1. 

   Jimh3098

   February 8, 2012 at 5:08 pm

   Spencer Bachus and his Republican allies have worked diligently to stop economic growth, out of fear that signs of recovery would boost President Obama’s re-election chances.  The most recent jobs numbers demonstrate that his party’s war against the middle class, at the state level, against teachers, nurses, firemen  etc has stifled a full economic recovery.  While private sector jobs continue to grow the throttling of of the public sector continues to be a drag on recovery.
   Bachus and his pals would rather protect the one percent that finances their re-election efforts than invest in homeowners who were trashed by eight years of the very policies he continues to support.
2. 

   Tony

   February 8, 2012 at 5:56 pm

   JimH
   Some facts from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

   The rate of employment seemed to go up, in part because in January 1.2 million people apparently decided in a single month not to continue to pursue work. 

   Since January 2009, the BLS said more than five million people have dropped out of the labor force – the largest decline in U.S. history and the lowest participation in the workforce/labor rate in more than three decades. Currently under sixty five percent of adults civilians are counted as part of the labor force.
    

   This from an email that came in to me today on a related topic:

   “Almost half a million fewer Americans are employed today than when President Obama took office. The real unemployment rate, counting those who are unemployed, underemployed, or have looked for work in the past 12 months but since given up, is closer to 15 percent. More Americans are relying on food stamps than ever before. Teenage unemployment during the Obama administration is the highest since records began in 1948, with almost one in four teenagers who wants to work today unable to find a job. 8.2 million Americans have only part-time employment either because they can’t find full-time work or because their hours have been cut back.”

   One might note that (depending on who you listen to) 20,000 to 100,000 jobs that could have been created by the Keystone XL pipeline were killed by the Obama administration’s decision to put a hold on that project. 

   No one doubts that politics is being played and numbers are ‘worked’ by both sides of the aisle.  The above facts noted, to point a finger at Republicans only would be unjust.

   Thanks for your comments.

   Tony

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