A Hollywood Republican

This blog is for an open discussion on politics. My views will be to the right as will be most of the posters. But, we are willing to post alternative viewpoints as lons as they are well thought out. I started this in response to the Obama election and will continue it as long as it feeds a need.

Apr 5, 2010

The Real Job Numbers by Craig Covello

On Friday, April 2 at 8:30 AM Eastern, the US Department of Labor issued its "Employment Situation" for the month of March. Some of the talking heads were predicting that the unemployment numbers would not be very good. In hindsight, they were either right or slightly pessimistic depending upon your comfort level accepting the new reality of unemployment statistics. Here is an excerpt from the March report:

• The unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent or 15 million.

• Employment in federal government rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010.

• Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information.

• The number of long-term unemployed (27 weeks and longer) increased by 414,000 over the month to 6.5 million.

• The number of persons working part time increased to 9.1 million in March.

• Unemployed Teenagers = 26%

• Unemployed Blacks = 16.5%

• Unemployed Hispanics = 12.6%

• Unemployed Whites = 8.8%

• Unemployed Adult men = 10.0%

• Unemployed Adult women= 8.0%

• Unemployed Asians = 7.5%

Regardless of whether you interpret these statistics as slightly higher or lower than February, there is another set of statistics that might interest you.

They were published Friday, March 26, by the Republican Ways and Means Committee in response to some recent claims by Obama. According to the president, the February 2009 stimulus bill created approximately 2,000,000 jobs and is on track to create another 1,500,000 jobs during the remainder of 2010. Unfortunately, the US Department of Labor disagrees.

Here's a table comparing the administration's forecast originally issued on February 13, 2009 with current US Department of Labor payroll employment figures. The numbers speak for themselves.

State                   White House                               Actual as of Feb 2010
                              Forecast

Alabama                 +52,000                                      -58,000
Alaska                      +8,000                                          +900
Arizona                   +70,000                                    -100,400
Arkansas                 +31,000                                      -28,700
California              +396,000                                     -586,300
Colorado                +59,000                                       -83,900
Connecticut             +41,000                                       -45,400
Delaware                +11,000                                       -14,300
DC                         +12,000                                        +1,600
Florida                  +206,000                                     -211,500
Georgia                 +106,000                                     -136,200
Hawaii                    +15,000                                       -15,600
Idaho                      +17,000                                       -19,500
Illinois                    +148,000                                    -192,200
Indiana                    +75,000                                       -76,700
Iowa                       +37,000                                       -33,600
Kansas                    +33,000                                      -45,900
Kentucky                 +48,000                                     -38,400
Louisiana                 +50,000                                      -36,700
Maine                      +15,000                                      -12,200
Maryland                 +66,000                                      -68,300
Massachusetts          +79,000                                      -79,900
Michigan                +109,000                                    -112,000
Minnesota                +66,000                                      -62,300
Mississippi               +30,000                                      -26,500
Missouri                   +69,000                                     -72,600
Montana                   +11,000                                      -9,200
Nebraska                  +23,000                                   -21,700
Nevada                     +34,000                                   -61,600
New Hampshire        +16,000                                     -2,800
New Jersey             +100,000                                   -81,600
New Mexico             +22,000                                   -21,200
New York               +215,000                                 -163,300
North Carolina         +105,000                                  -94,100
North Dakota              +8,000                                       -200
Ohio                        +133,000                                -177,900
Oklahoma                  +40,000                                  -52,900
Oregon                      +44,000                                  -53,100
Pennsylvania            +143,000                                -141,100
Rhode Island             +12,000                                  -13,000
South Carolina          +50,000                                   -22,800
South Dakota            +10,000                                    -8,500
Tennessee                 +70,000                                  -81,300
Texas                      +269,000                                -236,800
Utah                          +32,000                                  -29,900
Vermont                      +8,000                                    -3,900
Virginia                      +93,000                                -100,700
Washington                +75,000                                  -89,800
West Virginia             +20,000                                  -22,200
Wisconsin                  +70,000                                  -95,500
Wyoming                     +8,000                                  -13,000

So why would the president make claims that his own US Department of Labor disputes? Simple. Americans are upset. They were promised that if we all went along with the stimulus package, unemployment would be capped at 8%. It's been closer to 10%. If you factor in people who have stopped looking, it's significantly higher. None of this has gone unnoticed. According to the New York Times and CBS news polls, only 6% of Americans now believe that the stimulus package created jobs at all. CNN polls also reported that a majority of Americans oppose the stimulus package, but as Nancy Pelosi said "the president got what he wanted!". What about what we wanted?

Senate Republican Mitch McConnell weighed in by saying:

"In the first year of the trillion dollar stimulus, Americans have lost millions of jobs, the unemployment rate continues to hover near 10%, the deficit continues to soar and we are inundated with stories of waste, fraud and abuse... this was not the plan Americans asked for were the results they were promised".

Do I blame Obama for inheriting an economic mess from George Bush. Partially. Let's be clear. This mess was created by the entire Congress, both Republicans and Democrats. The Congressional Democrats caused it because apparently they can't do math and don't run businesses. Both are useful skills when trying to balance a budget. The Congressional Republicans caused it because they strayed away from conservative principles for over a decade. Pork barrel projects made them heroes in their own states.

But we should also remember that Obama was regarded as the most liberal member of the Senate during his tenure of 143 days before ascending to the highest office in the land. To suggest that he would have shown fiscal responsibility had his term been longer is simply disingenuous. Just look at escalation of federal debt since he took office. It's out of control.

Listening to Obama, however, you wouldn't know that:

"Millions more are struggling to make ends meet. So it doesn't yet feel like much of a recovery. And I understand that. It's why were going to continue to do everything in our power to turn this economy around".

That must be why his administration's focus has been directed towards socializing healthcare and creating the largest entitlement package in history. That must be why the administration's next set of agendas includes the carbon tax and citizenship for illegal aliens. Surely that will create more jobs. Sorry for the sarcasm, but enough is enough. This administration’s public statements run counter to its actions.

One final thought. Notice that the table above shows only two states with very modest gains. One of them is Washington DC.
Go figure.




© 2010 by Craig Covello. Use with Permission. All rights reserved.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well nothing new about how the administration and Democrats skew the numbers to hide them from the people.
How can we stop this! Tea Parties, votes, rallies, blog, videos, letters, calls, emails, But most of all VOTES! Gammy Sparkles

April 7, 2010 at 8:36 AM  

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