Obama is Disingenuous about the Economy as Well

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.  The current administration has become adept at using all three to mislead the American people.  There is the current kerfuffle over the President’s lie that Americans could keep their health care plans and doctors under Obamacare if they liked them.  Of course, that was a damn lie, especially if you have lost your plan and are now looking at much higher premiums.  And then there are smaller mistruths, perhaps not as egregious, when it comes to describing the current state of the economy.

For instance, I got an email from the White House last week with the headline:  “Here’s What Economic Growth Looks Like, in 3 Charts”.  Included in the message was a chart showing private sector job growth over the last 44 months.  7.8 million private sector jobs have been produced in that time period.  At first glance, this number is amazing.  But, it is only a statistic.  And statistics can be deceiving if you only take them at face value.

Although, nearly 8 million jobs produced in the last 44 months is quite an accomplishment, the figure becomes a lot less remarkable when it is viewed alongside other related statistics.  Those 7.8 million jobs in the last 44 months calculates to an average of about 177,000 per month.  Unfortunately, over the same time period the working age population has grown by an average of 213,000 workers per month.  Thus, private sector job growth is not keeping up with the number of new workers entering the job market.  7.8 million new jobs is simply nowhere near the number of jobs that are needed.

Further, the statistic put out there by the Obama Administration does not indicate what kind of private sector jobs are being produced.  According to the Household Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from February to August of this year, 963,000 more people reported they were employed, and 936,000 of them reported they were in part-time positions.  Additionally, Labor Department statistics show that people employed in part-time positions are growing four and a half times faster than those employed in full time positions.  So, while claiming 7.8 million jobs is “What Economic Growth Looks Like”, the Administration is being less than honest given that most of the jobs are low-paying, light hour positions.

To put things in the proper perspective, in 2009, 133.5 million Americans were employed.  32 million Americans were on food stamps.  Today, 143.5 million Americans are employed, while 47 million are on food stamps.  Thus, while 10 million more Americans are working today, 15 million more are on food stamps.  This is not indicative of economic growth.  It is characteristic of a collapsing economy.

But, the point is that the President needs to come clean with regards to the condition of the economy.  He is a smart guy.  He has access to the same statistics referenced in this article.  The charade that the economy is growing and has been in recovery since 2009 must end.  Lastly, there needs to be an acknowledgement from Obama that spending trillions of dollars and pumping trillions more into the economy through Federal Reserve monetary schemes has been an abysmal failure in reviving our collapsing economy.  Let’s end the lies, damn lies, and dishonest statistics so we can have an adult conversation about a new direction for America.