A Tale of Two Headlines: Tyrannosaurus of Turpitude Edition

Headline #1: Hastert Praises Jobs Growth

"Our nation's economic momentum is in full swing. We've had continuous job growth. Retail sales are up. Household wealth is increasing. And the 243,000 jobs created in February represent that many Americans are working and providing a better life for their families.

"The Democrats would rather talk down the economy with the hopes of winning in November so they can raise taxes and skyrocket spending. The House Republican Congress is committed to cutting spending and making the tax relief permanent so that American families will have more money in their pockets and businesses can hire more workers. In fact, House Republicans succeeded in preventing Democrats from adding $8 billion in new spending to the War on Terror and Disaster Supplemental during House Appropriations Committee consideration."

Headline #2: Unexpected Rise in Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, to 303,000, the highest level this year, a government report showed on Thursday.

The increase of 8,000 took the number of initial claims above 300,000 for the first time since the week of Jan. 7, the Labor Department said. Economists had expected claims to dip to 290,000 from the 294,000 initially reported for the week that ended Feb. 25.