Unemployment Rate Tops .... 17%????

By now, you've already heard that the unemployment rate as of the end of October has topped 10 percent. Officially, the rated is at 10.2%.

Officially.

What that number doesn't tell you (and what the mainstream media won't tell you) is that it represents only those who are actively looking for work. According to official stats, only about 150 million of the over 300 million Americans living in this country have a job. That means, those of us who ARE working are supporting at least one other person who is not working.

What the 10.2 percent does not include is those who would work but have given up looking for work and are no longer seeking unemployment benefits and no longer looking for a job because they have given up. That rate is actually over 17 percent, a number we haven't seen since the 1930's and '40s.

The difference between this jobless recession and the bottom of the Carter recession (which spilled over into Reagan's first two years) is that Reagan had already begun implementing policies that were business-friendly and American workers and American businesses were optimistic. The unemployment rate topped out at around 10 percent and then the economy took off.

The current administration has implement policies that are anti-business and are planning more taxes and policies that punish businesses, especially businesses that increase their payroll. While the increase in unemployment numbers is slowing down, it is unlikely to drop like it did in 1983 and 84. In fact, it may continue to gradually rise through next year.

Let's not make the mistake of thinking that Obama "inherited" this problem. Clearly the unemployment rate has been made worse by Obama's policies and the rate of those who have "given up" is higher because Obama has given them no reason to hope they might find a job in the near future.

The Obama "War on Wealth" is exactly what he promised during his campaign. The American voters just weren't listening.

Obama's Reputation On the Line Tomorrow

Yes, it's 2009, an odd-year, but there are a handful of elections happening tomorrow, and they'll be watched very closely, since they're the first ones since Obama's election last year.

The big ones: The Virgina governorship, the New Jersey governorship, and the NY-23 Congressional district. In New Jersey, it looks like voters might be ready to throw out ex-Goldmanite Jon Corzine, due to anger about higher taxes and the weak economy. But a third-party run from Chris Daggett may keep him in office.

The one that would really be a blow to Democrats is in Virginia, where it looks as though Republican Bob McDonnell will beat Democrat Creigh Deeds. Why a big deal? Because Virginia has been trending blue, and thus would mark a decisive reversal of that trend.

Suddenly it seems like Republicans have some life and voter enthusiasm. Remember just a few months ago when there were questions about whether it would ever be a serious party again?

Of course, this has very little to do with the Republican party and more to do with independent and conservative voters being very unhappy with the direction Obama is taking us. Voters aren't jumping onto the Republican bandwagon ... not just yet, anyway. They are, however, willing to vote republican to slow down the march toward socialism.

The Republicans still have a long way to go before they can capture the imaginations of voters with their own ideas. A good start would be a strong move to the right, particularly on fiscal issues. Americans are concerned about the National Debt and about the economy.

The current recession is still Bush's fault, all inherited from the "previous administration" according to the White House. That theme was echoed again Friday in a speech by V.P. Joe Biden, defending the one million, no wait, the 30,000, no wait, the 20,000 jobs created by the Stimulus package. As the recession drags on (and it is dragging on, in spite of some good news on Wall Street), Americans are beginning to see the disastrous toll that the administration's policies are having on businesses, particularly small businesses.

While Obama is willing to throw money at the economy, he is unwilling to establish pro-business policies, and until that happens, it is unlikely we'll see a strong rebound like we have following past recessions.

This may be an off year, for elections, but unless things change, and unless they change a lot, expect huge gains by Republicans in 2010.

Unemployment Up, Again

Someone needs to tell American businesses that the recession is over. They haven't gotten the memo, yet.

Unemployment for September was higher than expected. Last week, the number of newly unemployed rose to 551,000.

Of course, we all know that these numbers were inherited from the previous administration, and will be until they turn around.

Still, I can't help but recall the words of an inexperienced junior Senator from Illinois when he said "Nothing is more fundamental than a job." At least that was true during the previous administration. Now, he's saying "The recession is over. Mission Accomplished."

Generational Theft Act Not Stimulating the Economy

The second ranking Democrat in the House said yesterday that the Generational Theft Act (a.k.a. the $787 billion Stimulus Package) is not having its desired effect.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD, did everything he could to blame our current economy on the Bush administration, pointing out the 2 million jobs lost in the last year of Bush's presidency, while ignoring the 3 million jobs NOT saved or created (in other words, lost) since the passage of the Generation Theft Act.

Obama said last week that the stimulus bill was designed to make sure that local districts didn't lay off teachers, firefighters, police officers and others, and that the stimulus package has succeeded in that. However, prior to it's passage, Obama was pushing the "shovel ready" infrastructure construction jobs that he made the cornerstone of the package. Those jobs and projects have failed to materialize.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said the president pledged to stop unemployment before it rose above 8 percent. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics placed the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent. "...Where are the jobs? You can't spend $800 billion of taxpayer money and not create jobs when you say that's what the goal was. We haven't seen the jobs yet," said Boehner, R-Ohio, who appeared with Hoyer.

Boehner went on to add that his home state hasn't seen one contract yet as a result of infrastructure spending. He also pointed out that Republicans had proposed a plan that would have cost half the money and created 4 million jobs, not 2 million that the administration hopes will result. "This was supposed to be about jobs, jobs and jobs. And the fact is it turned into nothing more than spending, spending and more spending on a lot of big government bureaucracy."

Democratic leaders and pundits, including those in the MainStream Media have tried harder lately to portray the GOP as having no alternative plans as they try to explain away the fact that the recession has deepened and gotten worse since the passage of the Generational Theft act, and as they try now to pass the largest spending plan in the history of our nation with the takeover of health care.