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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Obama's Economic Razzle-Dazzle


Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Administration’s recent rosey economic statistics are simply f-r-a-u-d-u-l-e-n-t.

In January 2012, the Bureau for Labor Statistics (BLS) changed the way the unemployment rate is measured; thus, it turns out that the miraculous unemployment “drop” from 8.9% to 8.3% is not a drop at all. (Reportedly, the real unemployment rate is closer to a staggering 22%.)

In fact, measured in pre-January 2012 metrics, unemployment remains unchanged at 8.9%.  Note: deducting those no longer seeking employment are conveniently omitted  from the equation rendering a considerably brighter, albeit erroneous and misleading, stat.  (The troubling truth is that the percentage of our population in the labor force is actually the lowest its been since the 1950’s. And that's what our Dear Leader calls "recovery"?)

Pointing to an upsurge in personal borrowing, Obama assures us of more robust consumption and, therefore, economic growth. Note: the upsurge in credit debt is because student loans are now included in the credit debt metric. In fact, Visa and MC debt hasn’t appreciably changed at all.

And don’t forget the Congressional Budget Office's recent projection that unemployment by year’s end will near 9%--and that’s using the new BLS measuring formula.
As we all know, there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.
Obama's retaining his princely power and glory is a helluva lot more important to him and his bloodsucking cronies than any silly recovery for the unwashed. The trick, of course, is to convince inattentive voters and those who are hooked on government handouts that the economy really is moving "in the right direction" and that the feds will, of course, continue to dole out the goodies.  And, for the most part, that cynical campaign strategy might very well work on the majority who are either willfully ignorant or totally without virtue or self-respect.