BLS: Seasonally Adjusted U6 Unemployment Rate is 9.9%

Bread line in New York City

While we can all remember seeing movies depicting the destitution of the 1930s, few remain today who remember the bread and soup lines of the Great Depression.  Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents, however, lived through it.

My mother told stories about how, in the 1930s she, her parents and four sisters lived in a one bedroom house (still standing on High Street in Washington Court House, Ohio) with a coal stove for heat, a wood stove for cooking, one bare light bulb hanging on the back porch and an outhouse.  There was no water heater and bathing was done in a wash tub.

She often spoke of what a treat it was at Christmas time, when the local doctor brought fruit baskets to his poor patients.  Fresh fruit was scarce and unaffordable.

Guest Blog: Last Word for 2012

Guest by by Tim Lenox:

Last Word for 2012

This is my Last Tweet for the Year 2012:

You people who just voted for higher taxes are about to get them so stop bitchin' about the Fiscal Cliff. You asked for it.

For those not on Twitter who need a little more clarification, the term “Fiscal Cliff” was coined by Republicans, Economists, and Business Analysts to warn people what would happen if the policies of the White House were fully implemented:

·         Higher Taxes for those who invest in and run businesses, resulting in Higher Unemployment

·         Health Care Mandate forcing everyone to buy Insurance, even if they cannot afford it, also  resulting in Higher Unemployment

·         Massive cuts to the Military Budget, resulting in (you guessed it) Higher Unemployment

·         Massive Government Spending on Special Interests and Labor Unions, increasing funds to Union Leaders and Political Cronies but not Lowering Unemployment

Republicans warned of the dangers to the economy, calling this the “Fiscal Cliff” and hoping that voters would forget that they had agreed to some of these problems.  Democrats and their allies in the Media (both News and Entertainment) dismissed all this as fear mongering.  Once the Election was over and the President re-elected, those same people started acting as if the world is about to end.  It is almost as if they are now admitting that the Republicans were telling the Truth and are now blaming those Republicans for telling the Truth.

The Truth is that the Republicans warned the Nation about the “Fiscal Cliff” and the majority of the Nation, including those Media Personalities, voted for it.

So would everyone please stop complaining about getting what you voted for and allow us to just enjoy the Season of Holidays?  Thanks.

---Tim Lenox, RUV (Registered Unaffiliated Voter)

Guest Blog: Presidential Debate Round One & One Person's Story

Presidential Debate Round One --- Obama vs Romney
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 from 9–10:30pm on CT FOX Channel WTIC
Part 2 of a short series of articles by Tim D. Enchanter

What can be said about this debate which has not already been said? Perhaps the best indication of how good this debate was for the Republican Party was the published Unemployment Rate two days later. Seeing it drop below 8% for the first time in 4 years told me volumes about Mitt Romney’s debating skills.

Apparently, there are two surveys used to determine this rate as well as an estimate of how many people are still looking for work. The survey most people are familiar with is conducted with about 150,000 companies and has reported the creation of 114,000 new jobs. The other survey we are not familiar with is a phone survey of about 50,000 homes asking if anyone is working or doing anything to earn money. That survey shows 873,000 new jobs.

If someone is selling things they found in their attic on eBay to try to make ends meet then apparently that counts as someone now working or earning money. How they extrapolate 873,000 jobs from a phone poll of 50,000 homes is unknown to me but we are told that the government employees know what they are doing.

Meanwhile, the total population of people looking for work has decreased as those who have been unemployed for over two years are no longer eligible for unemployment insurance compensation. Apparently, the decrease of the estimated number of people looking for work and the increase of the estimated number of people working has resulted in a decrease in the unemployment rate, dropping that rate to 7.8%.

This good news will probably affect the expected “bounce” that Mitt Romney will receive from his debate performance, lowering that bounce by increasing President Obama’s Approval Rating.

It is certainly plausible that the poll numbers comparing President Obama to Mitt Romney will reflect the good news of the unemployment rate as well as Mitt Romney’s good debate performance. So when you see those poll numbers, you can assume that any increase in popularity Mitt Romney experiences would have been higher if the unemployment rate had not improved.

On a personal note, allow me to give some insight on how my life is affected by all this.