Things That Just Piss Me Off

Everytime anyone brings up how bad Bush has messed up the economy, his supporters point to low unemployment as proof he is not doing a bad job. But let’s see how that unemployment rate is calculated.

Years ago they did not count people in the military when figuring the unemployment rate. That changed in the Reagan years to make the numbers look better. I agree they should count as employed. They are receiving a paycheck. I’m just pointing out how numbers can be manipulated to make the public believe there has been a change.

Here is another way that Bush and his supporters make it seem that unemployment is down.

From the NyTimes - The number of Americans who have seen their full-time jobs chopped to part time because of weak business has swelled to more than 3.7 million — the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.

The loss of pay has become a primary source of pain for millions of American families, reinforcing the downturn gripping the economy. Paychecks are shrinking just as home prices plunge and gas prices soar, furthering the austerity across the nation.

On the surface, the job market is weak but hardly desperate. Layoffs remain less frequent than in many economic downturns, and the unemployment rate is a relatively modest 5.5 percent. But that figure masks the strains of those who are losing hours or working part time because they cannot find full-time work — a stealth force that is eroding American spending power.

All told, people the government classifies as working part time involuntarily — predominantly those who have lost hours or cannot find full-time work — swelled to 5.3 million last month, a jump of greater than 1 million over the last year.

These workers now amount to 3.7 percent of all those employed, up from 3 percent a year ago, and the highest level since 1995.

So, when you hear Bush and his supporters say that unemployment is just 5.5%, remember to raise that to 9.2% of American Citizens that cannot get a full-time job and support their families. Almost 1 out of 10 Americans cannot make a decent living due to Bush’s failed economic policies.

Bush also helped big business in more ways than just giving them more tax breaks. Bush appointees also allowed rules to get passed that allow companies to deny benefits to part-time workers that full-time workers would get under federal law.

So the companies changed to a strategy of making more part time jobs available and less full time jobs available, saving them money while making the unemployment figures seem low for Bush. A win-win for Bush and his big business buddies. A loss to Americans nationwide.

Stumble it!