Obama’s Jobs Death Toll is Wreaking Havoc on Economy

It’s crazy how the Left and the Right differ on economic issues. Both claim the upper-hand when it comes to solutions and even basic problem identification. The economy did well under Clinton, letting many Democrats and those on the Left believe they have all the economic answers. The economy did well under GW Bush too (except for the last year or two, after the Democratic take-over of Congress), so Republicans and Conservatives believe they too have the answers. But who really does?

First, let’s look at some indisputable facts…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on the number of unemployed for 15 weeks & over (long term unemployment), using data from 2000 to 2010, which happens to be the whole Bush era, and the first two years of the Obama era. I chose long-term unemployment first because it is here that we all ought to know there is a real problem.

The bottom line is this; In 2000, there were (in thousands of long term unemployed) 1380- a nice healthy low number, and one we haven’t seen since. That number nearly doubled by the time the Bush tax cuts went into place (2004). Then it began to decrease until 2007- not quite to the level of 2000, but a respectable decrease of roughly 40%. The tax cuts worked.

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2000 1380 1300 1312 1261 1325 1242 1343 1394 1290 1337 1315 1329
2001 1372 1491 1521 1499 1502 1532 1653 1861 1950 2082 2318 2444
2002 2578 2608 2719 2852 2967 3023 2966 2887 2971 3042 3062 3271
2003 3166 3161 3161 3348 3318 3552 3633 3557 3486 3451 3420 3366
2004 3364 3248 3314 2971 3103 3130 2918 2846 2910 3041 2960 2927
2005 2851 2896 2817 2678 2683 2405 2449 2569 2537 2492 2486 2429
2006 2269 2542 2371 2352 2302 2125 2285 2294 2230 2067 2165 2089
2007 2155 2198 2246 2275 2226 2275 2359 2336 2356 2324 2390 2519
2008 2540 2419 2472 2668 2773 2911 3107 3430 3627 4040 3990 4599
2009 4762 5369 5815 6296 7013 7844 7819 7849 8405 8804 8976 8969
2010 8945 8829 8983 8969 8924 8959 8722 8484 8458 8725 8889

Then in 2006, the Democrats took over Congress. Then, 2008, of course, Obama became president. From 2008 until 2010, the number has tripled to 8889! Obama’s job death toll is astounding. And people are staying unemployed for longer periods of time. This is not my opinion, these are indisputable facts.

Let’s look at another number, shall we? Productivity change in the non-farm business sector, 1947-2009. This one ought to give us a good picture, since it goes all the way back to 1947 (although only up to 2009). And it includes all businesses except farms.

As you can see by the graph, America was very prosperous up until 1973. Then, we took a HUGE plunge during the Carter administration. And began a slow but steady growth throughout the next few decades (Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2; right up until Obama took over. (OK, that includes Bush’s last year, but he passed the first idiotic stimulus bill in his last year, along with the Democratic Congress.)

Looking at the actual numbers, you can’t deny the fact that during GW Bush’s term, our business productivity was almost at pre-1973 levels. Oh, how I’d love to see those prosperous times again.

There’s no denying the fact- Obama has dug a deep hole and dropped us all into it:

Unemployment at record numbers, long-term unemployment at record numbers, and unemployment benefits extended to insure people stay unemployed.

Long term unemployment is not about available jobs. All you need is a little common sense to realize that if someone can’t find a job in 99 weeks, they have a character flaw- not a job finding inability, but a lack of desire to find one.

It is true, as Michelle Malkin said in Small-Biz Killers, “State unemployment benefits last up to 26 weeks. Bipartisan-supported Washington mandates have raised that to 99 weeks. The current proposal would extend eligibility for this basket of benefits until the end of 2011.”

So, why would Obama want to extend unemployment benefits for more than 99 weeks? I have been asking myself that same question. Maybe he wants to keep more people on the government payroll, to secure future votes from his dependents.

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Ken Skaggs is an author, educator, entrepreneur, radio announcer, web designer, web marketer, musician, trucking safety expert, SEO specialist, and business owner- in other words, a dreamer.