October 7, 2012
Unemployment down to 7.8%
Many Americans will take this single
number as a sign the economy is indeed recovering, and worse, many
will make their presidential voting decision accordingly. The media
has for months been repeating the story about no president since FDR
being re-elected with a rate above 8%. To these folks, this means the
corollary must also be true...if the rate falls below 8%, the
president should be re-elected.
I wonder how even the most casual
observer can reconcile this number to the truth they observe daily
about our overall sick economy and continuing lack of job creation.
As long as the process used to determine the unemployment rate
excludes from the equation those who have given up the job search,
this rate is meaningless. No matter what the rate shows, the overall
labor force participation rate for the past months remains the lowest
it has been since 1981. No matter what this rate can be spun to
suggest, we still have between 23 and 25 million Americans and their
families either totally unemployed or horribly
underemployed. In addition, wages and
purchasing power have been declining in real terms since the middle
1960s, while the fundamental prices of most staples needed to survive
just keep climbing.
While the methodology used to calculate
the unemployment rate hasn't changed, the dynamics underlying our
unemployment reality have. No matter how it's spun, the brutal truth
is our economy is not even close to creating enough new jobs to even
keep up with population growth...let alone bring significant job
relief for our nation. American families, especially from the middle
class and below, have never struggled harder for survival. Meanwhile,
instead of trying to work together for real solutions, the two
parties are in an equally brutal struggle for power. The Democrats
and the liberal media are spinning this story to support their
party's candidate, while the Republicans and their media partners are
doing the exact same thing.
My advice is to continue to trust your
own instincts for this particular election. Firing all incumbents is
my personal recommendation as a reasonable start for taking back
control of our nation from both parties. Since Mr. Obama is an
incumbent we need to start with him.
Grrrr! That's how I feel every time I
see the political spinning of the current unemployment report! Both
sides have their lips moving...you know what it means.
I'm sure it won't be long before the
rate is down to zero. Of course that won't change the number of
citizens without jobs...but the rate will sure sound attractive won't
it??
These are my opinions. What do you
think?
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