Let's consider for a moment what the government's own statistics are telling us about the American workforce and the state of the economy.
First, so far this year, the economy has created 950,000 jobs. The problem is that 731,000 of them or 77% are just part time positions. For the first seven months of 2013, the American economy has not even created 250,000 full time positions.
Second, so far in 2013, the economy has grown at the rate of roughly 1.5%, a figure way below a normal recovery.
Third, so far in 2013, the Federal Reserve has purchased just about $600 billion of treasury securities on the market. That is more than five times the amount of growth in the GDP during the same time. It is also substantially more than the federal deficit for the same period, so not only is the Fed printing money to cover the debt, but it is also monetizing the older portions of the national debt.
Fourth, both earnings and hours worked for the American worker are declining.
Remember, these are not partisan points. Every bit of information above comes directly from government reports.
So what does this all mean?
1. First of all, the unemployment rate is actually portraying a better situation than is actually out there across the country. Think of a family where the father or mother has a job for only 29 hours per week at a lower wage and no benefits. While it might have been a tight squeeze to get by with a full 40 hour week job, it is essentially impossible to survive without help when there are only 29 hours worth of work available. Even so, this part time worker is counted as "employed" when the government does its statistics.
2. To put these numbers in context, remember that Mitt Romney promised during the last campaign that his economic plan would create 250,000 jobs per month for four years. President Obama's campaign mocked that promise as too little. Nevertheless, Obama as president has not even created 250,000 real jobs in the last seven months together. The figures are staggeringly bad.
3. Since World War II, America has never had a stretch of time where the economy grew for such a long period at such a slow rate as it has during the Obama years. Now I know that the Obama apologists will tell us that this last recession was caused by a financial crisis and that those are different. But that is a bunch of garbage meant only to justify Obama's failure to help the economy grow. In the late 1980's America had a financial crisis with the savings and loan banks. It led to a recession but we had a swift and strong recovery from that recession.
The truth is that we need to have drastic action taken if America is to recover from the disaster that is Obama's policies. More of the same, which is what Obama proposes, will just result in more of the same in the economy: more part time jobs, more misery, more poverty, more slow growth or even decline, and more economic drift.
First, so far this year, the economy has created 950,000 jobs. The problem is that 731,000 of them or 77% are just part time positions. For the first seven months of 2013, the American economy has not even created 250,000 full time positions.
Second, so far in 2013, the economy has grown at the rate of roughly 1.5%, a figure way below a normal recovery.
Third, so far in 2013, the Federal Reserve has purchased just about $600 billion of treasury securities on the market. That is more than five times the amount of growth in the GDP during the same time. It is also substantially more than the federal deficit for the same period, so not only is the Fed printing money to cover the debt, but it is also monetizing the older portions of the national debt.
Fourth, both earnings and hours worked for the American worker are declining.
Remember, these are not partisan points. Every bit of information above comes directly from government reports.
So what does this all mean?
1. First of all, the unemployment rate is actually portraying a better situation than is actually out there across the country. Think of a family where the father or mother has a job for only 29 hours per week at a lower wage and no benefits. While it might have been a tight squeeze to get by with a full 40 hour week job, it is essentially impossible to survive without help when there are only 29 hours worth of work available. Even so, this part time worker is counted as "employed" when the government does its statistics.
2. To put these numbers in context, remember that Mitt Romney promised during the last campaign that his economic plan would create 250,000 jobs per month for four years. President Obama's campaign mocked that promise as too little. Nevertheless, Obama as president has not even created 250,000 real jobs in the last seven months together. The figures are staggeringly bad.
3. Since World War II, America has never had a stretch of time where the economy grew for such a long period at such a slow rate as it has during the Obama years. Now I know that the Obama apologists will tell us that this last recession was caused by a financial crisis and that those are different. But that is a bunch of garbage meant only to justify Obama's failure to help the economy grow. In the late 1980's America had a financial crisis with the savings and loan banks. It led to a recession but we had a swift and strong recovery from that recession.
The truth is that we need to have drastic action taken if America is to recover from the disaster that is Obama's policies. More of the same, which is what Obama proposes, will just result in more of the same in the economy: more part time jobs, more misery, more poverty, more slow growth or even decline, and more economic drift.
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