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.

As Gasoline Prices Soar Out Of Control, Yet ANOTHER Obama Energy Boondoggle Pisses Away Taxpayer Money By Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars

Barack Obama giving away $2 billion in stimulus money on July 4, 2010:

“In fact, today, I’m announcing that the Department of Energy is awarding nearly $2 billion in conditional commitments to two solar companies.

The first is Abengoa Solar, a company that has agreed to build one of the largest solar plants in the world right here in the United States. After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs right here in America. In the short term, construction will create approximately 1,600 jobs in Arizona. What’s more, over 70 percent of the components and products used in construction will be manufactured in the USA, boosting jobs and communities in states up and down the supply chain. Once completed, this plant will be the first large-scale solar plant in the U.S. to actually store the energy it generates for later use – even at night. And it will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power 70,000 homes.

The second company is Abound Solar Manufacturing, which will manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. A Colorado plant is already underway, and an Indiana plant will be built in what’s now an empty Chrysler factory. When fully operational, these plants will produce millions of state-of-the-art solar panels each year.

Obama’s “investment” today:

Earlier today I mentioned Energy Secretary Chu’s statement to Congress that the administration didn’t care about lowering gas prices, just pushing alternative energy. Now we have the latest failure as part of that scheme, Abound Solar Manufacturing, has announced it will lay off 70% of its workforce. The company received a $400 million loan guarantee through the Obama stimulus.

Oh, and by the way, Abound got that $400 million loan even though it was obviously a huge credit risk:

A month before Abound Solarannounced it would be laying off nearly half its workforce, Congressional Republicans alerted the U.S. Department of Energy that they had questions about the decision to loan the Colorado firm $400 million.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu to explain how the solar panel manufacturer had qualified for the loan after the ratings firm Fitch had determined the company would make a “highly speculative” investment.

“Fitch describes Abound as lagging in technology relative to its competitors, failing to achieve stated efficiency targets, and expecting that Abound will suffer from increasing commoditization and pricing pressures,” wrote Rep. Darrell Issa, R.-California, the committee chairman. “DOE’s willingness to fund Abound, despite these concerns, calls into question the merits of this loan guarantee.”

Obama is demonizing oil companies (you know, the people who are the only reason ordinary Americans are able to get into their cars and drive somewhere) while he continues to give away billions of dollars to his crony capitalist fascist friends at the useless green energy companies.  Oh, and he’s demonizing the $4 billion in tax breaks to oil companies that keep this country going while he is proposing to give away $5 billion more to green energy that produces virtually nothing.

That should seriously piss you off, because gas prices – you know, the stuff that the oil companies Obama demonizes produce – have more than DOUBLED under this failed president’s failed policies:

The day Barack Obama took office, the average national price of gasoline was $1.84 a gallon.

As of today, March 1, 2012, the average national price of gasoline is $3.74 a gallon.

Oh, and gasoline may very well hit $5 a gallon by Memorial Day.

While even Bill Clinton is urging the Failure-in-Chief to “embrace” the Keystone Oil Pipeline that Obama has refused to alllow even though it wouldn’t have required ONE PENNY in taxpayer money.

Beyond Solyndra – which devoured more than half of a BILLION dollars in taxpayer money before going completely bankrupt – there have been many other massive Obama failures.

Just a couple:

Green energy company given federal stimulus funds lays off 125 workers, gives pay raise to executives
Published February 26, 2012 | FoxNews.com

An electric car battery company reportedly has laid off 125 employees since receiving $390 million in government subsidies, but is still handing out big pay raises to company executives.

A123 systems, which was touted as a stimulus “success story” by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., had a net loss of $172 million through the first three quarters of 2011, according to the Washington Examiner’s “Beltway Confidential” blog, citing a report from the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

A123’s primary customer, Fisker Automotive, is also struggling financially. “Yet, this month A123’s Compensation Committee approved a $30,000 raise for [Chief Financial Officer David] Prystash just days after Fisker Automotive announced the U.S. Energy Department had cut off what was left of its $528.7 million loan it had previously received.”

This month has seen significant pay boosts for other A123 executives, as well, including vice presidents Robert Johnson and Jason Forcier.

The raises were reported by the company in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the Mackinac report.

“It looks highly suspicious,” Paul Chesser, associate fellow for the National Legal & Policy Center, told Mackinac. “It looks like they are trying to pad their top people’s wallets in case something really bad happens.”

Click to read the Washington Examiner blog.

Click to read the Mackinac Center for Public Policy report.

And far, FAR worse:

Obama Gave Billions to Green Energy Companies with Ties to His Administration and 2008 Campaign
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, February 16, 2012, 1:13 PM

The RNC released this infographic today showing that billions in taxpayer dollars were were given to firms with close ties to the Obama Administration.

The Washington Post reported:

Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.

Obama’s program to invest federal funds in start-up companies — and the failure of some of those companies — is becoming a rallying cry for opponents in the presidential race. Mitt Romney has promised to focus on Obama’s “record” as a “venture capitalist.” And in ads and speeches, conservative groups and the Republican candidates are zeroing in on the administration’s decision to extend $535 million to the now-shuttered solar firm Solyndra and billions of dollars more to clean-tech start-ups backed by the president’s political allies.

White House officials stress that staffers and advisers with venture capital ties did not make funding decisions related to these companies. But e-mails released in a congressional probe of Obama’s clean-tech program show that staff and advisers with links to venture firms informally advocated for some of those companies.

David Gold, a venture capitalist and critic of Obama’s investments in clean tech, said that even if staffers had been removed from the final decision-making, they had the kind of inside access to exert subtle influence.

“To believe those quiet conversations don’t happen in the hallways — about a project being in a certain congressman’s district or being associated with a significant presidential donor, is naive,” said Gold, who once worked at the Office of Management and Budget. “When you’re putting this kind of pressure on an organization to make decisions on very big dollars, there’s increased likelihood that political connections will influence things.”

Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said the companies won awards based on merit, not political connections. He said the staffers and advisory board members reviewed by the Post had no role in funding decisions, nor did they have any personal financial stake in the companies. One of those administration advisers had first been appointed to his position by the Bush administration, LaVera said…

…Thousands of agency and White House e-mails released as part of the Solyndra investigation show that venture capitalists who held advisory roles with the Energy Department were given access to Obama’s top advisers.

Read the whole thing. It will make you ill.

Obama is selling this country out even while he works to implode it by starving us of energy while spending us into bankruptcy.

6 Million Benefit Paying Jobs Vanish This Year: Aint Obamanomics Doing GREAT?

There’s got to be a voice screaming in the head of every single American that something is just not right – and that Barry Hussein and the Democrat Party are bringing this nation to the verge of destruction.

But then, many Americans are Democrats, and that screaming voice has to compete with all the other screaming voices in their heads.

6 Million Benefit Paying Jobs Vanish in One Year!
By Mike Shedlock on 11/17/2010 – 2:12 am PST

Analysis of weekly unemployment data and covered employees shows that 5,977,844 benefit-paying jobs have been lost in the last year.

click on chart for sharper image

The above chart is from reader Tim Wallace. I added the date and numeric annotations. Thanks Tim!

Covered Employment Stats of Merit

• Covered employment is back to 2004 levels.
• Close to 6 million benefits paying jobs have vanished in a year.
• Over 8 million benefits paying jobs have vanished since the 2008 peak.

What is a Covered Employee?

The exact meaning of “covered employee” varies slightly state to state, but not by much. In simple terms it means one is eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

Most states exclude the self-employed, commission based employment such as real estate agents, those in student training programs, academic and hospital internships, employment by churches or religious organizations, and rehabilitation programs.

Self-employed individuals must pay into unemployment insurance programs, however, the self-employed are not eligible for benefits anywhere.

Nearly 6 Million Jobs Vanish

By the above interpretation, it is safe to conclude that 5,977,844 jobs totally vanished (not just benefit paying jobs).

The only way that cannot be true is if there was a sudden shocking increase in the number of real estate agents, church hiring, or close to 6 million people all of a sudden decided to go into business for themselves.

All of those possibilities are highly unlikely to say the least.

Tim Wallace writes ….

The ANNUAL ADDITIVE TREND from 2004 to 2008 of 1.9 million is now a net loss of 8 million the past two years

Year….Covered………..Number added from previous year
2004….126,276,670….Data from hard copy sheets
2005….127,622,590….1,345,920
2006….130,605,286….2,982,696
2007….132,623,886….2,018,600
2008….133,902,387….1,278,501 average added per yr = 1,906,429
2009….131,823,421….-2,078,966
2010….125,845,577….-5,977,844

Did the stimulus SAVE or CREATE any jobs, or did we lose over 8 million jobs in two years in spite of record amounts of stimulus?

Download data including the covered column is found on the US Department of Labor website, Weekly Claims Data.

Was there a Massive Surge in Retirees?

click on chart for sharper image

There was no massive surge in retirees so that cannot account for the loss of benefits-paying jobs.

Retiree Data

• In October of 2006 there were 30,908,097 retirees.
• In October of 2007 there were 31,467,071 retirees, an increase of 558,974.
• In October of 2008 there were 32,222,895 retirees, an increase of 755,824.
• In October of 2009 there were 33,366,881 retirees, an increase of 1,143,986.
• In October of 2010 there were 34,463,650 retirees, an increase of 1,096,769.

Information on retirees is from the Social Security Administration. It undercounts retirees not in the system so actual numbers would be somewhat higher.

The number of retirees is certainly increasing which suggests the number of jobs needed to keep the unemployment rate steady is dropping. It also helps explain a falling participation rate (although not at the rate that it is falling).

That aside, the growth in the number of retirees cannot begin to explain the massive loss of benefits-paying jobs.

The increase in retirees from 2008 to 2010 is only 2,240,755 total. Civilian population growth was rose by 1,980,000 just last year.

Population Changes

I recently discussed population changes in my post In Search of 1.1 Million Jobs Claimed by Obama; Where the Hell are They?

Let’s take another look at the BLS October Jobs Report.

Scroll down to page 5: HOUSEHOLD DATA Summary table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted.

click on chart for sharper image

The first item of interest is the Civilian Noninstitutional Population (i.e the population aged 16 and up not in school, prison, or other institutions).

In the last year, the table shows Civilian Noninstitutional Population rose by 1,980,000 an average gain of 165,000 potential workers a month.

Expected Increase In Workforce

In the last year the Civilian Noninstitutional Population rose by 1,980,000. There were 1,096,769 retirees. That mean the labor force should have increased by 883,231 workers. Instead the BLS reports the labor force increased by 50,000 workers (second line in table A above).

The rest supposedly dropped out of the workforce.

Hard Facts

Please remember the numbers in Table A are from phone surveys, seasonally adjusted, and arguably quite error prone.

On the other hand, the covered employees chart was produced from actual jobs data from the states.

Hard data says the US lost 5,977,844 benefits-paying jobs in a year, and 8,056,810 benefits-paying jobs in 2 years when we should have gained close to a million jobs a year or so based on population growth, even factoring in the number of retirees.

6 Million Benefits-Paying Jobs Vanish and Unemployment Rate Drops!

In spite of losing nearly 6 million benefits-paying jobs in the last year (and not gaining another 800,00 to a million more based on population growth minus retirees), the unemployment rate in October of 2009 was 10.1% and it is now supposedly a half-point lower at 9.6%.

Is this a crock or what?

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

If you’re a Democrat, just keep your head in that same nice, warm, safe place you’ve had it all your life:

Remember the magnificent promise of your messiah:

If Obama starts looking bad to you, just remember that handsome face in the mirror:

And remember, keep voting Democrat:

You don’t have a thing to worry about.  Your ship will come in soon.

Enjoy your luxurious trip on His Majesty’s Ship Titanic.