By Douglas V. Gibbs
The Obama administration has told us that the economy is roaring back, job growth has commenced, and all it will take is one more term of Obama's massive spending, punitive taxation, and heavy regulation to bring this nation completely back from the economic brink. And why is it taking so long? We are told because Bush made it even worse than Obama originally thought.
Poppycock!
There is little, if any, job growth, going on. Under Bush the unemployment rate was largely under 5%. The very high 8.3% unemployment rate we see now, which the democrats are dancing in the aisles about, is an illusion. It does not take into consideration people who have dropped off the unemployment rolls because they didn't find a job and have gone beyond their maximum benefit, it does not include small business owners that have shut their doors, and it does not include the underemployed who are taking a bunch of part time jobs to bring in something while still searching for a full-time position. The unemployment rate also does not take into account the shrinking universe of jobs that the Obama administration has orchestrated. The creation of jobs lags behind the destruction of jobs. And when the total number of jobs available is reduced against the total number of employed, the rate goes down, even though it shouldn't have. In February, the private sector added 233,000 new jobs, but 476,000 non-working people began looking for a job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics rules, only by seeking work did those individuals officially become unemployed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in other words, does not count workers as unemployed unless they have actively searched for work in the last four weeks. As a result, millions of non-working people are not counted as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics officials.
The real unemployment rate is much closer to 20% than it is to the numbers we are being told. People dropping out of the labor force, rather than finding jobs, is why the rate has been going down. Things are getting worse, people are giving up, and the influence that it is having on the unemployment numbers is being hailed as good news by the Obama administration.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in other words, does not count workers as unemployed unless they have actively searched for work in the last four weeks. As a result, millions of non-working people are not counted as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics officials.
The real unemployment rate is much closer to 20% than it is to the numbers we are being told. People dropping out of the labor force, rather than finding jobs, is why the rate has been going down. Things are getting worse, people are giving up, and the influence that it is having on the unemployment numbers is being hailed as good news by the Obama administration.
As jobs remain difficult to find, the cost of living continues to skyrocket, as well.
Fuel prices are directly related to our economy. All goods travel by truck, and some also use aircraft. Trucks and airplanes run on fuel that comes from oil. The price of gasoline and diesel keeps going up, and since oil is a world commodity, worldwide occurrences are driving the prices up. As the price of fuel goes up, so does the cost of transporting goods, and ultimately, the price of the products on the shelves in the market.
Higher oil prices also affects the U.S. economy in other ways, such as when we experience higher gasoline prices, it eats into the amount of disposable income that American consumers have left to spend on other goods.
Higher gas prices act like a “tax” on the U.S. economy.
As a commodity, the dynamics of supply and demand influences the price of oil. Any disruption in the supply and demand dynamics, even if temporary, can shoot prices up. Even the nervousness of speculators that there may be a future supply disruption could cause oil futures to climb. This can, then, cause problems for both investors and the global economy.
Strategic oil reserves as a protection against a supply disruption exists in many countries, and recently we have seen leaders in those countries, including the United States, release some of that oil to help lower prices, if only for a moment. This is evidence that they recognize the importance of increasing the supply when it comes to lowering prices. The U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve, according to the U.S. Department of Energy "is the world’s largest emergency oil supply, and is filled to capacity at 727 million barrels." The president can decide to draw on this supply if necessary, happening only twice before Obama's recent release, once during Operation Desert Storm (1991) and once during Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Inflation occurs when the purchasing power of the dollar becomes less. The largest cause of inflation is printing money faster than value enters the system. The increase of fiat money in the system devalues the dollar, making the cost of goods rise.
Inflation is also caused by factors that affect the rising cost of goods. When the American consumer has to pay more for a gallon of gas than they did one year ago, they have less money to spend on other things. The cost of transporting goods also causes the price of those goods to go up. Consequently, higher oil prices slows down the economy, and ultimately results in other dangers by reducing the demand for finished goods and services, and reducing the ability by producers to manufacture goods.
Among the casualties of rising fuel prices is also the loss of businesses. When one considers the importance of small, family-owned businesses, to our economy, any rise in their out-of-pocket, combined with customers spending less because of the devaluation of the dollar and the rising cost of goods, these stores lose income, and they cannot cope with it for very long.
This brings us to the Drill Here, Drill Now theory. The democrats have indicated, for the most part, that they oppose an increase in domestic drilling. However, by their willingness to release oil from the strategic reserves, the liberal left has shown that they recognize an increase to the supply will lower prices. Therefore, the party-of-the-donkey has once again found a way to contradict themselves.
Among the casualties of rising fuel prices is also the loss of businesses. When one considers the importance of small, family-owned businesses, to our economy, any rise in their out-of-pocket, combined with customers spending less because of the devaluation of the dollar and the rising cost of goods, these stores lose income, and they cannot cope with it for very long.
This brings us to the Drill Here, Drill Now theory. The democrats have indicated, for the most part, that they oppose an increase in domestic drilling. However, by their willingness to release oil from the strategic reserves, the liberal left has shown that they recognize an increase to the supply will lower prices. Therefore, the party-of-the-donkey has once again found a way to contradict themselves.
The fact is, we have closer to 2,300 billion barrels of oil reserves if one counts recent discoveries in North Dakota, Wyoming, known deposits of oil sands and oil shale throughout the Western states, and off shore on the Continental Shelf and in Alaska. Roughly enough oil to last 200 years at our current rate of consumption. Obama has barred drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, ANWAR, and pretty much everywhere else we have plenty of oil domestically. He has also worked to stop the Keystone Pipeline from bringing Canadian oil into the United States, as well as oil from the northern States to the refineries in Texas. Yet, he tells us that we need to become independent from foreign oil, and more specifically oil from the Middle East.
The democrats do not want prices to come down, and they contradict themselves because they don't like oil as an energy source. Obama and friends wants you out of your gas guzzling car, and into trains, and "green" technology (which is a bust, and unable to provide the energy we need). In fact, they want to push their green technology so bad that they are willing to shoot gas prices through the ceiling, lie about unemployment rates, manipulate the numbers, and continue to cause damage to our economy. They do not care if your cost of living is going up, because the strength of the economy is not important to them when compared to their agenda of social engineering. When they are working on trying to forcefully change your behavior into something that you want nothing to do with, all other things no longer matter. And it doesn't even matter to them that green companies, like Solyndra, are dropping off like dead flies. All indicators show that the market is not ready for green technology, that oil is the most efficient energy source, and that the public is against the liberal policies of the democrat party.
But the democrats press on, for if they are able to finally force their policies upon you, eventually you will come to love it.
And now, in the name of helping, Obama and gang are going after the speculators, and are planning even more regulations against the oil industry.
That is what statists do.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
The Real Unemployment Rate? It Sure Isn't 8.3% - The American Enterprise Blog
Hidden unemployment numbers stymie Obama’s job growth claims - The Daily Caller
Allen West: 'Is Someone Playing with Unemployment Numbers?' - Townhall
New Polls Show Obama in Trouble over Oil, Gas Prices - Right PunditsThe Real Unemployment Rate? It Sure Isn't 8.3% - The American Enterprise Blog
Media Distortion: The Economy Roars Back - Rush Limbaugh
Hidden unemployment numbers stymie Obama’s job growth claims - The Daily Caller
Allen West: 'Is Someone Playing with Unemployment Numbers?' - Townhall
REGULATION NATION: New Study Finds Obama Is 'No. 1 Regulator' - Fox News
Consumer Prices in U.S. Rose in February as Gasoline Jumped - Bloomberg
Higher Gas and Consumer Prices Plague Obama - Right Pundits
White House-Backed Review of Energy Department Loans Omits Solyndra - CNS News
Obama's Fix For Gas Prices: "Set Up A Task Force To Look Into Speculation" - Real Clear Politics
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