Sniff Test: Does It Feel Like Unemployment Has Improved By 6% In Last 60 Days? Reported By Same Government That Said Libya Wasn’t Terrorist Attack?

In the past 60 days, the unemployment rate has decreased from 8.3% to 7.8%.  Does it feel like it?  Are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people rejoicing over their new jobs?

The same government that is reporting this news is the same government that stated officially over and over again that the attack from three sides on the US Consulate in Libya – which featured heavy weapons, coordinated indirect fire and multiple waves – was a spontaneous and unplanned affair prompted by sudden outrage over a basically homemade video that had actually been on the internet for the previous six months rather than a “terrorist attack.”

Did you believe that, too?  Are you that seriously stupid???

There was simply no way that the Obama administration did not know that the attack was not a terrorist attack.  For the record, they had actually already specifically labelled it a “terrorist attack” in order to release the critical military and intelligence assets that were needed to deal with the attack.  And other than the fact that Obama was too ignorant to know the truth because he had failed to show up at 60% of his daily intelligence briefings, he simply had to know that he was lying and instructing key administration officials to lie for him.

I can’t state as a categorical fact that the unemployment report is a cynical lie to benefit Obama politically, but what I can state as a categorical fact is that if any president or any administration in American history were going to lie on these numbers, this is the one on both counts to do it.  Because this is a president who has surrounded himself not with skilled, competent professionals, but rather with leftwing ideologues who would protect their messiah.

The Obama Labor Department’s household survey claims that 873,000 people just entered the workforce.  That is the biggest increase in 29 years; with said increase being accompanied by GDP growth of over 5%.  But the employer’s survey, on the other hand, only found that 104,ooo jobs were created, with 10,000 of those being in government.  And GDP growth was just revised downward to 1.3% from 1.7% - which, for the record, was the lowest since January of 2009 when Obama took office.

It’s rather difficult to understand just how we suddenly basically tripled our GDP growth such that we could get these massive jobs figure changes.

I heard on CNBC that 10,000 government jobs in one month is the largest number of government jobs recorded in a one-month period since the statistic started being recorded in 1948.

If these 760,000 extra jobs exist at ALL, NONE OF THEM ARE FULL-TIME, STABLE JOBS.  And that IS a categorical fact because the so-called “real unemployment rate,” the U-6 rate, remained absolutely unchanged at 14.7%:

The broader U-6 rate — which takes into account part-time workers who want full-time work and lots of discouraged workers who’ve given up looking — stayed unchanged at 14.7%. That’s a better gauge of the true unemployment rate and state of the American labor market.

And it’s at such an incredibly critical moment for Obama that this miracle of the job numbers suddenly appears from Obama’s Labor Department.

Something really stinks.

Especially given the fact that the real number of people unemployed increased by 100,000 new lost jobs last month to 23.2 million.  How the hell does that number increase from 23.1 million to 23.2 million and we add 760,000 freaking jobs???

Or how about just the fact that the number of actual jobs recorded (114,000) fails to come CLOSE to the working-age population growth of 206,000?

How about the fact that we just found out that household incomes fell for ANOTHER month under Obama?  And that the American people have lost 8.2% of their income and an average of $5,000 under this “successful” presidency?

How about the fact that the record number of food stamp dependents that Obama created exploded to a whole new level last month?  Or that more people are finding food stamps each month under Obama than are finding jobs?

So Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, smelled that stink and tweeted:

One of the things that failed to pass Welch’s smell test is that he is deeply involved with thirteen major companies, and NONE of them had shown an increase in jobs from the second quarter (the one that saw the downward-revised 1.3% GDP growth).

Obama’s labor secretary Hilda Solis is the same labor secretary who helped Obama to take away the legal rights of secured GM bondholders and give the company to Obama’s union supporters.  Hilda Solis is the same labor secretary who pointed a damn gun at the Boeing Corporation for daring to try to build a new plant in a Republican/right-to-work state.  And we’re not supposed to believe that this woman is more than capable of cooking the books for her boss???

The Obama administration was specifically identified by the DEMOCRAT Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee as the source behind the devastating leaks that had been destroying America’s national security in an attempt to make Obama appear tough on that front.  And we’re not supposed to believe that this administration is more than capable of cooking the books???

Obama has produced fewer and fewer jobs.  He created fewer jobs in 2012 than in 2011, and he’d created fewer jobs in 2011 than he had in 2010.  Frankly, if you want less jobs, elect more Obama.

Who Do You Trust More To Tell Us About Unemployment? Big Brother (8.3%) Or Gallup (9.1%)?

Which turned out to be more accurate?

“We must win the war, and we can win it! Each man and each woman, the entire German people, must call forth their utmost in work, courage, and discipline.” — Nazi government, January 1945

Or:

“I am writing this from cell 24. Outside a new Germany is being created. Many millions are rejoicing. Hitler is promising everyone precisely what they want. I think when they wake to their sobering senses, they will find they have been led by the nose and duped by lies.” — Jailed journalist Stephen Laurant, circa 1935

Sometimes it is vital to pick the right people or the right agencies to believe.

Right now the Obama government is telling us that the unemployment rate is 8.3 percent and about to drop even further after numerous positive developments.

That view is not shared by leading polling organization Gallup:

Gallup: Unemployment at 9.1%, But 19% Need Jobs
Thursday, 08 Mar 2012 02:19 PM
By Martin Gould

The unemployment rate shot up by half a percentage point in February, according to figures released by the polling organization Gallup on Thursday.

The jump from 8.6 percent in January to 9.1 percent last month is the largest month-by-month increase in more than a year, Gallup said. It is the highest rate since August.

Gallup’s figures differ from the official government unemployment rate because they do not adjust the figure for seasonal variations or include anyone under 18. The survey suggests that the official figures will also show an increase from January’s 8.3 percent when they are released on Friday, said Gallup’s chief economist Dennis Jacobe.

“If the government’s unadjusted unemployment rate increases to the degree that Gallup’s has from mid-month to mid-month, then the government’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate could show an even larger increase,” Jacobe said.

He predicted the government figure for February would stand at either 8.5 or 8.6 percent.

Gallup’s figure reveals the largest single month increase since December 2010 when it went up from 8.8 percent to 9.6 percent. According to the organization, the underemployment rate – which includes part-time workers who want to be in full-time employment, rose from 18.7 percent to 19.1 percent in February, the highest since last May.

“Regardless of what the government reports, Gallup’s unemployment and underemployment measures show a substantial deterioration since mid-January,” added Jacobe. “In this context, the increase in unemployment as measured by Gallup may, at least partly, reflect growth in the workforce, as more Americans who had given up looking for work become slightly more optimistic and start looking for work again.

“So while there may be positive signs, the reality Gallup finds is that more Americans are looking for work now than were doing so just six weeks ago.
Official Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment figures have shown the rate go down from 9 percent since September.

And even Gallup is far more optimistic than the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office as stated in its annual report:

The [CBO] office says that will leave the unemployment rate at 8.9 percent at the end of this year, well above current the current rate of 8.5 percent, meaning the jobless rate would be increasing at election time.

[...]

And in 2013, CBO estimates unemployment will be even higher — at 9.2 percent.

As to the question as to whether Obama has created more jobs or destroyed jobs, this conversation was telling during official testimony with CBO director Douglas Elmendorf:

That prompted this exchange between Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and the CBO director. “Let me ask you, are there more people working today or fewer people working today than at the — on inauguration day of 2009?” McClintock asked.

“I believe the answer to that,” said Elmendorf, “is there are fewer people, congressman.”

Who are you going to believe?

There is an intentionally false picture being presented by somebody (see also here and here).  That much is abundantly clear.

In the case of Nazi Germany, had the German people believed the likes of Stephen Laurant, imagine how much suffering they could have spared themselves and the rest of the world.  But they were fools who chose to believe the wrong people.

Right now, Barack Obama is trying to get himself re-elected so there will be absolutely no reason for him to restrain himself in the pursuit of policies that will lead America to economic ruin.

Like the German people prior to World War II, if the American people foolishly choose to believe the wrong sources, we won’t get a do-over; they will rightly receive ruin.  Because we are responsible for our choices in this world.

Gallup Predicts New Unemployment Rate Will Skyrocket To 8.6 Percent

Note that the actual official unemployment rate ought to be 9.1 percent in February.  Note that the last few months of snowjob from the Obama media was a giant crock of crap.

You should also note that the REAL unemployment rate is actually over NINETEEN PERCENT!!!

Note that the dire CBO prediction regarding the weak and faltering US economy under Obama is coming to pass (and see a more detailed explanation of the CBO report here).

Thursday, March 1, 2012
Gallup’s Unadjusted Unemployment Data Suggest Increase in BLS Adjusted Figure

Gallup finds U.S. unemployment, as measured without seasonal adjustment, to be 9.1% in February, based on almost 30,000 interviews with a random sample of Americans. When Gallup applies the 0.5-percentage-point seasonal adjustment that the government applied to its unadjusted data for February last year, it produces an adjusted unemployment rate for February 2012 of 8.6% — a substantial increase from the 8.3% adjusted rate the government reported for January.

The findings provide a preview of what Gallup will report in its monthly employment release next Thursday, March 8. Because Gallup’s data are collected continuously throughout the month, the data are available now, one week ahead of the BLS report scheduled for Friday, March 9.

 

Three key factors help determine the relationship between Gallup’s measurement of the unemployment rate and the unemployment rate reported by the government. The first involves the relationship between Gallup’s and the government’s unadjusted survey results. Data from the past two years show that on an unadjusted basis, Gallup’s and the government’s unemployment measurements track fairly closely in both direction and magnitude.

 

 

Gallup reported an unadjusted rate of 8.6% for January 2012 and the government reported an unadjusted rate of 8.8%. Gallup’s and the government’s unadjusted results also tracked closely in January 2011 (9.9% versus 9.8%, respectively) and January 2010 (10.9% compared with 10.6%).

 

The results were similarly close in February 2010 (when Gallup found 10.6% versus the government’s 10.4%) but diverged significantly in February 2011, when Gallup reported an unadjusted rate of 10.3% and the government an unadjusted rate of 9.5%. That is, after the government re-based its unemployment data in January 2011, Gallup’s and the government’s February results differed in both magnitude and direction.

 

Relating Gallup’s current findings to the likely unemployment rate the government will report for February depends on a number of somewhat complex key assumptions. Consider the following scenarios:

Based on its full-month measure, Gallup finds that the unadjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.5 points, to an average of 9.1% in February from 8.6% in January.

• If we assume the government’s unadjusted unemployment rate experienced a similar 0.5-point increase, it would rise to 9.3% in February from January’s 8.8%. Applying the 0.5-point seasonal adjustment (based on the government’s February 2011 adjustment) to the February 2012 unadjusted rate (9.3%) would result in an increase in the U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 8.8% in February 2012 from January’s 8.3%.

• If we instead assume the government’s unadjusted rate increased by 0.3 points in February to exactly match Gallup’s measurement at 9.1%, this would produce an increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 8.6% in February 2012 — assuming the use of the February 2011 seasonal adjustment of 0.5 points.

Of course, there are lots of other possible assumptions. For example, the government’s unemployment estimate is based on a mid-month measurement. Gallup’s mid-month measurement for the unadjusted unemployment rate in January 2012 was 8.3% and it was 9.0% in mid-February. If we were to apply this mid-month increase of 0.7 points to the government’s unadjusted January rate of 8.8%, the resulting unadjusted 9.5% would lead to a 9.0% seasonally adjusted rate.

 

On the other hand, the government re-based its household survey once again in January 2012. If the government’s unadjusted survey results are unchanged (8.8%) or go lower in February, the government’s seasonally adjusted rate is likely to do the same.

 

A second factor to consider is the way the government seasonally adjusts its unadjusted unemployment rate for February. As noted previously, the government used a 0.5-point adjustment factor to seasonally adjust its results in February 2011. However, in 2010, it used a slightly different 0.6-point adjustment. Applying this larger seasonal adjustment to Gallup’s full-month results would produce an 8.5% adjusted unemployment rate for February 2012 — up from 8.3% in January.

 

A third factor that affects the unemployment rate might involve shifts taking place in the size of the workforce. If Americans seeking work get discouraged and drop out of the workforce in large numbers, it is likely to reduce the unemployment rate. This appears to have happened at various points in the past. Gallup’s measurement of the participation rate — the percentage of Americans in the workforce — shows a decline to 67.6% in February from 68.2% in January. If the government shows a similar decline in the workforce, it is likely to lower the U.S. unemployment rate that the government reports and that may not be fully picked up by Gallup’s data.

 

In sum, Gallup’s Daily tracking of the U.S. unemployment rate — which is not seasonally or otherwise adjusted — shows an increase in February from January. This reflects a consistent measurement of the job-market reality that Gallup has measured since January 2010. It may be that various factors will lead the U.S. government on Friday, March 9, to release a different unemployment rate than that implied by Gallup’s results, but that report will not change the reality in the marketplace.

Under Obama’s failed leadership millions and millions of Americans have simply given up and dropped out of the employment picture altogether.  And Obama loves it when he’s crushed the spirit of another worker, because that artificially lowers the unemployment rate and makes his failure artificially appear good.

This economy is teetering and on its way to a very hard fall.  And it is simply beyond laughable that the propaganda media would continually tell us that things are going just peachy dandy under their messiah’s marvellous leadership.

CBO Director States For The Official Record That Obama Has Destroyed Jobs And Will CONTINUE To Destroy Jobs

Has Obama created or destroyed jobs since taking office?

That prompted this exchange between Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and the CBO director.  “Let me ask you, are there more people working today or fewer people working today than at the — on inauguration day of 2009?” McClintock asked.

“I believe the answer to that,” said Elmendorf, “is there are fewer people, congressman.”

Is Obama’s economic plan succeeding or wildly failing to create jobs?

The [CBO] office says that will leave the unemployment rate at 8.9 percent at the end of this year, well above current the current rate of 8.5 percent, meaning the jobless rate would be increasing at election time.

[...]

And in 2013, CBO estimates unemployment will be even higher — at 9.2 percent.

Both of these statements from the Democrat-appointed CBO director prove that Barack Hussein Obama is a pathological liar on THE most fundamental issues that the American people care about.  Obama says that he has created 2 million jobs; he is a liar from the lowest snake pit.  And Obama claims that his policies are working WHEN THEY ARE WILDLY FAILING AND WILL FAIL WORSE IN THE COMING MONTHS.

Here is the story which details all of the above and more:

Congressional budget chief offers dim outlook on economic growth, jobs
By Jim Angle
Published February 01, 2012 | FoxNews.com

Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf on Wednesday projected that economic growth will slow by next year and unemployment will rise before that — a forecast that Rep. Paul Ryan called ominous, grim and alarming.

Elmendorf laid out the latest projections on the economy and deficits before the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill.

Ryan, R-Wis., who is chairman, raised alarm given projections that 2012 “will mark the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits.”

“Trillions more dollars will be added to debt in the years ahead, putting a chilling effect on jobs creation today and committing the next generation to a diminished future,” he said.

Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen took a different approach, saying deficits and growth would have been worse without President Obama’s stimulus plan. “The Recovery Act did serve its purpose. It’s kind of like when you’re walking up an escalator that’s going down very quickly. If you take no action you will go down very fast,” he said.

Yet future deficits depend in large part on how fast the economy grows, along with spending and revenues. And on that front, the CBO isn’t offering a lot of encouragement.

“The pace of the recovery has been slow since the recession ended two and a half years ago,” Elmendorf said. “And we project that it will continue to be slow for the next two years.”

The CBO believes that economic growth will be only 2 percent this year — and an anemic 1.1 percent next year.

The office says that will leave the unemployment rate at 8.9 percent at the end of this year, well above current the current rate of 8.5 percent, meaning the jobless rate would be increasing at election time.

That prompted this exchange between Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and the CBO director.  “Let me ask you, are there more people working today or fewer people working today than at the — on inauguration day of 2009?” McClintock asked.

“I believe the answer to that,” said Elmendorf, “is there are fewer people, congressman.”

And in 2013, CBO estimates unemployment will be even higher — at 9.2 percent.

Republicans have been wringing their hands about deficits for years, but one Democrat on Wednesday railed against those who focus only on cutting spending.

“Because there are people here that want to destroy the government, that it has no responsibility and it can’t live up to the obligations,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.

Several Democrats asked about how much revenues would be increased by eliminating the Bush tax cuts in hopes of avoiding more spending cuts.

One of the factors that will expand future deficits is entitlements, such as Medicare, which will explode as the baby boomers retire.

Elmendorf explained that “the fundamental fiscal challenge during this decade and beyond remains the aging of the population and rising costs for health care. The number of people aged 65 or older will increase by one-third in the coming decade, substantially raising the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

In addition, he said, the new federal health care overhaul will significantly increase the number of non-elderly people receiving assistance through federal health care programs, such as Medicaid.

All of that is likely to balloon current levels of debt.

The CBO did project declining deficits under “current law.”

But current law would end the Bush tax cuts for everyone, even those making less than $250,000 a year, which neither Congress nor the president supports.

It would also mean a cut of almost 30 percent to doctors who treat Medicare patients, which Congress has never let take effect.

Here is the CBO unemployment prediction from its report:

I wrote about this complete and total lie of Obama’s claims of creating jobs has been a couple of weeks ago.  Basically, you can look at the labor participation rate to see that Obama has destroyed two-and-a-half million jobs; and if we used the same participation rate under Bush that we now have under Obama, unemployment would be well over eleven percent:

Obama ‘Added Jobs’ Only If You Count Them With Propaganda Math

Obama Hell: When Bush Left Office Average Length Of Unemployment Was 19.8 Weeks; NOW IT’S 40.8 WEEKS

8 Illuminating Charts That Show How Truly Failed Obamanomics Truly Is

Please read my article (that also just came out today) on the shocking immoral disaster that Social Security was from the very beginning.

Consider that the real debt of our nation is $211 trillion, not the $16 trillion we hear about, and that Democrats have saddled us with virtually every single penny of a debt that we can never hope to repay and which will ultimately implode and destroy this nation.  That’s the past that Democrats have immorally saddled us with in their effort to control our lives and our fortunes while they stole whatever sacred honor we otherwise could have aspired to.

Then consider the future that Democrats have in store for us as you contemplate all of Barack Obama’s shocking lies and the slowly sinking path to hell he has planned for us with his death by 4,200 – and counting - regulations.

Consider the ObamaCare boondoggle that has 160 new death panels in it:

Consider what CBO Director Elmendorf said about Obama’s documented history of job destruction as well as his prediction of future Obama job destruction.

And then please vote for America by voting against Obama this November.

America may not be able to survive anyway; but it definitely can’t survive another four years of Obama.

Obama Hell: When Bush Left Office Average Length Of Unemployment Was 19.8 Weeks; NOW IT’S 40.8 WEEKS

This was what Obama said yesterday (Jan 6, 2012):

“Altogether more private sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005,” Mr. Obama said during a visit to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Friday. “There are a lot of people that are still hurting out there. After losing more than 8 million jobs in the recession, obviously we have a lot more work to do. But it is important for the American people to recognize that we’ve now added 3.2 million new private sector jobs over the last 22 months — nearly 2 million jobs last year alone.”

The problem is this man is a liar from the bottom of the pit of hell.

You want to see the hell that unemployment hell Obama has given us in a single graph?

No, no, you stupid liberal: that’s not a rocket ship blasting up into space; that’s your messiah’s average duration of unemployment that is blasting straight up into the stratsosphere.

The average duration of unemployment when Bush left office was 19.8 weeks.  That’s how long it took the average person who lost a job to find another one.  Now it is 40.8 weeks.  If you’re REALLY lucky.

Thanks for that “fundamental transformation” of America, Barry Hussein.

And here’s the truth about how many jobs Barack Obama HAS DESTROYED, as measured by the labor force participation rate (which for you liberals is the percent of people who are actually PARTICIPATING in the labor force):

Yes, liberal, I know.  That DOES look like a rocket ship plunging out of space on its way to a terrible crash.  But that’s what happens when you give a fool the U.S. economy.

The labor force participation rate was 65.7% on January 2009 when Bush left office.  It was 64% as of December 2011.  And when you’re talking about a working-age population the size of America’s that 1.7% is HUGE.

Obama isn’t creating jobs; he’s DESTROYING JOBS.

Even Ezra Klein states that if the same labor force participation rate applied from the Bush years, the actual Obama unemployment rate would be at 11 percent. James Pethokoukis of Reuters calculated it at 11.3 percent.  And Tyler Durden using the most recent data calculates it at 11.4%.

That’s the truth.  If you pay attention to the actual facts and ignore Barack Obama’s lying mouth and the propaganda of the mainstream media.

The actual work force - thanks to Barack Obama’s morally and logically depraved policies - is 2.5 million jobs smaller than when he took office.  That’s how many jobs have simply ceased to exist.

The reason the unemployment rate is going down is because it is measured in a fraudulent manner that does not take into account the discouraged workers who are simply dropping out and abandoning the work force.  Because the reality of the Obama failure has crushed every reality they have ever cherished.  For them, “hope” is dead.  And “change” is hell.

As I pointed out nearly a year ago, at the ‘rate’ we’re Going, we’ll have a 0% unemployment rate but no one will have an actual job.

8 Illuminating Charts That Show How Truly Failed Obamanomics Truly Is

Is Obamanomics working?  Only if “working” means imploding America: 

The 7 most illuminating economic charts of 2011
By James Pethokoukis
December 23, 2011, 12:11 pm

My Magnificent Seven. Some bust myths. Others highlight a reality the media is ignoring. Enjoy!

1. The overly optimistic unemployment forecast of the Obama White House. This may be the most infamous economic prediction in U.S. political history (helpfully updated by The Right Sphere). For the original January 2009 chart from White House economic advisers Jared Bernstein and Christina Romer, see here.

 

2. The real unemployment rate. The official (U-3) unemployment rate is 8.6 percent. But the labor force has been shrinking as discouraged workers have been disappeared by government statisticians rather than counted as unemployed. But what if they weren’t? What if the Labor Department added those folks back into the numbers? Well, you would get this:

3. Middle-class incomes have been stagnant for decades—not. It is an oft-repeated liberal talking point, one that President Obama himself used in his populist Osawatomie Speech: The rich got richer the past 30 years while the middle-class went nowhere. In short, the past few decades of lower taxes and lighter regulation have been a failure. Or, rather, pro-market policies have been a failure … except that new research from the University of Chicago’s Bruce Meyer and Notre Dame’s James Sullivan find that “median income and consumption both rose by more than 50 percent in real terms between 1980 and 2009.”

4. Inequality has exploded—not. According to the MSM and liberal economists, U.S. inequality has exploded to levels not seen since the 1920s or perhaps even the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. And to prove their point—that the 1 percent has gotten amazingly richer in recent decades—the inequality alarmists will inevitably trot out a famous income inequality study from economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Pike. But why not instead look at wealth—all financial and nonfinancial assets—instead of income? It’s less volatile and a truer measure of all the economic resources at an individual’s command. Turns out that Saez has done research on that subject, too. And he even created a revealing chart documenting the ups and downs of U.S. wealth over the past century. It reveals a very different picture of inequality in America:

5. and 6. The underwhelming Obama recovery. When you compare the current recovery to those of the past, it looks pretty anemic. And it doesn’t matter if you look at GDP growth or unemployment (via The Economist).

 

 

7. America’s debt picture is worse than you think. If you factor in the long-term impact of rising federal debt on U.S. interest rates and economic growth—raising borrowing costs and lowering tax revenue—you’ll find that federal debt could be almost 50 percent higher by 2035 than the estimates usually bandied about in the media.

 

I’ll give you another chart as an extra bonus.  It demonstrates the inconvenient fact that Obama’s VERY BEST month in terms of unemployment is signifantly worse than George Bush’s WORST month:

The truth is that Obama has lost 2.5 million jobs since he took office. The truth is these  jobs have simply ceased to exist under Obama, as measured by the diminishing labor participation rate. The truth is that if Obama were measured by the same labor participation rate that Bush was measured by when he left office, unemployment would be at over 11.3% (according to an analysis by Reuters), rather than the 8.6% Obama is being lauded for by media propaganda. I mean, dang, the truth is that even liberal Ezra Klein affirms that the real unemployment rate ought to be 11 percent.

We live in an age where awful is massaged and manipulated by a modern Ministry of Truth to be wonderful.

http://seg.sharethis.com/getSegment.php?purl=http%3A%2F%2Fstartthinkingright.wordpress.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php&jsref=&rnd=1324936189264

 

Want To Know How To Balance The Budget And Have Full Employment? Ask Republicans Who Are DOING It

Nebraska, a state governed by Republican conservative Dave Heineman.

First there’s the unemployment rate of 4.1%.  Second lowest in the entire nation (behind fellow Republican state North Dakota, for what that’s worth):

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say Nebraska’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in May, a drop of a tenth of a point from April’s 4.2 percent.

Then there’s the fact that this Republican state has a balanced budget.  And how did it balance the budget and get low unemployment?

[M]aybe there is something Washington can learn from Nebraska. How did Nebraska, with an estimated budget shortfall of almost $1 billion November 2010, get to a unanimous decision May 2011 and approve a balanced biennial budget of $6.9 billion?  A balanced budget that does not raise taxes and leaves nearly $300 million in the state’s cash reserves.

Some might presume that life is difficult for Nebraskans, what with their state government required to balance the budget and not allowed to borrow.  Actually Nebraska  is ranked #10 by Lifestyle Statistics, it was 3rd in top jobs behind North Dakota and Texas, and to top it off, the unemployment rate for Nebraska is 4.1%.

How did it happen? Strong leadership. A state constitution that requires a balanced budget and doesn’t allow for borrowing. Tough decisions made during tough times, not delayed.  Priorities identified. Discussions. Debates. Negotiations…and the use of a red line.

An interesting quote from Gov. Dave Heineman occurs midway through this snippet from an article entitled, “Caterpillar Threatens To Leave Illinois Over Taxes“:

“If Illinois doesn’t want your business, Texas does,” wrote Rick Perry, the governor of that state.

The governor of Nebraska, Dave Heineman, wrote: “In Nebraska, we balance our budget by controlling spending, not by raising taxes.”

An official in the South Dakota governor’s office chimed in: “In South Dakota, you make a profit, and you keep your profit.”

The Illinois tax increase will cost Caterpillar’s 23,000 employees in the state about $40 million this year, said Jim Dugan, the company’s chief spokesman. Higher taxes make it harder for Caterpillar to attract and retain engineers, accountants and other employees, Dugan said. He added that Caterpillar’s corporate taxes in the state also will increase but provided no estimate on the added cost.

“The state unfortunately continues to put off the tough decisions” about potential reductions in government spending and pension costs, Dugan said. He said Caterpillar was offering to advise the governor on cost-cutting based on the company’s own experience chopping pay and laying off workers during the 2008-09 recession

First, liberal Democrat Illinois is a hellhole.  And that’s because Democrats own that state.  Some interesting figures: 4 out of the last 7 governors of Illinois are convicted felons.  It’s government union pension program is the biggest disaster in the nation.  It’s major city Chicago is so filled with gang violence that even Democrats have been pleading for the National Guard to come in.  And, if that isn’t bad enough, Democrats are so dishonest that they just altered their congressional map to undo the clear will of the people.  That’s what Democrats bring.

All over the nation we’ve got cities that have voted Democrat for a hundred years.  And they are all hell holes.  While a jackass is in many ways an accurate symbol of what it means to be a Democrat, it would really be far more fitting if the symbol of the Democrat Party was a black hole surrounded by the white-hot fires of hell.  Because “Democrat” is really a portmanteau for “Demonic Bureaucrat.”  And hell is what demonic bureaucrats invariably bring.  Along with socialism and totalitarian control.

And with that said, did someone say Texas?  Did someone say Rick Perry?  Oh, that’s right, I haven’t talked about Texas and Republican Rick Perry yet.

From a liberal writing in the Los Angeles Times:

For the last few weeks, I’ve been unable to get a startling statistic out of my head: Since the recession officially ended, Texas has created more than 4 of every 10 new jobs in America.

That’s right, Texas: the reddest of red states, home to gun lovers and school textbooks that openly question whether the Founding Fathers intended for the separation of church and state. I am no ideologue. Still, whenever I get political, I tend to tilt reflexively to the left, making the jobs figure a bit disconcerting at first.

But there’s no escaping it. The number is real. Which means that if you care about putting people back to work at a time when nearly 14 million in this country are unemployed, maybe Texas has something to teach us.

[...]

According to the Dallas Fed, Texas generated 43% of the net new jobs in the U.S. from June 2009 through May 2011 — an enormous share when you consider that the Lone Star State accounts for about 8% of the nation’s economy.

So let’s see.  Nebraksa is flyover country as far as liberals are concerned; they prefer their completely failed major metropolitan areas that their completely failed polices have turned into complete failures for a good solid century.  But Nebraska – with it’s 4.1% unemployment rate (second only to ANOTHER state governed by Republicans) and it’s balanced budget – has the last laugh.  It’s kind of like that “Annoy a Liberal – Work hard and be happy” bumper sticker – only with a whole entire STATE.  If you want to try to weasel your way out of contemplating Nebraska’s success by arguing that it’s a small state and it’s low tax, spend-on-a-budget ways wouldn’t translate to a large state, let’s consider Texas and the 43% of ALL U.S. JOBS it has created, instead.

Basically no matter how you slice it, conservatives rule and liberals drool.

We’re coming upon a major decision: do we want four more years of the hellhole of God damn America, or do we want to pursue the economic policies that actually have the advantage of WORKING???

[Update:] Oh, my goodness, I forgot to point out that – after all the unhinged rabid liberal HATE that came out in Wisconsin – Governor Scott Walker was able to sign a balanced budget with no business-hostile tax increases.

You Call It ‘Obamanomics,’ I Call It ‘The Jobs Holocaust’

Quote:

The total number of people who were truly unemployed in June was 25.3  million.

And man that sucks (with “sucks” meaning, “swallowing everything in its path,” like a black hole of doom).

Real Unemployment Rises to 16.2% in June — 25.3 Million People
Friday, July 08, 2011
By Matt Cover

(CNSNews.com) – The real unemployment rate rose to 16.2 percent in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday, marking a return to levels not seen since January 2011.

The “real” unemployment rate is technically a combination of three measures of unemployment: the unemployment rate, the number of people working part-time who want full-time work, and the number of people “marginally attached” to the workforce.

Those who have left the workforce but would still like to be employed are considered marginally attached.

This figure is considered a more complete measure of unemployment because it captures a broader spectrum of those affected by the weak economy. Merely counting those who apply for unemployment benefits as “unemployed” does not fully account for everyone who is out of work or underemployed.

This real unemployment rate – known as the U6 rate – has been climbing since February 2011 when it was at 15.9 percent. Real unemployment peaked in October of 2009 at 17.4 percent, before falling into the 16 percent range for much of 2010.

It now appears that the real unemployment rate is returning to its 2010 levels, trending upward after staying slightly below 16 percent from February to May.

The total number of people who were truly unemployed in June was 25.3 million — the 14.1 million who were unemployed, the 2.7 million who were marginally attached to the workforce and the 8.6 million who were underemployed.

Here’s an official statistic from the BLS for all of you “Bush-blamers”:

 

Oh, yeah, that Bush was a real job murderer, he was.  Good thing we’ve got Obama now righting all those Bush wrongs.

The problem is that Obama isn’t “right” about ANYTHING.  Which leaves the American people pretty much screwed.

Understand something: the Obama administration assurred us that his $3.27 TRILLION stimulus boondoggle would have unemployment down to 6.5% by now.  But rather than acknowledging that Keynesian economics just dug its own grave, hopped in, and covered itself up with dirt where it should remain for all eternity, we are instead met with statements of fanatic religious faith that “the stimulus saved us from a depression.”

This from the same bunch of geniuses who damn Bush for his overall 5.26% unemployment rate and absolving Obama for his 9.3% unemployment average during his three years to date.

5.26%.  Bill Clinton paved the streets with gold, we are all told.  And HIS unemployment rate average was 5.2% (i.e., pretty much the same as Bush’s).  And then consider the fact that George Bush also had to deal with the Dotcom bubble collapse that began under Bill Clinton (which wiped out 78% of the Nasdaq stock exchange and vaporized $7.1 TRILLION in wealth) to go along with the 9/11 attacks and the two wars they necessitated.

Bush really doesn’t look bad at all, in hindsight to the failure Obama has brought America.  But a failed demagogue Big Brother needs to have an Emmanuel Goldstein to bear the blame.  That trick has been around since failed leaders have been around.

This is God damn America.  And I suppose you can think of it this way: in God damn America, you DO have a job.  In God damn America the only job you really need is the one you’ve got bearing the wrath of God for voting for the most evil president in American history.

It’s Obama’s Economy. Hold Him Responsible For It.

June 8, 2011 12:00 A.M.
It’s Obama’s Economy, Stupid
Jonah Goldberg
No president “runs” the U.S. economy, but this president talks like he does.

Now, my administration has a job to do as well, and that job is to get this economy back on its feet,” President Obama declared on July 14, 2009, in Warren, Mich. “That’s my job, and it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, well, this is Obama’s economy. That’s fine. Give it to me.”

OK. It’s yours.

The unemployment rate then was 9.5 percent. It’s now 9.1 percent, well above the 8 percent cap that the administration’s advisers projected under the stimulus bill. But that’s not the amazing part. According to a White House report written by economic advisers Jared Bernstein and Christina Romer in January 2009 in support of the bill, if we had passed no stimulus package at all, the unemployment rate would have topped out at around 8.8 percent in the last quarter of 2010.

If only.

Instead, we got Obama’s vital “investments.” Since his speech in Warren, we’ve spent another $2.8 trillion in borrowed money. Presumably, we could have cut the unemployment rate by four-tenths of a percentage point more cheaply than that?

Meanwhile, we’ve accrued a total of $3.7 trillion in debt on Obama’s watch, while losing 2.8 million jobs. That doesn’t sound ideal either.

But what do I know?

The more salient point is that Obama acts like he knows everything. From Day One, this White House has been cocksure about how to get us out of the economic ditch. In every major relevant speech, Obama has stuck with a consistent message: We know what to do and the Republicans don’t. “I will not sacrifice the core investments we need to grow and create jobs,” Obama insisted yet again in his April budget speech.

So what does this guy have to do to get the blame for the bad economy? Mark Halperin, an analyst for MSNBC and Time magazine, was asked on the Today show over the weekend about the political impact of the bad economy. He assured viewers that the president was totally engaged in the need for job creation. “The Republicans, though, have the onus on them to come forward with some ideas. The president’s ideas are still a little bit up in the air.”

A little bit up in the air? They’re in concrete. From his April 14, 2009, “New Foundation” speech at Georgetown University to his latest campaign stop, Obama has insisted he knows exactly what he’s doing. He stands by “Obamacare” as a boon for the economy. He still sees the “green revolution” — and all the crony capitalism that comes with it — as the solution to our woes. (That’s why he nominated John Bryson, a former utility CEO, subsidy-seeking entrepreneur, and environmental activist, to be his next commerce secretary.)

But is there any evidence it’s helped create jobs? Consider that when President Reagan oversaw a huge jobs boom, the media recycled the untrue claim that these were all low-paying “hamburger flipper” jobs.

Well, McDonald’s alone may be responsible for a quarter to a half of the new jobs created in the last month. And that hiring probably wouldn’t have happened if Mickey D’s hadn’t been given a waiver from Obamacare.

And then there’s the stimulus, which the White House still touts as an unqualified success. Well, during Obama’s first year in office, more than half (119,000) of all the new jobs in the United States were created in business-friendly Texas, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If Obama created those jobs, why’d he put so many of them in, of all places, George W. Bush’s home state?

No president “runs” the U.S. economy, but this president talks like he does more than any I can remember. And yet, none of his economic promises or predictions has panned out. (Remember the long, hot “recovery summer” when 250,000 to 500,000 new jobs a month that the vice president promised turned out to be mirages?)

How does the media react? Not by taking him at his word when he says he wants it to be “Obama’s economy.” Instead, they’re ferociously truth-squadding Sarah Palin’s comments on Paul Revere and following her bus around like they’re in a remake of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

And maybe it is.

Bumps On The Road: If At First They Don’t Succeed, Obama, Democrats (And Their ‘Experts’) Lie, Lie Again

There’s a memory that still makes me laugh.  I had a friend who worked the graveyard shift when I was in college.  When he got off work (i.e., when I was just getting up) he took his car to the shop for a repair and had asked me to meet him there and give him a ride home.

So I was standing there when the mechanic began to explain what was wrong with my friend’s car.  And my friend, wanting to see, put his hand on the radiator of the still hot engine.  He leaped back holding his hand.  The mechanic looked at him for a second, shook his head, and continued explaining.

Soon enough, my friend AGAIN put his hand on the radiator.  With the same result.  This time the mechanic looked at me and shook his head before going on.

You won’t believe this, but my friend actually did it a third time.

And the mechanic looked at him and said, “You just don’t learn, do you?”

I am here to tell you that Democrats are every bit as dumb as my friend.  And the only thing more hopelessly stupid than a liberal is a liberal “expert.”

Our economy is in a state of ruin.  Many of the most important numbers – such as unemployment and housing and manufacturing and consumer confidence – aren’t just as bad as they were when Obama took over, but far, far worse.  And with no sign of getting better.

If you survey the history of economics, there has never been a recession that lasted forever.  Sooner or later, things hit their bottoms and begin to get better.  Most severe recessions last about two years.  Even during the Great Depression – which in fact was a Great Depression for virtually every country on the planet – most of those nations emerged after no more than a few years.  The ONLY exception was the United States of America, which was being led by a socialist named FDR with near dictatorial power.  That recession/depression just went on and on and on.  FOR SEVEN YEARS LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was such a disaster that we actually amended the Constitution to make sure that we’d never end up with another FDR ever again.  Roosevelt knew absolutely nothing about business or economics and actually thought that by punishing business he’d somehow get more employment.  Like my friend, he repeated the same mistakes again and again and again, constantly expecting different results than the ones he kept getting.

And that is precisely where we are today: helplessly writhing in the grasp of a dictatorial socialist fool.

Allow me to show you how Obama, how the Democrats and how their “economists” – to put it in the words of the mechanic – “just don’t learn.”

Let’s begin with the beginning of the Obama regime, with his “stimulus” (also known as the Generational Theft Act): pork barrel spending that will ultimately cost the American people $3.27 TRILLION.

What did Obama promise you, as even the New York Times was forced to admit?

In the weeks just before President Obamatook office, his economic advisers made a mistake. They got a little carried away with hope.

To make the case for a big stimulus package, they released their economic forecast for the next few years. Without the stimulus, they saw the unemployment rate  —  then 7.2 percent  —  rising above 8 percent in 2009 and peaking at 9 percent next year. With the stimulus, the advisers said, unemployment would probably peak at 8 percent late this year.

We now know that this forecast was terribly optimistic.

According to Obama’s forecase, unemployment would NEVER rise above 8% if that massive government spending aka the stimulus was passed.  And unemployment would be UNDER 7% this year.  Let’s chalk that up as a great big giant “NOT!!!”

OUCH!!!  That’s one hand on the hot radiator.

Obama and the Democrat Party and their “economists” continued to stuipdly talk about all the jobs he “saved.”  The only problem was that “saved jobs” had NEVER IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS BEEN CONSIDERED PRIOR TO THE AGE OF OBAMA:

Harvard economics Professor Gregory Mankiw said, “there is no way to measure how many jobs are saved.” Allan Meltzer, professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon University said “One can search economic textbooks forever without finding a concept called ‘jobs saved.’ It doesn’t exist for good reason: how can anyone know that his or her job has been saved?”

And they went on and on with pure unadulterated totally bogus bullcrap to pat themselves on the back for what in reality was a total fiasco.  They just don’t learn, do they?

“OUCH!!!”

Let’s call that a second hand on the hot radiator – even though they did it over and over and over again – and are STILL doing it as we speak.

But that wasn’t it with this pile of pure fools.  If at first your policy fails, keep trying to fail more and bigger:

Obama Defends Stimulus Amid Calls For Round Two
by Mara Liasson   July 8, 2009

President Obama is being forced to wade into a domestic economic debate that just won’t go away: As the unemployment rate rises, there have been calls for a second round of stimulus spending.

Obama is in a difficult position. He has to defend his $787 billion economic stimulus package at a time when there are few visible signs that it has had an effect. Unemployment is at 9.5 percent, even though the White House predicted in January that with the stimulus bill, it would rise to only about 8 percent

That’s right, boys and girls.  Obama and his ilk couldn’t learn from the hot radiator.  They assumed that something else must have been hot, and they weren’t really touching what they’d just been touching.  Massive government spending was just an unmitigated failure that the answer was clearly …. (drumroll, please) …. EVEN MORE MASSIVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING!!!

“OUCH!!!”  That’s a third hand on that hot radiator.

Then there were the “green shoots” Obama saw in 2009:

Obama sees the green shoots of recovery
25/03/09 05:36 CET

US President Barack Obama believes his strategy to battle the economic downturn is beginning to show some positive results.

It comes as skepticism is growing as to the wisdom of his massive budget plan. The president took to the podium to defend his actions and answer questions from the world’s media. He said: “We’ve put in place a comprehensive strategy designed to attack this crisis on all fronts. It’s a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending and to grow our economy over the long-term. And we are beginning to see signs of progress.” Next week Obama makes his debut on the world stage when he attends the G20 summit in London. He outlined what he was looking for from the talks. “The goal of the G20 summit, I think, is to say to all countries ‘let’s avoid steps that could result in protectionism that would further contract global trade.’ Let’s focus on how are we going to move our regulatory process forward,” he said. Obama claims his economic plan, along with his new budget which is being prepared, is based on job creation, a more fluid housing market and a banking industry that is prepared to get credit flowing again.

Were there ever any green shoots?  Nope.  And certainly if there WERE, it’s a bunch of dead grass now.  Obama’s bullcrap stinks to high heaven, but it lacks the power to fertilize much of anything.

“OUCH!!!”

You put your hand there AGAIN, Barry Hussein?  Man, you just don’t learn, do you?

You might have thought my friend was pretty dumb.  But history would prove that he’s smarter than the man who is now President of the United States.  My friend only did it three times.  Obama’s up to four and counting.

Because what did we have in 2010 but “recovery summer”???

Obama, Biden declare ‘Recovery Summer’
By MIKE ALLEN | 6/17/10 5:06 AM EDT

Vice President Joe Biden today will kick off the Obama administration’s “Recovery Summer,” a six-week-long push designed to highlight the jobs accompanying a surge in stimulus-funded projects to improve highways, parks, drinking water and other public works.

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, said: “This summer will be the most active Recovery Act season yet, with thousands of highly-visible road, bridge, water and other infrastructure projects breaking ground across the country, giving the American people a first-hand look at the Recovery Act in their own backyards and making it crystal clear what the cost would have been of doing nothing.”

Biden, President Barack Obama and other administration officials will travel to more than two dozen Recovery Act project sites in coming weeks. On Friday, the president will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to mark the groundbreaking of the 10,000th Recovery Act road project to get under way. The administration says the road improvement project in downtown Columbus is expected to create over 300 construction jobs, and will contribute to a broader economic development effort in the area around Nationwide Children’s Hospital. [...]

“OUCH!!!”

Oh, come ON, Barry Hussein.  Are we going to have to put a cork on your fork so you don’t stab out your other eye???

Okay, so last year we were at “wreckovery summer.”  What now?  I mean, what else can this fool possibly say?

Well, now all the terrible news about unemployment, about housing, about manufacturing, about consumer confidence is all just a “bump in the road.”

“There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery,” Obama said.

“OUCH!!!”

Obama is a far more stupid and more foolish man than my friend will ever be.

The question is, just how stupid are YOU???  I hope not so much as to actually re-elect this complete moral idiot.

In August 2009, while Obama was still talking about his “green shoots,” we had this prediction:

Peter Schiff, Pres Euro Pacific Capital: “The recession might be coming to an end; the problem is the depression is just getting started.”

“Newsweek trumpets the recession is over.  But it’s just a temporary ‘good time’ like the high you get if you do too much crack cocaine; with the stimulus being an artificial stimulant that gets us deeper and deeper into debt.  Remember the problem was we took on too much debt; well, now we have even more debt than when the recession began.”

OUCH!!!

Only this one is YOUR hand on the boiling hot radiator of an economy in meltdown …