Jobs

It’s one of those worst-case nightmare scenarios that every worker from Maine to Hawaii has been experiencing for more than two years now, with one out of five Americans unable to find work in Barack Obama’s wonderland and unemployment benefits about to end for two million unemployed by Saturday.

Once again Congress has descended into partisan bickering, as Congressional DeMarxists attempt to add more spending to existent legislation and Republicans insisting that any additional jobless benefits be paid for by reductions in debt. It’s the classic Democrat-Republican impasse, with the American people trapped in between.

Republicans are correct in doing everything possible to reduce the DeMarxist money juggernaut which is threatening to impoverish the country for decades to come. However, the active principle should be the welfare of the people who have seen their jobs lost, due to the suicidally unwise monetary policies set in place by both Democrats and Republicans.

It cracks me up when I hear hear sage ‘economists’ pontificating that Americans are using unemployment as an ‘excuse’ for not finding jobs. Having spoken to many people over the last two years who have found themselves in the position of having lost their jobs, I can assure you that few, if any, were using unemployment as some sort of paid vacation. With rare exception, unemployment doesn’t pay enough to live or support a family on… much less make mortgage payments. The continuing waves of foreclosures are mute testimony to this.

Any Conservative will tell you that the very idea of dependence on government is repugnant indeed. But these are not normal times… with the actual unemployment figures much closer to seventeen per cent, as opposed to the meek 9.6% the government claims it to be. Job losses are much closer to great depression levels than in any recession we’ve had. Congress should set aside their differences on this.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

To paraphrase Sarah Palin, “How’s that hopey changey thing workin’ out for ya?” Mr ‘No family making less than 250,000.00 dollars will see a tax increase’.. ad nauseum. Now Mr Presidential Chameleon has come up with another mind-torturing shape change. Our wonderful leader has discovered that he is ‘AGNOSTIC’ to tax increases for the “middle class”, whatever his definition of that may be this week.

Our nouveau deficit hawk is fresh from his most recent bi-partisan entrapment attempt, complaining that the Republicans didn’t want to come out and play. Obama was seeking political cover for his latest money pig-out, asking for EIGHTY BILLION dollars for ‘jobs’. If you’re a Democrat you know you’re in trouble when one of your own statist media organs (AP) looks at your ‘jobs’ bill and says it won’t create many jobs.

Knowing that the Democrats were only too happy to set them up as being the party of ‘NO’, the Republicans neatly sidestepped the ploy. The ‘tax’ cut provisions of the bill were something that would only appeal to someone who had never worked in the private sector, run a company or had to make a payroll. Therein lies the rub for Obama’s administration. There simply is no one to tell them ‘heck no’, it just doesn’t work like that. Few, if any, people in the White House have ever held a private sector job and have little understanding of the economic engines that actually drive job growth.

Harry Reid Speaks To The Media After Scrapping The Bipartisan Jobs Bill

Other provisions in the bill are more transportation make-work union paybacks, and possibly the only part of the proposed legislation that may have validity, further extensions of unemployment benefits for those who have been unable to find work. With a stagnant economy there are approximately six job seekers for every job out in the private sector. The only job growth has been in the public (government) sector which has a direct negative effect on private sector job growth.

Along with the tax increases, the administration is seeking cuts in spending for entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare… sure to be an extremely unpopular issue with the country’s seniors. A huge voting block that up to this point had been reliably Democrat.

Of course, a REALLY courageous leader and his party could find much of that money by removing many of the multi-layered and redundant agencies and bureaucracies which glut our government, and by reducing the truly insane regulatory burden being placed on American business. Naturally, that would probably make too much sense. As would CUTTING TAXES. It’s easy, Obama. You want to create jobs? LOTS of jobs? CUT TAXES.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

It has been a tough year for America’s youth. We liked Barack Obama. It may not be the best reason to vote for someone, but the fact remains, he was the coolest politician of our lifetime. Throughout the campaign he made it a point to speak directly to us. In return, we made him a walking, talking viral video and carried him into office. More than a year later many young adults find themselves out of work, dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and left with plenty of time to wonder what happened to the change that was promised.

Part of the problem was that the campaign left people expecting a revolution. Things much deeper than the simple color of his skin sent the message that he was going to be different. It was that much more of a surprise then that business continued as usual in the White House. But from the youth perspective, the most disturbing part of the continuation of a tired status quo, was that Obama seemed to forget about young adults. As Erica Williams, policy and advocacy manager for Campus Progressives explains,

“While we were still largely supportive of the administration and the president, we were a little disappointed in the compromises that had been made, the lack of engagement between the administration and young people,”

The lack of engagement has become the clearest on the issue of job creation. A new report by Reuters shows that only 26 percent of American teenagers aged 16-19 had jobs in late 2009 – a record low since statistics were first kept. Moreover, “the disconnection rate – Americans aged 20 to 24 who were neither in school nor working – jumped to 28 percent last year from 17 percent in 2007.”

The staggering unemployment figures threaten to create a lost generation among America’s youth. Being squeezed from the top by experienced middle-aged workers and from the bottom by the constantly refilling ranks of graduating classes, young adults have been desperately looking from a quick response to the job crisis. As Edward DeJusus, President and Founder of the Youth Development and Research Fund, said,

“In a society where the world has become increasingly fast-paced and technologically progressive, it is imperative to not only involve today’s youth in the future of job creation, but also to recruit their efforts. “

There is a growing notion that Obama has failed to involve today’s youth in how to create more jobs. It is no surprise then that there is a parallel trend in which young adults feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction. As Rasmussen polls show, the number of 18-29 year olds who believe the country is headed in the right direction has dropped by 20 percent in just four months while the number who believe we are going in the wrong direction has increased by 20 percent.

Young adults are suffering. We need jobs. We also need a President or a party who is will make our concerns a priority. As Pete Levine of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement explains the importance of young adults, “[The recession is] a more formative experience than anything any politician is going to do. If it turns out that we’ve already seen the worst, that’s one story. If it lasts for years, it’ll also be very influential.” Republicans would be wise to listen. Barack Obama was able to capture young adults in 2008 based on a promise, Republicans can win their vote forever by including them in a plan to improve the economy.

- Brandon Greife, Political Director of the College Republican National Committee

It’s not like, “Oh gravy!” “What’s he lying about this time?” It’s more like which SETS of multiple lies do I start with. While Mr. Mealy Mouth was wowing the kiddies at an elementary school by standing feet above them, looking down his nose at the teleprompters again, Nancy and Harry, with Obama’s direct knowledge and approval, have concocted a complete Rube Goldberg torturing of the legislative process in order to cram that health bill down your throat, 60 votes or not.

They intend to achieve this by a bizarre bait and switch use of the reconciliation process and a total backdoor agreement between Senate and House versions to be enacted by Democrat Representatives, on a promise of signing on to it AFTER Obama signs the legislation and enacts changes agreed to beforehand to satisfy the various recalcitrant factions.

This one is so sleazy, fraudulent and most likely unconstitutional, as to be hard to absorb. It’s almost surrealistic. If the general populace learns of this one they may decide to go the tar and pitchfork route after all. Those Bluedogs? HAMMER THE HELL OUT OF THEM!! They are the Obama, Pelosi, Reid lynch pin on this. So it’s back to the mattresses for Conservatives and Independents. Call, fax, email and contact your local representative’s office. THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED.

Obama, meanwhile, is touting that his stimulus has ’saved or created’ TWO MILLION JOBS. President Obama, YOU’RE LYING THROUGH YOUR EYE TEETH. The Obama administration has been doing everything diametrically opposite of what is required to create new jobs. His assaults on business and the MIDDLE CLASS (this is classic marxism). Assaults on the financial and banking sectors who small business is dependent on for funding and expansion. This is all a direct assault on the middle class because small businesses drive job creation in this country, and SMALL BUSINESS IS THE MIDDLE CLASS!

Now President Obama is going to pull a classic Saul Alinsky right shift and try to convince someone in the ‘middle class’ that he really cares. He is going to claim that the middle class has been under ‘assault’. Yeah Obama, by whom? 15 MILLION JOBS LOST. The worst month for housing sales in FORTY YEARS, down 17% in December. It’s the middle class that buy homes, Obama. It’s the middle class that can pay for them. Remember all that Democratic junk paper? Those are YOUR foreclosures. Those are the poor that you and ACORN forced the banks to loan to, the ones who had not a prayer of being able to repay.

Your public debt Obama: $12,245,872,000,000 – a figure almost inconceivable in its scope, and you want to increase that debt ceiling by another ONE POINT NINE TRILLION DOLLARS, and you’re going to go in front of the country and preach about FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY?!! You have destroyed those jobs, Obama, you have destroyed them by sucking billions upon billions of dollars out of the private sector. You were speaking about being a one term President, Mr. Obama. From your lips to God’s ears.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Stories and reports continue to break about the stimulus bill that was rushed through congress earlier this year and the fact that it has not succeeded in creating more jobs for Americans.

Still, there doesn't appear to be any leadership or a unified voice raising the tenor of outrage about this massive failure by the Democratic leaders in Congress and the Administration.  The more people scratch the surface of the stimulus reports, the more they discover a government boondoggle - with non-existent congressional districts, counting jobs that were created without stimulus funding, double-counting of jobs, and unclear entities that have been credited with creating new jobs. 

All the while, unemployment has reached an unbelievable 10.2%

This upcoming election cycle is about jobs and the economy - plain and simple. Every poll since September 2008 has shown that the number one concern of voters is jobs and the economy. 

Voters are watching family members, neighbors and friends cope with layoffs, and many have lost their own jobs.  People are surviving on smaller paychecks.  Many Americans know someone who has lost their home to a foreclosure and ever increasing numbers believe the stimulus is having no effect on the economy.  There is a sweeping sentiment among voters that the government is getting too large and is not responsive to the people.

Without mincing words, the trillion dollar stimulus the Washington Democrats shoved down America's throat is a debacle and is the clearest example of how they are fundamentally failing the American people in regards to jobs and the economy. 

In fact, David Obey, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and father of the stimulus bill, is now placing blame on the Administration for lack of oversight of his own bill. Even he is running scared from the mess that is the stimulus bill.

This can not be emphasized enough.

Health care reform is important and must debated and a government-run plan should be fought aggressively. However, it appears that while we focus on that, the opposition is getting a free pass on this.  In reality, the healthcare legislation is a distraction to what is most important - the Democratic leadership's big government approach to jobs and the economy has failed...and this is the strongest reason why a big government approach to healthcare is wrong.

Republicans need to begin calling for accountability on this failed stimulus bill that is wrought with inconsistencies and bad numbers...and drumbeat the looming question, "Where are the jobs?"

I point you to a piece by Mike Flynn, editor of BigGovernment.com. Mike wrote a post today, Obama Stimulus Numbers: The Return of Enron-Style Accounting, comparing the reporting of the stimulus bill to Enron's reporting of it's financial reports. He's starting to see where this is heading.

His Mightiness the Empty Suit, in the getting-dingier-by-the-day White House, is constantly holding forth, sagely saying NOTHING in front of gaggles of “journalists”, who dutifully report NOTHING, while the would be NEO-STAZI in the Suit’s administration attack the only news and information outlets that do say SOMETHING about what the President, the administration and that zany and dysfunctional but extremely dangerous Congress, led by Nancy “Stretch” Pelosi and that ever popular Harry “I ain’t got a prayer of re-election” Reid, are up to. While the people of America continue to suffer the throes of a completely jobless “recovery”, with a recession that shows every indication of being worse despite what all the liberal pitchmen in the administration and the media lapdogs are saying. The FACTS are that there are no jobs and the REASON that there are no jobs is that small business is scared to death. The government has a plethora of more than onerous taxation, regulation and punitive laws waiting in the wings, custom designed to destroy the private sector. Job growth does not come from unionized segments of the society and hasn’t since the days of Henry Ford. Trade unionism is a cancer which can destroy. Trade unionism destroyed Great Britain’s economy and it hasn’t recovered to this day. Unions by their very nature are antithetical to GROWING anything…they produce very little other than protecting their own interests. They have a tendency toward protecting the least well qualified as opposed to the most…the government unions are a prime example. The service and automobile industry unions are others. Meanwhile, the stock market continues to show increases in value. WHAT gives? Simply, they are increasing profit margins by laying people off and consolidating operations. Job growth comes from private business…in the larger context of the economy large business does not create nearly as many jobs as the small business entrepreneur. These jobs are not being created specifically because of the anti-business, anti-American policies of the Obama White House and the Marxist Obama administration and Congress. 500,000 new jobless claims is 500,000 JOBS LOST TO THE OBAMA ECONOMY. He can’t blame the Bush administration for this and hasn’t been able to for six months or more. Suspicious minds would conclude that there are more sinister activities and purposes afoot here than our usually trusting minds can easily wrap themselves around…or want to believe…

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2009

This is hard to believe, but hey, it's the federal government's own statistics.

Guess how many new jobs the much ballyhooed "stimulus" program has created across the state of Connecticut, a place with a workforce of about 2 million?

20. That's right. TWENTY. Two-Zero.

You know, that's a total of 2.8 additional new jobs for each Democratic vote in the CT congressional delegation that favored the $800 billion boondoggle.

I really do hope this program picks up some more steam. Because based on the fact that CT's taxpayers are responsible for about 2.2% of the total federal tax base; right now we are running a cost to the CT taxpayer of about $900 million per additional job. This even makes Alex Rodriguez look like cheap labor.   

Then again, Joe Biden was in Fairfield last month  touting some big paving and tree cutting program  on the Merritt Parkway.  And we know " no one messes with Joe"

Right?

To continue building its infrastructure, the center-right is going to have to start hiring talent from around the country. I understand the value of having most of your human resources in a dynamic, creative cluster like NoVa/DC, but it’s time to tap folks that don’t relish living in Termite Town. Besides, there are creative clusters in other places.

Telecommuters and remote workers aren’t going away any time soon. To remain competitive while extending their national reach, both partisans and non-profits need to think nationally. Virtual workforces are now possible. (Reason Foundation, for example, has people all over the country.) Novel, immersive conferencing environments like Teleplace are getting less expensive and improving collaboration across geographies. There are trade-offs to distributed workforces to be sure, but the costs are going down and the benefits are going up.

The next time you post a job, open your mind. Your best candidate may be in Silicon Valley, Austin, Texas, or Research Triangle, NC—and may want to stay there. 

Obama and the Dems credit the recent better job market to the Stimulus bill, but defend the-still-week job market by saying that jobs are a “lagging indicator,” it lags the rest of the economy when it comes to improvements, therefore the Stimulus does not yet fully reflect in the job market.

The Problem is this: February, the month the stimulus was signed and before any stimulus money was dished out, the economy lost 60,000 jobs less than in January, and in March the economy lost even less jobs than in February. If the “logging indicator” excuse is true, why did the economy in March, the month stimulus money merely started rolling out, lose less jobs than it did in each of the two months before it? The March improvement cannot be attributed to the stimulus considering jobs are a lagging indicator. Right? It takes time for the Stimulus to reflect in the market. Aint it so?

Whichever way you will cook it, you are toast: if you use “lagging” is a factor, how/why did we get the March improvements? You will of course have to agree that some (or most) of March happened on its own (just as February certainly did happen on its own because it was before the Stimulus). If so, how much of the general improved job markets since then took place on its own independent of Obama? And if you will say logging is not a factor and the better March number IS a direct result of the stimulus, why is the job market now, a half year later, still not doing better than it is?

Side Note:  if you wonder why February saw improvements even before the Stimulus, go back to Katrina for the answer: the New Orleans waters receded before the Bush team took any action. Why? because there is this much havoc that panic can cause before things get less bad on its own. The same is with the job market: it started getting less bad on its own, back in February.

(This writing was posted here too)

I considey myself sorta a "shot and a beer" Republican so when I see charts like this from Redstate

I feel compelled to try and provide a better visual idea of the futility to date of Obamanomics

Since February the Obama camp claims to have "saved or created" 100,000 to 150,000 jobs

On the other hand, unemployment is up by over 1.5 million. I suspect that when adds in "discouraged workers" no longer seeking work we are well above that number.

So I think there's about a 1 to 12 ratio of new or saved jobs to lost jobs right about now.

So here's the graphic

Jobs Obama saved

Jobs Obama didn't save. 

Any questions?

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