Who's Unemployed? Who's On First?

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .

ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 5.6%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%.

COSTELLO: You just said 5.6%.

ABBOTT: 5.6% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 5.6% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 23% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 5.6%.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 5.6% or 23%?

ABBOTT: 5.6% are unemployed. 23% are out of work.

COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, Obama said you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how it gets to 5.6%. Otherwise it would be 23%.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like a Democrat.

COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like Hilary.

Misguided Priority, Encouraging Immigration

[From article]
But the reality is, the U.S. cannot take care of its own citizens, much less take care of everyone who wants to come here, whether legally or illegally.
We don’t have enough jobs for the citizens of this country, much less jobs for new arrivals. We have over 94 million working-age adults not working, most because they cannot find jobs.
[. . .]
Our welfare and Medicaid rolls are already overflowing with citizens and immigrants. The U.S. government is broke and paying for this welfare with borrowed dollars, all funded on the backs of taxpayers.
[. . .]
Many Americans are maxed out when it comes to debt and disposable income. Yes, gas prices are lower, but healthcare costs, thanks to ObamaCare, have more than eaten up any savings at the pump.
[. . .]
At some point the federal government and blithely unaware citizens are going to have to face the facts. The federal government is currently borrowing almost a million dollars a minute, making debt slaves and tax slaves of us, our children, and grandchildren to subsidize a bloated nanny state and irresponsible government spending. Social Security and Medicare are both edging closer to insolvency.
[. . .]
we have over $211 trillion in present and future unfunded government liabilities on top of the much publicized $18.5 trillion debt. To date, few politicians, except Republicans Chris Christie and Ben Carson, have even mentioned this gigantic economic problem or how we will address it.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/why_are_we_taking_in_refugees.html

December 12, 2015
Why Are We Taking in Refugees?
By Catherine Sellers

UK Taxpayers Fear Robots Will Take Their Jobs

[From article]
Almost half of Britons fear that robots could one day wipe out humanity, according to an exclusive Sky News survey.
And more than six out of 10 people in the UK think the Government should protect jobs from being taken by robots, our survey suggests.
The results reveal the anxieties felt by ordinary people about the coming robot revolution.
[. . .]
Prominent figures including Professor Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have also warned about the threat that "super-intelligent" computers could pose to humanity.
[. . .]
He said: "If we one day develop machines that are superior to us in terms of general intelligence, then this machine super-intelligence might be in a very strong position to shape the future according to its preferences.
"And hopefully those preferences will be aligned with ours and it will be a great win.
[. . .]
Andrew McAfee, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Sky News that the robot revolution "is happening right now".

http://news.sky.com/story/1544448/robot-revolution-40-percent-fear-wipeout-by-machines

Robot Revolution: 40% Fear Wipeout By Machines
Robots will be "as important as the rise of homo sapiens", but can humans share the planet with super-intelligent machines?
01:57, UK,
Tuesday 01 September 2015
By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

Milwaukee Sheriff Suggests Mayor and Police Chief Be Held Accountable

[From article]
He wants people to consider that the mayor has been in office for ten years, while the police chief has held the job for six years. The sheriff believes that these two should look inward, considering that during their tenure the causes for possible violence has increased: poverty has worsened, the Milwaukee School System has received an F grade, Milwaukee’s unemployment rate is 32%, and crime is also at a high level. In fact, the latest statistics show a 100% spike in murders in Milwaukee compared with a year ago.
Clarke noted, “I am not afraid of a law-abiding citizen with a gun; I’m afraid of the criminal with a gun and soft-on-crime prosecutors and judges. There is zero evidence that concealed carry permits have led to an increase in guns on the streets.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/milwaukee_sheriff_speaks_out_against_mayor_and_police_chief.html

June 3, 2015
Milwaukee sheriff speaks out against mayor and police chief on gun violence
By Elise Cooper

Social Security Disability Insurance In Jeopardy

[From article]
The latest annual report of the Social Security Board of Trustees projects that the Disability Insurance (DI) portion of the program will run out of funds to pay promised benefits by 2016, or possibly even 2015. That's because of a 22% increase in disability dependents on the program to 2 million since 2008.
[. . .]
The government bureaucrats running DI do not have their own money at risk, and have nothing to gain from running it efficiently to minimize costs. They are subject instead to the political pressures of record long-term unemployment and millions running out of unemployment benefits, seeking new means of public support.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/010714-685546-disability-becomes-long-term-unemployment-benefit.htm?p=full

Disability Has Become A Long-Term Jobless Benefit Program
By LEWIS K. UHLER AND PETER J. FERRARA
Posted 01/07/2014 07:02 PM ET

Investors Business Daily

CA Official Who Reported Late State Unemployment Figures, Obama Supporter

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/18/calif-official-whose-agency-under-reported-unemployment-stats-was-obama-campaign-donor/

Calif. official whose agency under-reported unemployment stats was
Obama campaign donor
10:15 PM 10/18/2012
Gregg Re, Associate Editor
Daily Caller

Camden NJ Plagued With Homelessness

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218283/Homeless-hungry-Sobering-images-Camden-New-Jersey-expose-poverty-plaguing-United-States-destitute-city.html

Homeless and hungry: Sobering images of Camden, New Jersey, expose the poverty plaguing the United States' most destitute city
By HELEN POW
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 17:59 EST, 15 October 2012 | UPDATED: 18:30 EST, 15 October 2012

Ground Zero for Corruption, Massachusetts

[From article]
"here in public corruption ground zero — they get unemployment, too.
Even when they are employed.
Even when they are retired."

http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/20220301triple_dip_sweet_deal_off_your_sweat/

Triple Dip: Sweet deal off your sweat
Boston Herald
By Margery Eagan
Thursday, March 1, 2012

* * *
Not just financial corruption.

[From article]
“Her tenure overlapped with the current administration by 20 months,” said Monahan. She said, however, that the DA’s office, which is working with local and state police, does not consider that a conflict of interest."

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20220301suicide_cops_wife_worked_for_essex_da/

Suicide cop’s wife worked for Essex DA
Boston Herald
By Laurel J. Sweet
Thursday, March 1, 2012

Unemployment in The Age of Newspeak

Abbot and Costello on unemployment.

==================================

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .

ABBOTT: Good subject. Terrible times. It's about 9%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that's 16%.

COSTELLO: You just said 9%..

ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that's 16%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it's 16% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that's 9%...

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 9% or 16%?

ABBOTT: 9% are unemployed. 16% are out of work.

COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, you can't count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed. You have to
look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: But ... they are out of work!

ABBOTT: No, you miss my point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work, can't be counted with those who
look for work. It wouldn't be fair.

COSTELLO: To who?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work... Those who are
out of work stopped looking. They gave up. And, if you give up, you are no
longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment roles, that would count as less
unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how you get to 9%. Otherwise it
would be 16%. You don't want to read about 16% unemployment do ya?

COSTELLO: That would be frightening.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means they're two ways to
bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier
of the two is to just stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like an economist.

COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!

And now you know why Obama's unemployment figures are improving!


Abbott and Costello routine is great. Labor Dept uses seasonal adjustment figures for what they GUESS for jobs created and jobs lost. About 2 weeks ago Rush Limbaugh admitted he was unaware that they did that, that it was guessing. John Crudele business writer for the NY Post writes about this for many years. Each week the McLaughlin Group (PBS, John McLaughlin, Pat Buchanan, Rich Lowry, Eleanor Clift, Mort Zuckerman, et al.) discuss economic issues. One month ago they were unaware of this deception by the Labor Dept. My emails to them were not answered. As for statistics in general Mark Twain said, "There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics." Often journalists are as clueless as civilians, in addition to the journalists who are intentionally misleading their readers.

http://www.mrconservative.com/2012/02/2224-i-cant-take-it-anymore-when-will-the-government-quit-putting-out-fraudulent-employment-statistics/

I Can’t Take It Anymore! When Will The Government Quit Putting Out Fraudulent Employment Statistics?
FEBRUARY 25, 2012
Mr. Conservative

Unemployment Down In Alabama With New Immigration Law

http://townhall.com/columnists/ginaloudon/2012/02/25/alabama_tackled_illegal_immigration_and_unemployment_started_dropping

Alabama Tackled Illegal Immigration and Unemployment Started Dropping
Gina Loudon
TownHall.com
February 25, 2012

Financial Problems Lurk As They Did In 1932

[From article]
"the European elite have installed compliant technocratic governments in Greece and Italy, and with the markets now putting pressure on France, few observers can be optimistic that the Continent can avoid a total meltdown.
[. . .]
For in many ways, the 12 months between the end of 1931 and the beginning of 1933 were the tipping point between democracy and tyranny, the moment when the world plunged from an uneasy peace towards hatred and bloodshed.
[. . .]
In the Soviet Union in 1932, meanwhile, Stalin’s reign of terror was intensifying. With dissent crushed by the all-powerful Communist Party, his state-sponsored collectivisation of the Ukrainian farms saw a staggering 6 million die in one of the worst famines in history.
By these standards, the autocratic Vladimir Putin looks almost cuddly.
[. . .]
it would be easy to sit back and reassure ourselves that the worst could never happen again. But that, of course, was what people told each other in 1932, too."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080534/Will-2012-new-Dark-Age.html

The spectre of 1932: How a loss of faith in politicians and democracy could make 2012 the most frightening year in living memory
By Dominic Sandbrook
Daily Mail (UK)
Last updated at 11:13 PM on 30th December 2011

Gov't Unemployment Figures Deceptive

[From article]
"If a person told the Labor Department surveyors that he was so bummed about the job market that he hadn’t looked for work in a year, he would officially become a non-person.
[. . .]
if the employment situation got bad enough, people would drop out of the labor market and the unemployment rate would start to look better — even if it really wasn’t.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/behold_the_incredible_shrinking_wLi2Zoeo6TbcF6V2RWRkWL

Behold the incredible shrinking work force
John Crudele
New York Post
Last Updated: 12:33 AM, December 6, 2011
Posted: 11:41 PM, December 5, 2011

Anti Depressant Use Increasing With Violence

Does this explain the increasing violence in the country?

[From article]
Elaine Ducharme, a psychologist and public educator in Connecticut for the American Psychological Association says "These drugs can be dangerous, and there needs to be follow-up care."

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-10-19/CDC-Antidepressant-use-skyrocketed-in-past-20-years/50826442/1?loc=interstitialskip

CDC: Antidepressant use skyrockets 400% in past 20 years
By Janice Lloyd,
USA TODAY
October 20, 2011

Las Vegas Unemployment, 20 percent in Some Areas

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56d4b27c-c9b3-11e0-b88b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1WiWSWpnN

August 31, 2011 2:33 pm
Poverty crisis in US gambling paradise
Financial Times
By Matthew Garrahan in Las Vegas

Myopia of Black US Rep.

So what about the 70 percent unemployment rate of persons with disbilities? Why is that not an issue for the esteemed US Rep. from Florida?

[From article]
""When you look at African American males, 40% of them are unemployed, those under 30 years of age."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/23/dem_congresswoman_blames_black_unemployment_on_racism.html

Dem Congresswoman Blames Black Unemployment On "Racism"
Real Clear Politics
August 23, 2011

Time Out of Work Cause of Harm

[From article]
"According to The Wall Street Journal, nearly a third of the unemployed -- 4 million people -- have been out of work for more than a year. Almost half of the unemployed have been out of a job for more than six months, a figure higher than during the Great Depression.
[. . .]
A Rutgers University study of the unemployed a few years ago found, unsurprisingly, "that they experienced anxiety, helplessness, depression, stress and sleeping problems after losing their jobs."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/how_the_jobs_crisis_scars_generation_Ia9VDxPhXzl74uMv1Fn4jM

How the jobs crisis scars a generation
New York Post
Last Updated: 12:50 AM, June 11, 2011
Posted: 11:34 PM, June 10, 2011

Fake Labor Statistics

Not even Mark Twain would be fooled by the Labor Department's statistics. They are official guesses and imaginary jobs that the Labor Department thinks were created. Each year they deduct hundreds of thousands from their guesses to bring the numbers down to reality. Spring is a notorious time for exaggeration. See John Crudele's columns on these figures in the New York Post.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/unemployment-drops-to-88-percent/relief/?cid=cs:comments3#commentarea

Unemployment Drops to 8.8 Percent
Associated Press
Daily Beast
April 1, 2011

Spending Other People's Money

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/07/13/signs_of_the_times/page/full

Thomas Sowell
TownHall.com

Signs of the Times
July 13, 2010

US Labor Statistics Misleading

"Why should we care? First, it's always better to know the truth even if self-deception is better.[. . .]

that 1.36 million mistake was mostly caused by faulty guesses in something called the birth/death model, which the government uses in an attempt to capture jobs it thinks, but can't prove, are being created by start- ups." 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/bronx_cheer_for_the_unemployment_6C1GdORHoKjsvdrlffu7SN

A Bronx cheer for the unemployment rate drop

New York Post

Last Updated: 9:11 AM, February 9, 2010

Posted: 12:48 AM, February 9, 2010

Whoopee! There was a big drop in the unemployment rate for January.<p> </p><br> But if you look at the numbers closely the sound you'd hear is more Whoopee Cushion than cheering.<p> </p><br> According to the official Labor Department numbers, the jobless rate in the US dipped impressively from 10.0 percent in December to 9.7 percent in January.<p> </p><br> Since I have kids who need jobs, there is nobody in this country who'd be more happy to leave it just like that -- the recession is over, employment is on the way up.<p> </p><br> But I'll share with you some discoveries that a few inquisitive skeptics and I came across without much effort.<p> </p><br> Most analysts think the jobless rate fell because people are leaving the labor force. And if you aren't looking for a job, you aren't unemployed -- at least that's the way the Labor Department sees it.<p> </p><br> That's only a small part of the story.<p> </p><br> If you have a computer, go to www.BLS.gov and open the press release issued last Friday. Click on Economic Release, Employment Situation.<p> </p><br> At the bottom of the release, you'll see Table A-1. Click on that.<p> </p><br> The top of the A-1 table will be titled "Household Data." In case you are not familiar with the way the Labor Department does things, this is the phone survey from which the government calculates the monthly unemployment rate -- in this case, the heralded 9.7 percent.<p> </p><br> Now scroll down the left and look for the heading "Men, 20 Years and Over." Then four lines under that will be the heading "employed." The second and third column on the right will show you the not-seasonally-adjusted number of men, over 20 years old, who claimed to have had jobs in both months.<p> </p><br> This line shows that when the Labor Department called people's homes for its January survey, it determined through actual calls and estimates that those 70.251 million guys had jobs in December 2009 but only 69.337 million were working last month.<p> </p><br> When you do the math, that means 914,000 fewer men said they had jobs.<p> </p><br> So, shouldn't that have made the unemployment rate rise? Silly you! You probably haven't heard of the magic of seasonal adjustments.<p> </p><br> Follow that line all the way to the right of the page and you'll see that after adjusting for what the computers think ought to have happened in December and January (that's what a seasonal adjustment is, if you don't already know), the government decided that male employment only went down from 70.391 million in December to 70.390 million in January.<p> </p><br> That's a drop of only 1,000, not the 914,000 that it would have been if the figure hadn't been fiddled with. In fact, when you get right down to it, the government confesses that without factoring in the effects of the seasons the unemployment rate would have actually been 10.6 percent in January. Not down from 10 percent to 9.7 percent after seasonal adjustments.<p> </p><br> Don't get me wrong. The Labor Department isn't hiding anything. Since I just quoted from the government's own tables there's obviously nothing sinister about this.<p> </p><br> And seasonal adjustments are valid. Usually.<p> </p><br> But this recession has been so deep and strange that it's very likely these seasonal changes are misleading everyone, especially the press that just doesn't understand.<p> </p><br> Why should we care? First, it's always better to know the truth even if self-deception is better.<p> </p><br> But if truth isn't what you seek, here's another reason: Seasonal adjustments have to come full circle in a year. So if the news is too good to be true now, the government almost certainly will be spewing out an unemployment rate later in the year that will be worse than ac tual circumstances.<p> </p><br> As I warned, the gov ernment reduced by a very large amount the number of jobs in the economy during 2009. But the 1.36 million re duction was well above the 825,000 or so figure everyone was expecting.<p> </p><br> As I explained before, that 1.36 million mistake was mostly caused by faulty guesses in something called the birth/death model, which the government uses in an attempt to capture jobs it thinks, but can't prove, are being created by start- ups.<p> </p><br>john.crudele@nypost.com <p> </p><br>

John Crudele

More Obama Gibberish


"Anyway, saving 640,329 jobs at a cost of $787 billion amounts to about $1.2 million a job.
Then there is this problem.
The Chicago Tribune said yesterday that Obama's gang says the jobs of 473 teachers were saved in North Chicago.
But the paper pointed out that the district only has 290 teachers in total. How does that add up?"

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/obama_gibberish_on_jobs_makes_my_p9CpOlWcwRU9p3DTyobUgM

Obama gibberish on jobs makes my job easy
John Crudele
New York Post
Last Updated: 2:18 AM, November 5, 2009
Posted: 11:56 PM, November 4, 2009