June, 2024, By The Numbers: Illegal Immigrants Get Half of The New Jobs, Fast Food Is Now A Luxury Item, SNAP Food Program Wastes $34 Million a Day

 On a periodic basis we do some posts that fall under the theme of “by the numbers.” Rather than trust what the American politician tells us about reality, we like to examine the real numbers and the real reality in the world to understand what is actually going on. Relying on politicians, and their cohorts in the media, to tell us what is reality is always a sucker bet. They have their own agendas and goals, usually centering around their needs and self-enrichment. So we need to look at the reality of the numbers to determine what is really going on.

Previous analyses of “by the numbers” can be accessed by entering the phrase in the search box above. We look at the numbers to truly find out how good, not likely, or bad, most likely, the American political class is doing in managing our tax dollars, protecting our freedoms, and resolving major issues that affect all of us.

1)A recent study by the Economic Policy Innovation center revealed these disturbing numbers when it comes to the Federal government’s food stamp program, now known as SNAP:

• According to the study findings, the program loses $34 millions A DAY of taxpayer wealth due to errors and inconsistencies in the program.

• Alaska was the worst offender of the program with a whopping 57% of its payments being inconsistent or outright wrong.

• Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland and Oregon are not much better with each of them having error rates above 20%.

• Stacy Dean, a top-ranking nutrition official at the Department of Agriculture, said the agency would work harder to cut back on payment errors, which one would hope so if the taxpayer is  losing $34 million a day.

• The program cost taxpayers $31 billion in 2001 but on an inflation adjusted basis, the cost of the program has grown more than fourfold, up to $135 billion a year.

• And the $34 million may be an underestimate since the USDA does not record any faulty SNAP payments that are below $48.

Another waste of taxpayer wealth, with the extraordinary damage coming out to at least $34 million a DAY.

2)Remember when a visit to a fast food place was a cheap alternative to going out to a sit down restaurant? As a result of Biden’s dismal economic policies, a visit to a fast food place is longer cheap:

• A recent study by LendingTree found that a whopping 78% of those polled said that fast food visits are now a “luxury” in their household budget.

• About 50% of those polled said that they view fast food options as a luxury because they are struggling financially.

• 62% of the respondents said they are eating  out less frequently at fast food options because of the cost.

• 75% claim that fast food options are now more expensive than eating at home.

• According to the Federal Reserve, the cost to eat out at a fast food location is up 41% since 2017 while the overall measure of inflation is up just under 35%,

• The cost of a McDonald’s cheeseburger and Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets are up over 200% in price in the past five years.

More evidence of Biden’s failed economic programs and ability, fast food is now a luxury.

3)While the numbers of Biden’s economic policies are not good, the numbers of his failed immigration policies are also horrendous:

• According to an analysis by the Standard Chartered Bank NY Branch, about 50% of the jobs created in this country this year likely went to illegal immigrants, not American citizens.

• Of the 231,000 jobs that were created on average every month this year, it is estimated that 109,000 of them on average went to illegal immigrants.

• The estimates are based on analysis of detailed data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Again, another example where Washington politicians care more about the welfare of illegal immigrants than they do of American citizens. 50% of all newly created jobs going to illegal immigrants,  crowding out the job needs of American  citizens.

4)A couple more quick hitting numbers as a result of Biden’s poor economic management skills:

• While overall national  economic growth has not been  great lately under Biden, the annualized economic growth from the first quarter of 2024 was recently downgraded by the government from 1.6% to 1.3%.

• According to a recent HHS government  report, about 7.7% of Americans currently do not have  health insurance  coverage, or about 26 million Americans do  not have health insurance.

• A side note: obviously this  is a sad commentary on Obama Care that was supposed to and was promised to ensure that every American was covered by low cost health  insurance.

• And  despite the reality that 26 million Americans do  not have health care insurance coverage, the Biden administration recently announced that it would be using American taxpayer  money to provide health insurance coverage to 100,000 young illegal immigrants, the 26 million  uninsured American citizens be damned.

Speaking of illegal immigrant numbers, another failed policy of the Biden administration:

• In 2020 there were  10.2 million  illegal immigrants in the country

• Three years later, Biden had allowed about 10 million more unvetted and unvaccinated illegal immigrants to enter the country where they are draining local government budgets of American taxpayer wealth, wealth that is now used to educate, feed, shelter and provide medical care to these additional 10 million illegal immigrants.

• For comparison, if the total number of 20 million illegal immigrants settled in one state, that state would be tied with New York as the 4th most populous state.

• If we count only the illegal immigrants that Biden has allowed in, in just over three years, and placed them in a single state,  that state would be the 10th most populated state, having  more residents than densely populated states like New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

• If his illegal  immigrants were put in one state, it would be populated by more people than the 13 states with the least number of residents combined.

Again, American politicians care more about illegal immigrants than they do about Americans, be it jobs, food, shelter, and medical care.

That will do it for today. As  always, when we look at the numbers we realize what a pathetic job the American political class does when it comes to efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars. The numbers do not lie even if politicians do.

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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:

https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom

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Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

https://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Country-Loathe-Government/dp/1604942789/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=love+my+country%2C+loathe+my+government&qid=1607716020&sr=8-1

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

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http://www.openthebooks.com

http://www.conventionofstates.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

 

The Real State Of The Union, What Americans Think, Part 3: Obama Care Stinks, Congress Stinks, Job Creation Stinks, This Presidential Administration Stinks

This is the third and final post we are doing relative to what Americans think about the state and direction of the country. It is next to impossible to ascertain where the country is today and what is really going on since we know now that this Presidential administration has been lying and deceiving us for years, this President was awarded the worst lie of 2013 by the Washington Post, and the mainstream media, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum, present only the positive news on their political allies.

Thus, we have decided to go to Gallup, Pew, and other respected public opinion survey authorities to find out what is really going on with ordinary Americans. As we have seen in the first two discussions we have had in the past two days on this topic, Americans are not happy, they are not optimistic, and they are very angry about where the country is, where it is likely going, and those in Washington that got us where we are.

Those pessimism and anger undertones are likely to continue today:

1) A recent poll of a cross section of Americans revealed how unhappy they are with this Presidential administration, one year into its second term. The poll was conducted by the highly regarded magazine, The Economist, in cooperation with YouGov.com. Their findings included the following details:

• 71% of Obama voters said they regret voting for the President in the last presidential election.
• An amazing 55% of self identified Democrats also regret voting for him. 
• 84% of women and 61% of men surveyed regret voting for him.
• The poll also simulated the last Presidential election and found that Romney would have won if the election was run today, with 55 million votes vs. 52 million votes for Obama.

Two points to be made here. Americans are fed up with this administration as the major problems of our times still exist while the many promises and vows of this President have not come close to realization and resolving any of the major issues of our times. Second, as the level of disillusionment grows with this Presidential administration, the quicker it grows into a lame duck status, making it less and less effective going forward, as if that was even possible.

2) Quinnipiac University’s new poll verifies these findings above and how Americans’ opinions relative to Obama are at an all time low:

• A majority of those surveyed characterize Obama as “incompetent,” “a weak leader” and oblivious to individuals’ real problems and needs.
• 39% have a negative view of his handling of the economy.
• 36% have a negative view of his handling of health care.
• 40% have a negative view of his handling of foreign policy.
• 39% have a negative view of his handling of Iran.
• Over three quarters of those surveyed believe the economy is “poor,” while only 28% believe the economy is getting better.

Strong negative views and opinions on how the President is doing his job, a realistic view of our sickly economy, and the lies finally catching up with the President. Yep, sounds about right.

3) According to a recent Marist/McClatchy, when asked how they would grade they would give elected officials in Washington:

• 31% of registered voters (41% of Independent registered voters) rated them an “F”
• 31% (30% of Independents) rated them a “D”
• 27% (23% of Independents) rated them a “C”
• 10% (5% of Independents) said a “B”
• A whopping 1% (the same percentage of Independents) said an “A.”

Thus, only about 11% of America think that the Washington political class is doing a good or better job. Pathetic ratings for a  pathetic performing set of people.

4) The Economist recently surveyed a set of Americans and asked them whether President Obama, Republicans in Congress and Democrats in Congress were doing enough on job creation:

• 68% of adults said the President was not doing enough, 21% said he was and 11% weren’t sure. 
• 76% of adults said Republicans in Congress weren’t doing enough, 13% weren’t sure and 11% said they were. 
• 74% of adults said Democrats in Congress weren’t doing enough, 14% said they were and 12% were unsure.

Thus, failing grades all around for job creation.

5) A whole slew of polling firms and polls track the President’s approval rating:

• A recent survey by RealClearPolitics found that the President’s latest job approval rating was 42.3% while his disapproval rating was 53.0%.
• The Economist poll found a 42% approval rating and 53% disapproval rating.
• The Ipsos/Reuters poll found a 40% of approval rating (26% of Independents) and 54% disapproval rating (66% of Independents). 
• The Marist/McClatchy poll found a 42% approval rating among registered voters (35% of Independent registered voters) and 52% disapproval rating (58% of Independents).
• The Gallup poll found a 41% approval rating and a 51% disapproval rating. tracks President Obama’s job approval on a weekly basis. 
• The interesting trend is at this time last year the numbers were basically reversed according to Gallup: 52% approved and 42% disapproved.
• The Rasmussen poll found a 49% approval rating and a 50% disapproval rating. Similar to Gallup, last year at this time, the President’s approval was 54% and his disapproval 45%.

With an approval rating below 50% across all independent tracking polls and opinion surveys, and trending downwards, and having basically been named political liar of the year by the Washington Post for 2013, the lame duck status continues to be a real possibility in the eyes of the country with almost three years still left in this administration.

6) About the only good news for the President is that his approval ratings are higher than the approval ratings of Congress, a classic “queen of the pigs” situation:

• The recent RealClearPolitics poll found that Congress had an approval rating of 12.3% and a disapproval rating of 81.7%.
• The Economist poll found a 7% disapproval rate and 71% disapproval rate.
• The Gallup poll found a 12% approval rate and an 83% disapproval rate

You have to really try to be viewed so negatively across all of the polls. This is a clear example of how the political class has hijacked our election processes since with these approval ratings, and their dismal actual legislative performance, not a single incumbent Washington politician should ever get reelected if basically nine out of ten Americans think they are doing a lousy job.

7) As to whether of not the country is heading in the right direction:

• The recent RealClearPolitics poll found that 29.6% of those surveyed think the country is headed in the right direction while 63.6% think it is headed in the wrong direction
• The Economist poll found that 30% think the country is headed in the right direction while 59% think it is headed in the wrong direction. 
• The Ipsos/Reuters poll found that 23% of adults (11% of Independents) think the country is headed in the right direction and 62% (78% of Independents) think it is headed in the wrong direction
• The Marist/McClatchy poll found that 33% of registered voters (26% of Independent registered voters) think the country is headed in the right direction and 64% (72% of Independents) think it is headed in the wrong direction.
• The trend is not good when the about two out of three Americans on average think the country is not headed in the right direction. Makes if very difficult to change the mindset and reality of the country starting on such a negative note. 
• Of course, given the low approval ratings of the President and Congress it is not a surprise that the country thinks we are heading in the wrong direction when we think very little of those that should be leading the country in the right direction.

8) Regarding the state of the economy and jobs:

• The Gallup “Economic Confidence Index” recently dipped to -18 for the week ending Feb. 9 — the lowest weekly reading so far in 2014. 
• According to the Economist, 37% think the economy is stuck in neutral, 36% of adults think the economy is getting worse and 22% think it is getting better.
• President Obama approval rating on the economy and jobs is only 41% as measured by The Economist and also 41% as measured by the Marist/McClatchey poll. 

9) And finally, what the latest survey from The Economist find out about Americans view on Obama Care:

• 44% of adults think the law should be repealed; 28% think it should be expanded; 17% are not sure what should be done; and 11% think it is should be kept as is.
• 25% think Obama Care is a complete failure, 22% think it is more of a failure than a success, 19% think it is equal parts a success and a failure, 13% think it is more of a success than a failure, 13% think it is too early to tell and 2% think it is a complete success. Thus, about three out of four Americans have some sort of a negative view with almost 50% having a rather strong view that it is a failure.
• 37% think the Obama Care has hurt the economy a lot, 22% think it has helped the economy somewhat, 17% think it has hurt the economy somewhat, 13% are unsure and 11% think the Affordable Care Act has helped the economy a lot.
• 49% of uninsured adults, the target market for the legislation, are not sure the individual mandate will compel them to buy health insurance, 28% said they are more likely to pay the fine, 15% said they are likely to buy insurance and 9% have already bought insurance because of the mandate.
• 55% of adults think employers will cut jobs or reduce hours because of the employer mandate, 24% are unsure and 21% say employers will not cut jobs or reduce hours.
• 41% of adults approve of the President’s handling of the situation.

Thus, it appears from these poll results that just about everything the current political class is involved in, health care, jobs, leading the country, etc., is being done in a lousy manner by both the President and Congress. There is no leadership, there are no strategic plans, there is decreasing HOPE, and there has been no CHANGE, just the same old, selfish ineffective politics.

We spend trillions of dollars every year via taxes and never see any resolution of any issues, never mind the major issues of our times. We have a set of people in Washington that are out of touch with reality and the issues facing Americans, a set of people who are only concerned with their own self enrichment and perpetual reelection to jobs that the are very poor at executing.

This is what passes for leadership in Washington today and that is why we see the negative results in every poll that is taken. And that is why we need you to join the cause for term limits now at the following site because, really, given our opinions and feelings about Washington incumbents, how much worse could it get if we dumped them all out of office after one term:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Part 6, Freedom and Liberty Guest Speaker Week: Our Anemic Economic Situation

Today’s guest writer is David W. Almasi who was in turn a guest writer on the Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog. He writes about the latest jobs number report from the Federal government but goes into more detail in a very understandable way. While some in the Obama administration may try to paint a good picture of the economy in this country, the numbers as detailed by Mr. Almasi paint a starkly different picture.

Job creation is anemic and the unemployment rate is still horrible, particularly the U-6 rate that is a true measure of how Americans are struggling in the job market. His analysis also points out that those people that most need some economic hope are not getting it from the economic policies of this administration and Washington in general.

So, rather than me pulling together the latest economic trends and statistics, I turn that task over to Mr. Almasi and the Amy Ridenour’s National Center blog.

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Project 21's Green on New Jobless Numbers, Economy At Large

by David W. Almasi
Jul 5, 2013 at 8:55 AM

As he does every month, Project 21 member Derryck Green reflects on the new unemployment figures that were released this morning as well as other factors indicating the economic health of our nation in the Obama era:

Unemployment is still well above seven percent. The recession ended long ago, but Americans are still hurting. Considering the politics of President Obama, however, should we really be surprised?

Remember when Obama was caught on an open microphone in early 2012 passing word to Vladimir Putin that he expected to have “more flexibility” after his re-election? He’s certainly made good on that assertion, and now openly exhibits progressive extremism.

The American economy is showing it’s not so flexible. In fact, it seems as if it’s about to break. For June, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the general unemployment rate stayed the same at 7.6 percent. But the more explicit “U-6” measurement of total unemployment — including those who can’t find work, can’t find enough work and gave up looking for work — skyrocketed to an abysmally high 14.3 percent.

And it’s not like he’s rewarding his friends. Among those with the worst unemployment news are his key constituencies. Teenagers (read: new voters) are unemployed at an extremely high rate of 20.4 percent (and black teenagers unemployed to the degree of 43.6 percent. Hispanic (read: new voters) unemployment is 9.1 percent. And black unemployment (read: taken-for-granted voters) is 13.7 percent.

While not documented as a unemployment demographic, one Obama constituency seemingly doing well is the same-sex marriage community. They recently got a huge influx of federal benefits due to the Supreme Court’s invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act and overturning the will of California voters to define marriage as strictly a man-woman affair.

The Obama Administration’s steadfast support for homosexual rights over other special interests has rankled at least a few of his supporters. For instance, Cornel West recently complained to his friend Tavis Smiley on Smiley’s radio show that: “The irony in the age of Obama in which black folks found themselves pushed to the back [of the bus, and] our gay bothers and lesbian sisters more and more pushed to the center.”

Beyond special interest jealousy in counting out their spoils, all Americans are losing under the policies of the Obama Administration. Despite a brief dip in unemployment close to Election Day 2012 (and how suspicious is that?), economic misery is getting worse. With more than three-quarters of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, the circumstances bode ill for the future of the republic.

Take the example of ObamaCare — the crown jewel of Obama’s presidency. So far, it’s led to higher premiums, higher taxes, layoffs, cut hours and rationing. Exposing the foolhardiness of passing ObamaCare before finding out what was in it, the Obama Administration recently postponed enforcement of the employer mandate until 2015 (again, conveniently past an upcoming election).

This is the second major ObamaCare delay — the first being the delay of health insurance “exchanges” for small businesses. These exchanges, as pointed out by the National Center for Public Policy Research’s David Hogberg in his analysis of California’s exchange, are poised to enter a “death spiral” as healthy young people logically eschew costly health coverage in favor of the tax penalty. This lack of young and healthy participation will force older participants to pay more and make the exchanges even more unattractive to the young. Hence, the death spiral.

Already, Vermont and the District of Columbia have such low expectations for their exchanges succeeding that they mandated all business with less than 50 employees to participate in their exchanges. This is a direct contradiction to Obama’s promise that a person can keep their doctor. If a doctor is not in the exchange, they cannot serve a patient who is in the exchange.

Not to dwell on health care, electricity prices in May were the highest for any May ever. What is Obama doing about it? He announced executive actions in June that would further regulate the coal industry toward extinction, raise energy efficiency standards that will make products less safe and more expensive and doubled (or is it tripled or quadrupled?) down on the alternative energy boondoggles that brought shame to his first term.

Despite assurances from other Obama Administration officials after the speech that there is no “war on coal,” White House advisor Daniel Schrag told the New York Times “a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.”

So, unless you’re a healthy, engaged (or married) homosexual union member working for an alternative energy company, there are some tough years ahead.

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So much for hope and change, hope that things would be better than under Bush and change that would give EVERYONE better economic opportunities. But these stark unemployment numbers are only part of the dismal economy:

• The national debt is still rocketing up towards $17 TRILLION.
• Gasoline prices are almost double what they were when Obama took office, a pre cursor to what it appears he is causing electricity prices to do.
• 47 million Americans are receiving food assistance, either a damnation of his economic policies or the fraud that is going on in the food assistance program or both.
• His failed economic policies and programs have caused the Fed to print and circulate up to $83 billion a month in false wealth that is making large investment banks, and their bankers, richer but is doing nothing for the economy except setting the stage for mass inflation at some point in the future.

A failure on so many levels as Mr. Almasi and the country’s economic statistics prove out.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w 
 

November, 2012 Latest Economic Statistics, Views, and Trends, Part 1 - The Insanity of Our Recent Economic Policies

Every month we review the latest economic trends, statistics and expert opinions on the dire financial and economic straits the political class has gotten the country into. These findings came from a variety of nonpartisan sources and government reports. The picture they paint is not good, with very little positive economic activity or signs on the horizon and a good chance of a recession occurring in the near future.

We will continue that discussion today, but rather than use a variety of sources we will focus on a list that was tabulated by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). We have covered several points made by the AEI list already but will include them here again as a refresher. The list is extensively documented relative to the nonpartisan and government sources of their data and conclusions so it is not biased in its presentation of the sorry state of our economy, relative to the inability of our politicians to understand and formulate coherent economic policies.

Here is the AEI's findings and observations along with a few tweaks from me:

1. U.S. publicly held debt as a share of GDP was 41% in 2008. It is projected to be 76% next year — and more or less stay at that historically high level for another decade under the most recent Obama budget. Then it really gets bad.

2. During the more than three-year Obama recovery, we’ve recovered only 4.8 million private-sector jobs of the 8.9 million lost during the Great Recession. During the Reagan recovery, it took just a year to recover all the lost jobs.

3. At the current pace of job creation the past two years — and assuming labor force participation stays constant — the economy won’t return to the Bush low of 4.4% unemployment for 9 more years. This assumes that another recession or substantial economic downturn does not occur in the meantime, a highly unlikely scenario.

4. The current level of private sector jobs remains nearly 13 million below where it would be if the labor market was back to normal and creating jobs at what economists call a “trend recovery.” Lots of catch up still to be done.

5. The output gap — the difference between where the economy would be if it was recovering normally (the blue line below) and where it actually is (the red line) — remains wide (you can double click on the graph for a larger view):

 

6. The United States now ranks 7th in the World Economic Forum competitiveness rankings out of 144 nations. It was 1st back in 2008.

7. There are fewer new firms being formed today than two years ago when the recession ended, according to a Hudson Institute study. In fact, the rate of startup jobs during 2010 and 2011 — years in which the economy was technically in full recovery — are the lowest on record.

8. Real average hourly earnings fell 0.2%, seasonally adjusted, from September 2011 to September 2012, according to the Labor Department.

9. Too Big To Fail still exists despite Dodd Frank, as evidenced by the cost-of-funding advantage big banks hold over small banks. In fact, the borrowing edge is virtually the same as it was four years ago. Also, the biggest five banks are about the same size they were prior to the recession and prior to Dodd Frank when measured on just about any aspect of the banking industry, i.e. we are no different and not better from a banking vulnerability perspective than we were before the economy tanked.

10. Median household income has fallen 5% on an inflation- adjusted basis since the recession ended in June 2009, according an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Sentier Research. That’s more than the 3% drop during the Great Recession itself.

11. When Obama took office, the U.S. had a fiscally unsustainable safety net (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid), an uncompetitive tax system (70,000 pages long), an unwieldy, inhibiting, and insane set of Federal regulations which he as radically expanded to over 165,000 pages, and an anti-innovation immigration policy. All are still true today.

Einstein once said: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." I would update today to read: "The definition of insanity is following the same failed economic policies of the past four years over and over and expecting different results."

If this insanity has shown us anything it is that we are in the middle of insanity when it comes to believing our current set of politicians, from Obama on down, have the slightest clue on how to implement effective and efficient economic policies. We will conitnue to prove this point over the next two days.


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment/

Economic Update - Part 3: Unemployment Up, Recession Clouds Gathering, Time For An Einstein Solution

Okay, I promise this is the last installment, for now, of the mostly bad economic trends, statistics, and expert opinions that are becoming more and more obvious in this country:

- In a recent interview with Yahoo, Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital stated his opinion that our country's financial situation has gotten so out of hand that: "We're already bankrupt. It’s better to acknowledge that than to pretend we're not."

He cites as proof for his conclusion the fact that the country has become “so broke” that the Federal Reserve has pushed interest rates to record lows, with the 10-year Treasury yield hitting a new trough of 1.61 percent Wednesday, May 30, 2012: “If interest rates were allowed to rise, the Federal government would have no choice but to restructure debt. A lot of our banks would fail. We’d have a bigger drop in our real estate mark. We’d be right back in recession.”

- The U.S. dollar may be in demand today, but it's still a "terribly flawed" currency belonging to an indebted nation, says international investor Jim Rogers, CEO and chairman of Rogers Holdings in a recent interview with Newsmax: "I do own the U.S. dollar. People see it as a safe haven, but it is not a safe haven. But people think that, and so therefore I own the dollar. There is more turmoil coming out of Europe and other currency markets, so people, when they try to look for a place to flee, they flee to the dollar, so I fled to the dollar, too. The dollar is terribly flawed, terribly flawed over the next few years, so be very careful."

Rogers also opined on several other financial and investment issues:

• The "world is running out of farmers, so the price of agricultural products has to go up a lot ... or we're not going to have any food at any price."

• The nation's condition "is very, very dire" and neither Republicans nor Democrats can really solve the U.S. economic problems.

• "In 2013 or 2014, we're going to have another slowdown, whether it's caused by Europe or who knows what going caused it, but it's coming."

• "The U.S. government makes up the official data it releases on unemployment and inflation."

- A Reuters report on May 31, 2012 which summarized that day's latest economic data was not positive:

• According to an ADP analysis, private sector employers created only 133,000 jobs in May, a result that was only a slightly up from April's lackluster 113,000 increase and below economists' forecasts  of 148,000.
• Weekly first time claims for state unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000, according to a Labor Department report also released on May 31, 2012. First time unemployment claims have now risen in seven of the last eight weeks.
• Also on May 31, the Commerce Department reported U.S. GDP increased at a 1.9% annual rate in the first quarter, down from the 2.2% it had estimated last month. The economy grew at a 3.0% rate in the fourth quarter, i.e. the trend is not good.
• That same report also showed that after-tax corporate profits dropped for the first time in three years last quarter.
• And finally, a report from the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago found factory activity in the Midwest slowed in May. The Institute said its business barometer fell to 52.7, the lowest since September 2009, from 56.2 in April.

- According to a June 1, 2012 Associated Press story:

• U.S. employers created just private sector 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year.
• As a result of the weak job creation results in May, the unemployment rate went up from 8.1% to 8.2%, the first increase in 11 months.
• The Labor Department also announced that it had revised its job creation estimates from the past two months, with the revised estimates now showing that 49,000 fewer jobs created.
• In the same article, the Associated Press reported that consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board's May survey, was also down.
• The Labor Department also reported "U.S. employers created 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate ticked up. The dismal jobs figures could fan fears that the economy is sputtering."

- In another June 1, 2012 Associated Press article, the official national unemployment rate has actually dropped almost a full percentage point from August, 2011, from 9.1 percent to 8.2 percent, suggesting the job market is steadily strengthening. However, that is not the case since this calculation does not accurately take into account the massive number of Americans who have stopped looking for a job, given their discouragement in that endeavor.

A better gauge of what is going on in the employee arena is the employment rate. That rate has improved only slightly in that time frame, from 58.3% to 58.6%. Unbelievably, that's lower than when the recession ended, when the employment rate was 59.4%.

- According to a recent CNBC report, at a Hyundai auto production factory in Montgomery, Alabama more than 20,000 people have applied for one of the 877 job openings. Not a good sign for the economy when the ratio of those looking for a job to the number of job openings is about 23 to 1.


Not a good day in the world or the U.S. economy. Tomorrow, we will take a look at what we might do as a nation to finally get out of the rut we are in and start the turnaround. It has to be obvious to most people who have read our past three days of bad economic data and trends and those that have just looked around at the economic carnage, that continuing to do the same tired political class economic programs over and over will not work.

Einstein figured that out long ago: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Seems like a good time to try his advice.

We invite all readers of this blog to visit our new website, "The United States Of Purple," at:

http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/

The United States of Purple is a new grass roots approach to filling the office of President of The United States by focusing on the restoration of freedom in the United States, focusing on problem solving skills and results vs. personal political enrichment, and imposing term limits on all future Federal politicians. No more red states, no more blue states, just one United States Of America under the banner of Purple.

The United States Of Purple's website also provides you the formal opportunity to sign a petition to begin the process of implementing a Constitutional amendment to impose fixed term limits on all Federally elected politicians. Only by turning out the existing political class can we have a chance of addressing and finally resolving the major issues of or times.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment/