This is the man we elected?????

In the nationally syndicated article by AP writers Matt Apuzzo and Justin Juozapavicius, the "White House" (I didn't know it could speak! - much less care about the unemployment crisis the country is experiencing!!) is quoted as saying that it's "UNFAIR" to judge the effects of the stimulus by the unemployment rate because no amount of stimulus money was going to keep the country's businesses "up and running"! Wasn't that the WHOLE POINT of the stimulus package? Or am I missing some pertinent information here? I was told by the senior senator from Virginia - in a rather lengthy email - at least for him - that the stimulus was supposed to provide and create jobs by funding work on infrastructure - it has but the jobs are only temporary and were already filled when the stimulus money was handed out. When I pointed out those self-same facts to Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), he failed to respond. Funny, huh? And here in good ol' Martinsville, most of the stimulus money we received was given over to keeping our police force functioning and our teachers employed. Again , all that money would have had greater effect if it'd been given to the unemployed and let them find some of the jobs that still exist. The nation of Sweden - one-fourth the size of the United States and with roughly one-eighth the population - supports its unemployed workers by paying them 80% of their last salary or wage until they find work or finish their education toward a new career. Wonder what the reason is that the "RICHEST NATION in the world" can't do the same?

Update!

Martinsville's unemployment rate went up to 22.1% last month. Oh yeah, that stimulus program is REALLY COOKING NOW!

This sounds serious!

In an article from the Associated Press, 1.3 million Americans are scheduled to lose their unemployment insurance benefits before the end of THIS year! (See today's issue of the Martinsville Bulletin!)In a related article - also from the Associated Press, less people are recieving higher payouts from their own unemployment insurance benefits. Seems the President should have worried more about the economy and a lot less about health care - at least for now!

This is getting better?????

In May 2008, Virginia’s unemployment rate was 3.6%. As of May 31, 2009, the state’s unemployment rate had doubled to 7%. According to the Virginia Employment Commission, June’s unemployment rate is LIKELY to be higher. “With the recession, this is the worst summer job market in nearly THREE DECADES”, reported the VEC. And, although stimulus money is starting to create jobs (WHERE? NOW? NOT HARDLY!!!), job losses continue for auto industry-related suppliers and dealers, the VEC said, and will probably (PROBABLY?)“create additional unemployment for several more months.”

LOCALITY MAY 2008 MAY 2009
UNITED STATES 5.2% 9.1%
VIRGINIA 3.6% 7%
Alleghany County****** 4.8% 10.5%
Bedford 5% 9.6%
Bedford County 3.2% 6.7%
Blacksburg Metro 3.9% 8.9%
Botetourt County 2.9% 6.7%
Buena Vista 4.9% 7.7%
Charlottesville Metro 3% 5.9%
Craig County 4% 7.6%
Danville Metro *** #3 6.8% 13%
Floyd County 3.6% 7.7%
Franklin County 4.6% 8.5%
Giles County 4.1% 9.6%
Harrisonburg Metro 3.5% 6.5%
Henry County** #2 7.4% 15.2%
Lexington 5.2% 9.4%
Martinsville* #1 10.4% 21.9%
Montgomery County 3.4% 7.1%
Norfolk/Va.Beach/Newport
News 3.8% 7.0%
Northern VA Metro 2.8% 5.3%
Patrick County #4* 5.4% 12.6%
Pulaski County 4.6% 12.4%
Radford 4.7% 9.6%
Richmond Metro 3.9% 8.1%
Roanoke 4.3% 9.2%
Roanoke County 3% 6.1%
Roanoke Metro 3.7% 7.5%
Rockbridge County 3.5% 6.7%
Salem 3.2% 6.4%
Winchester Metro 3.9% 4.2%

(The Northern VA Metro area consists of the cities/towns of Alexandria, Manassas, Falls Church, Woodbridge, Reston, Annandale, Fairfax, and Arlington.)

(The Danville Metro area consists of the towns of Danville, Gretna, and Chatham in addition to the county of Pittsylvania.)

- This an excerpt from an article in the Wednesday, July 1st edition of THE ROANOKE TIMES as written by Duncan Adams (duncan.adams@roanoke.com)

A word about the unemployment rate in Patrick County – The Martinsville Bulletin rates them as the #6 area in unemployment but according to the above figures, it appears to me they rank 4th.

ALL CAPITALS and asterisks ARE MINE!!!!!!

OOPS!

From a syndicated news column by Donald Lambro as printed in the Martinsville (VA) Bulletin – Friday, June 12th.

“STIMULUS NOT HELPING”

Nearly five months into Barack Obama’s presidency, his stimulus program is failing to produce the jobs he promised. And voters are souring on his big-spending, deficit-driven policies.

A nationwide Rasmussen poll found that nearly half of Americans (45 %) want the administration to stop spending the remaining bulk of the $787 billion economic-stimulus fund – doubting that the money will create any new jobs. Just 36% want the spending to continue while 20% say they’re not sure.

With the unemployment rate spiraling up to 9.4% in May and this year’s budget deficit speeding well past 1.8 trillion, Americans are turning against Obama’s handling of the economy and the unprecedented rise in government spending.

Last week, the Gallup Poll said that, while 55% of their sampling approved of the way he (Obama)* was handling the economy, 42% disapproved – up sharply from 30% in February.

Americans are growing even more disgusted with the way Obama is dealing with the budget deficit – with 46% approving and48% disapproving. His numbers are worse on the issue of “controlling federal spending” – 45% approve but for the first time, a 51% majority disapproves.

These polling numbers were reinforced by a number of economists on the left and the right who say his infrastructure stimulus has been an abject failure from the beginning.

“Despite administration claims, the stimulus package has created or saved few jobs,” said University of Maryland economist Peter Morici. “The stimulus package was poorly conceived. Not enough is devoted to hard projects, and little of the spending will stimulate late permanent growth,” Morici said last week in his latest economic analysis.
The same view can be found at the conservative Hoover Institute on the Stanford University campus.

“The end of the recession is still months away but it is increasingly clear the stimulus package was a mistake. To date, it has had no identifiable beneficial impact on the economy,” Stanford economist John Cogan told me.

“More importantly*, its impact later this year and next will be decidedly negative because the funds required to finance the package’s spending will be drawn from private-sector resources that are needed to fuel the recovery. At this juncture, Congress would be wise to repeal the remainder of the program,” Cogan said.

That idea may be gaining support among Republicans on Capitol Hill whose “stop the spending” plea is resonating with millions of Americans angered by the Obama Democrats’ spending spree on make-work, “pork-barrel” projects that will enlarge the federal deficit but employ few workers. (Not all the projects are “make-work” and “pork-barrel” but I’d certainly say that a large percentage of those projects are EXACTLY THAT!)*

The economy is clearly showing signs of life that is expected to bear more growth in the third and fourth quarters* – even though only $44 billion of the stimulus money has been spent so far. That begs the question: Why spend 70% of the money next year when the recovery will be fully under way?

“If there is any way we can ‘claw’ some of it back, it makes a whole lot of sense to reduce our debt than spending it as quickly as we can,” said Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

The chances of that idea being adopted in this Democratic Congress are slim to none because much - if not the majority* - of the money isn’t for any short-term stimulus – although it was originally sold as that. It is part and parcel of the Democrats’ agenda to expand hundreds of federal grant programs for their favored special-interest constituencies.

We are fast approaching the point where it will be time to “pull the plug” on what has turned out to be a “non-stimulus” spending program that has done more harm than good.

My comments - I think you heard it here first – the stimulus package was doomed from the start. All this money would have been better spent helping the long-term unemployed.

- Distributed by the Newspaper Enterprise Association
*(All italics are mine.)

“Tough Job Market Beginning to Show Glimpses of Stability”(???)

Experts are remaining cautious though – saying serious hiring increases may not start until 2010

-from the Associated Press as printed in the ROANOKE (VA) TIMES

Washington – Signs of stabilization in the job market are emerging – according to several private surveys – as restaurants, mortage services, and health centers step up hiring.
About a quarter of manufacturing companies and more than 40% of service-sector employers plan to hire in June – the highest totals in six months according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Still, the figures are substantially lower than they were a year ago. Service-sector jobs are not what the economy needs to improve in the manner desired – the country needs MANUFACTURING-SECTOR JOBS – AND PLENTY OF THEM!)

And the Conference Board said last week that online job ads rose by 250,000 in May to 3.37 million – the first increase since October and the largest jump since October 2006. (But be WARNED – Employers any distance from you are looking mostly for LOCAL CANDIDATES – and there won’t be very many who will pay relocation expenses unless you are a degreed professional.)

Still, economists caution that jobs will remain scarce for months because mos employers are likely to wait until the economy grows at a healthy pace before they feel confident enough to add workers. (Sort of leaving themselves a “back-door escape hatch” here, aren’t they?)That might not happen until well into 2010 – many economists say.

The nation’s jobless rate jumped to a 25-year high of 9.4% in May – a stark reminder of the difficulty unemployed workers are having finding jobs.(Heck! I can find them – but I can’t get to them! So much for the government’s stimulus plan working for me!) The Federal Reserve expects unemployment to remain elevated until 2011. (Aren’t these the MONEY guys?)

Meanwhile, more people are seeking fewer jobs. A Labor Department report Tuesday showed that total job openings fell in April to 2.5 million from 2.6 million the previous month. With 13.7 million people unemployed that month, that meant that on average more than five people were* competing for each job opening. That’s up sharply from fewer than two people per job a year ago.

Other private surveys reflect that weak outlook. Manpower Inc. said Tuesday that its quarterly employment outlook survey found only 15% of respondents planned to increase hiring in the third quarter this year. About 13% expect to cut staffing, and 67% plan no changes. That’s little changed from the current quarter.
The Labor Department’s report Tuesday - known as Job Openings and Labor Turnover - did show some pockets of growth for the first time in months : Openings for lawyers, accountants and other professional business services rose by 0,000 to 458,000. (I guess that those are the “jobs” created by the stimulus spending about which Vice-President Biden has been commenting lately.)

(*edited by me – it didn’t “sound” correct when I read it in the article. So sue me! Parantheses and italics are mine!)

Biden says “guesses” on stimulus were inaccurate
Washington, DC – Vice-President Joe Biden said Sunday that “everyone guessed wrong” on the impact of the economic stimulus but he defended the administration’s spending designed to combat joblessness.
Biden said inaccuracies in unemployment predictions shouldn’t undercut the White House’s support of the $787-billion ecomnomic plan that has not met the expectations of President Obama’s team. Instead, the vice-president urged skeptics to look at teachers who kept their classroom assignments and police officers who kept their beats because of financial assistance from Washington. (These jobs were “saved” by the stimulus spending- not created!)
“The bottom line is that jobs are being created that would have not been there before,” Biden said. But they are not coming at the pace first estimated. (About what jobs is he talking? There haven’t been any jobs ANYWHERE of which I’m aware that have been CREATED by the stimulus spending!)
Just ten days before taking office, Obama’s top economic advisers released a report predicting unemployment would remain at 8% or below throughout this year if an economic stimulus plan won congressional approval. Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unemployment in May rose to 9.4%. (I guess that's what you get - electing a forensic debater president instead of an economist.)

- from an Assocatied Press wire report as printed in the Roanoke (VA) Times Monday, June 15th.

(Italics and parentheses are mine.)

“JOBLESS BENEFITS MARK 25-YEAR HIGH”
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has set another record – a development likely to weigh on consumer spending and slow the economy’s recovery. (I tell you one person who’s NOT getting any benefits AT ALL – ME! I didn’t even get any stimulus funds! And I’ve been unemployed for 7 years! )
While retail sales rose in May, the increase resulted largely from a spike in gasoline prices and higher auto sales – according to a report from the Commerce Department. Overall, the retail report Thursday showed consumers remain reluctant to spend, economists said.
“The jobs picture continues to be one of the most significant challenges to the economy,” said Dean Curnutt, president of Marco Risks Advisors, a financial strategy firm. “It’s very difficult to be bullish on consumer spending when you’re looking at unemployment rates that are so high.”
The number of people continuing to claim benefits exceeded 6.8 million in the week ending May 30th, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was the 19th straight weekly record – after a drop last week was revised to an increase.
And that doesn’t include about 2.4 million people receiving benefits through federal and state extended programs – which can add up to 53 weeks to the 26 weeks provided by most states. That means about 8.5 million received unemployment insurance in the week ending May 23rd – the latest data available – which is triple the total of a year ago. (Funny, I thought that 6.8 and 2.4 added up to 9.2 – guess I can’t add.)
The unemployment rate jumped to 9.4% in May – a 25-year high – as employers cut 345,000 jobs. Some economists predict the rate could near 11% by the middle of next year.
More encouraging was a drop in initial jobless claims to a seasonally-adjusted 601,000 last week – which was below analysts’ expectations - and the lowest since January.
New jobless claims are a measure of the pace of layoffs and are seen as a timely – if volatile – indicator of the economy’s health.

-from an Associated Press wire release as printed in the Martinsville (VA) Bulletin Friday, June 12th.

(Parantheses and italics – and words in BOLD highlights – are mine.)

From a syndicated news column by Donald Lambro as printed in the Martinsville(VA) Bulletin – Friday, June 12th.

“STIMULUS NOT HELPING”
Nearly five months into Barack Obama’s presidency, his stimulus program is failing to produce the jobs he promised. And voters are souring on his big-spending, deficit-driven policies.
A nationwide Rasmussen poll found that nearly half of Americans (45 %) want the administration to stop spending the remaining bulk of the $787 billion economic-stimulus fund – doubting that the money will create any new jobs. Just 36% want the spending to continue while 20% say they’re not sure.
With the unemployment rate spiraling up to 9.4% in May and this year’s budget deficit speeding well past 1.8 trillion, Americans are turning against Obama’s handling of the economy and the unprecedented rise in government spending.
Last week, the Gallup Poll said that, while 55% of their sampling approved of the way he (Obama)* was handling the economy, 42% disapproved – up sharply from 30% in February.
Americans are growing even more disgusted with the way Obama is dealing with the budget deficit – with 46% approving and48% disapproving. His numbers are worse on the issue of “controlling federal spending” – 45% approve but for the first time, a 51% majority disapproves.
These polling numbers were reinforced by a number of economists on the left and the right who say his infrastructure stimulus has been an abject failure from the beginning.
“Despite administration claims, the stimulus package has created or saved few jobs,” said University of Maryland economist Peter Morici. “The stimulus package was poorly conceived. Not enough is devoted to hard projects, and little of the spending will stimulate late permanent growth,” Morici said last week in his latest economic analysis.
The same view can be found at the conservative Hoover Institute on the Stanford University campus.
“The end of the recession is still months away but it is increasingly clear the stimulus package was a mistake. To date, it has had no identifiable beneficial impact on the economy,” Stanford economist John Cogan told me.

“More importantly*, its impact later this year and next will be decidedly negative because the funds required to finance the package’s spending will be drawn from private-sector resources that are needed to fuel the recovery. At this juncture, Congress would be wise to repeal the remainder of the program,” Cogan said.

That idea may be gaining support among Republicans on Capitol Hill whose “stop the spending” plea is resonating with millions of Americans angered by the Obama Democrats’ spending spree on make-work, “pork-barrel” projects that will enlarge the federal deficit but employ few workers.


Believe it or not, this is pretty much what I've been saying all along. I wholeheartedly believe the public's money would have been much better spent by giving a million dollars to each unemployed citizen back in February 2009.

INFRASTRUCTURE? WHAT'S THAT?

Rebuilding roads, bridges, waste-water treatment plants, and school buildings is not going to "spark" the economy in the manner in which it needs. And the service industry can not take-up the "slack" to drive the economy in the manner it needs! Manufacturing jobs - textiles, durable goods (furniture, houses, cars, etc.) - are the "cure" for what ails America.

Just like I guessed!

Of the $77 million that the state of Virginia received as part of President Obama's wastewater stimulus package, NONE of it is going to be used here in Martinsville and Henry County. I feared that something of this sort would happen - that there would be areas of the country that would not benefit from the economic "stimulus" plan as proposed. I propose that $1 million dollars for each of the country's unemployed will have a much more widespread and immediate impact than the president's plan.

Unemployment rate rises dramatically!

In February 2009, the unemployment rate in the city of Martinsville, VA shot up to 20.6% - that means 1/5th of the local workforce is out of work. In surrounding Henry County, the unemployment rate went up to 14.6% - making the total unemployment rate fo rthe area a "whopping" 15.7%. In nearby Patrick County (VA), the rate went up 1.8% - from 11.5% to 13.3%! Yet all that's being done is a lot of people are "empathizing" and "sympathizing" with everyone who's lost their job or is about to lose their job. Something tells me that the rate is even HIGHER THAN IS BEING REPORTED - 30 or even 40%!

And from where did this increase in unemployment come? There were NO new layoffs in the area - heck, they are very few jobs here as it is! What aren't we being told?

Enough already! How about some help here? I've been out of full-time work since August 2002 and have long since exhausted my benefits. But I certainly don't hear anyone offering me any assistance - unless you count the local office and their "demands" that I use my TradeAct benefits package to RETRAIN myself for a new job. RETRAIN? I didn't know that I needed new skills to find a job - there are lots of openings for inventory clerks out there but I can't get to them.

Comments on the Secretary of theTreasury's statements-New York Times!

Mr. Paulson states "our financial system seized up and severely damaged the economy". I hate to inform the Seceretary that the economy had been damaged - by the massive number of unemployed people - for quite some time. It is just now that the extent of the damage has become so severe that it is beginning to impact how we live our lives and how we work. Yes, we do need" to stabilize our financial system and to get credit flowing again" but instead of bailing out American International Group (AIG), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the rest, what is the problem with "bailing out" the people who TRULY need a financial revitalization program aimed specifically at THEIR problems? Or is it just the rich who get the "bailouts" while the rest of the American people get the "shaft" - again?

On the Economy

I've got to ask this question - besides extending benefits - which only affects about 80% of the total amount of this country's unemployed, what's being done to help them? My answer to you - NOTHING! There are unemployed people out there in the heartlands of America who've exhausted their unemployment benefits - as has yours truly! - but I don't hear anyone "trumpeting" our cause. In these days of giving BILLIONS to people who truly don't need or deserve them, what would be so difficult about helping the millions of those who've lost - or are about to lose - their residences or have lost their means of transportation or their ability to communicate with anyone?