Clearly, they read and were deeply influenced by your graphic presentations post. As a result, they now have awesome power to turn around public perceptions of their performance and will doubtless prevail in all their policies. I hope you are pleased with yourself, and will take time this Ash Wednesday to ponder deeply what will become of your soul.

...a bottomless morass of bullshit.

I'm suspicious that they don't specify "net job loss". Just "job loss".

Anyway, this graph should be all blue, because congress has been in the hands of the Dems for all this period.

Brainzzzz!

This [zombie] Administration has surely mastered the use of "the big lie" with regards to keeping their natural constituency in line...Gotta give them that.

An exercise in cherry-picking and misdirection.

Stretch the graph back to 2000 and show which party was in control of Congress, when, and you'll see the real story. An educated citizenry could do that without thinking. Too bad we live in the celebrated Age of Stupid.