“We’re Headed In The Right Direction” – Obama
President’s Compass May Be Broken
It may not be an outright lie, but it’s massive deception, if nothing else.
Each week our federal government releases information regarding unemployment and each week we use those numbers to formulate an opinion as to the condition of the country’s economy. A finger on the pulse, as it were. Over the past several months we’ve heard sputtering sounds, indicative of a turnaround in the economy that would seem to bode well as we attempt to recover from the longest lasting recession in decades. The number of those unemployed, we’re told, has decreased slightly and the President has declared this news as a sign “we’re headed in the right direction”. That statement is a lie.
Each and every week, thousands of unemployed American workers give up trying to find a job because there are simply very few jobs available. Those that are available require specialized training, experience or college degrees the prospective employees simply do not have, and therefore it makes no sense to even consider applying.
In an effort to paint the best possible picture, the federal government simply ignores those thousands who give up, which sheds several percentage points off of the actual number of unemployed. What we really see are the number of citizens collecting unemployment benefits – not the total number of unemployed. By utilizing this odd method of calculation, the government escapes the “liar” descriptor.
Now let’s factor in the REAL truth, as described by Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey
“As a follow-up to my earlier post on employment and stimulus, here’s a chart of what may be the most significant data on the topic. Barack Obama claims that the unemployment rate dropping from 9.7% to 9.5% shows that we’re moving in the right direction economically — but that data doesn’t include those who have left the workforce out of discouragement. They have no jobs and have given up looking for another due to economic conditions, according to the categorization by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This chart shows the direction in which our economic policies have taken the US:
These represent the gross numbers of able-bodied workers outside the workforce and no longer looking for jobs. The red star indicated when Barack Obama’s stimulus was passed, and we can see the effects or lack thereof on the workforce afterward. Not only has the unemployment rate gone up and the number of jobs continued to drop since February 2009, Americans are increasingly leaving the workforce instead of joining it.
In what universe does this show “the right direction”?”
From Ed’s graph you can plainly see what direction we’re going and if that’s “the right direction”, I don’t want to even think about the wrong one.
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I’m not quite sure why Sexy Lingerie is interested in the Obama Summer of Recovery…..but they are welcome to the story anytime of course! lol
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