About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Response - The Unemployment Stats Don't Begin To Reveal The Problem

Below is an extremely thoughtful & insightful response to the subject message.  The writer obviously not only knows why I entitled the message "The Unemployment Stats Don't Begin To Reveal The Problem" but also explains in detail what I meant by the term "spending down their assets" when referring to how the 23 million underemployed people & their families in the nation are making ends meet.
 
What we have is an older generation who created wealth, a younger generation spending it down, & the unanswered question of whether or not the next generation can rebuild it?
 
---Response---
 

Hi Doug - Thirty years ago we lived and died by manufacturing data - today it's insignificant. I am starting to entertain the theory that unemployment numbers are also insignificant. Realizing this theory runs counter to contemporary thinking lets peek behind the curtain at some facts. The Romney Camp cannot get traction with unemployment - it's like trying to use manufacturing data as a campaign tool - its old school. We are approaching 50% of America's population receiving income from a source outside the traditional 8 to 5 job routine. This 50% receives monies from pensions, Social Security, disability, welfare, investments, inheritances, trust funds, and self-pensioned. Moreover, the greatest transfer of wealth is taking place at this very moment and will continue for the next 15 years as the World War II generation passes away leaving their wealth to their children. Additionally, Baby Boomers are retiring at record numbers which will also continue for the next 15 years. Many companies are laying off their senior workers who collect unemployment for two years and subsequently retire. This technique skews the unemployment data. We are a mature and wealthy country with 80% of us owning our homes. As with manufacturing data, the above wealth facts, leaves few Americans, outside the news media, concerned with unemployment data. Since the country is seemingly deft to unemployment information, in my opinion, Romney will need to dig deeper into his tool chest otherwise he will pass into history as a final jeopardy question.

3 comments:

  1. I think this is a great response.

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  2. Doug, The person that responded to your blog on the unemployment numbers made some good points. I want to address the issue of Seniors who are laid off and are able to collect 2 yrs. of unemployment plus SS benefits.

    It so happens my son-in-law is one of those. He was laid off just before Christmas 2011 and signed up for unemployment and in Jan applied for SS. This is what makes me crazy. He does not have to report in person or be looking for a job in order to get paid. He just reports online. Go figure. That was never the case in the past.

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