Jobs, Economy, Job Numbers

A Closer Look at the Jan. Jobless Numbers: Are They ‘Being Made Up?’

You may recall that major media outlets rejoiced and the markets jumped last Friday when the January jobs report was released.

“Labor Department today lowered the U.S. unemployment rate by two-tenths of a point to 8.3 percent, the lowest it’s been since February 2009,” Emily Knapp of Wall St. Cheat reported, “January data showed nonfarm payrolls to have risen a whopping 243,000, wildly exceeding even the most optimistic of economists’ projections.”

However, although the markets did indeed react positively to the good news, many analysts were skeptical of the data in the report.

“A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55 [percent],” editors at Zero Hedge wrote.

“Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that’s not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month!”

What does this mean?

Zero Hedge explains:

So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation.

Even conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh weighed in on the report, claiming that the data was “corrupt as it can be” because the Labor Force Participation Rate has been repeatedly adjusted.

Is Limbaugh out of line on this?

“After countless attempts to discredit or defend Friday’s jobs report, we can all agree on one thing: The data is complicated,” Gus Lubin of Business Insider writes. “So complicated that the BLS could make the economy look better than it was and no one would be sure.”

David Stockman

That’s more or less what David Stockman, former budget director for President Ronald Reagan, wrote in an email to former hedge fund manager Bruce Krasting.

On his blog “My Take on Financial Events,” Krasting wrote, “Is the current [Labor Force Participation Rate] a temporary phenomenon, or is this the ‘New Normal?’”

Krasting believes that if the current Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is the “new normal,” it could have severe – even dangerous – effects on the economy.

Why?

“Virtually all of the economic models used by CBO, OMB, SSA and private economists are assuming that the long-term LFPR will be in the mid-to upper 60s. The consensus is 2-3 [percent] higher than where it is today,” Krasting writes.

“If you plug in a rate of 63 [percent] versus 67 [precent] over the next ten-years, it makes a huge difference on the size of the deficit and the public debt. It would cause the deficits at Social Security and Medicare to explode. The percentage of GDP attributable to the government would inevitably rise. The economy, and society in general, would be socialized [emphasis added],” Krasting writes.

In response to Krastings’ criticism of the jobs report, Stockman writes: “…if you spend a little time with these numbers you will know that they are being made up.”

Here’s the email (via Wall Street Examiner):

…I’m wondering if this goes much deeper. I don’t particularly believe in tin foil hats, but all of these mainstream economists treat the BLS and BEA data like it’s holy writ—when it’s evident that the reports are so massaged, estimated, deemed, revised, re-bench marked and seasonally adjusted that any month-to-month change has a decent chance of being noise. What deep secret might they be hiding?

So on the labor force participation rate they say, “No it didn’t go down in January because the 2012 numbers are re-bench marked for the 2010 census,” but for some reason the BLS didn’t bother to update the 2011 civilian population numbers, including December. Thus, the BLS published apples-to-oranges numbers on this particular variable and the footnote says the December participation rate would have been the same as January, if they had revised it!

Yet on another variable— the establishment survey jobs count—they were also busy re-benchmarking–but here they did update the originally reported numbers for every month of 2011. Even then, it is hard to say what got updated because the originally reported numbers each month are then revised during the next two reporting months—with any excess or shortfall reallocated to earlier months outside the three month window, which are not published on a revised basis, even though they have been revised! This reflects a wacko thing called the concurrent seasonal adjustment method.

… your point is that the longer-term trend of the labor force participation rate is really bad, and this truth is absolutely validated by the January report. Except it would have been equally bad in December had it been reported with the new census data…

But the mainstream narrative never gets to the trend. In this case, the plain fact is that we are warehousing a larger and larger population of adults who are one way or another living off transfer payments, relatives, sub-prime credit, and the black market. My suspicion is that this negative trend and many others like it get buried by the monthly change chatter from mainstream economists and on bubble vision, and that these monthly deltas are so heavily manipulated as to be almost a made-up reality. Call it the economists’ Truman Show.
…
In short, if you spend a little time with these numbers you will know that they are being made up. Funny thing that I remember during the depths of the 1982 recession Reagan read in Human Events one night that the seasonally adjusted numbers were being manipulated and one should look at the unadjusted numbers, instead. The next morning during an economic update briefing Reagan said, he wanted to talk about the “unadjusted” unemployment rate. Marty Feldstein turned white as a ghost, and then talked him out of it. Hmmm!

Read the full email here.

People line up at a Workforce Plus job fair, Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Tallahassee, Fla. 75,000 Floridians lost their jobs in February. The state's unemployment rate rose to 9.4 %, the highest since 1976. (Photo: AP)

Gallup: These Are the Most ‘Economically Confident’ States

Gallup has released an intriguing report that ranks the most “economically confident” states in America.

And although the report lists the most “confident” states, don’t be fooled into thinking these areas actually believe that the U.S. economy is improving. On the contrary, the report is careful to point out that, nationally speaking, faith in the U.S. economy is slipping.

In fact, out of all the areas surveyed, the place with the highest confidence rating (the District of Columbia) isn’t even a state!

“Economic confidence dropped in all states . . . in 2011, reflecting the overall decline nationally,” Gallup reports. “The declines range from a low of 3 points in Idaho and West Virginia to a high of 22 points in Delaware.”

Overall, two-thirds of the participants in the Gallup phone survey believe that the economy is getting worse, according to the data.

What does this mean?

“Americans overall and in every state remain more negative than positive about the economy, creating a challenge for President Obama as he seeks re-election this year, given the strong relationship between economic conditions and an incumbent’s re-election success,” Gallup reports.

It continues:

“On a near-term basis, however, economic confidence picked up in January of this year, perhaps foretelling a more positive uptick to come in 2012. Americans are also substantially more confident about the economy now than they were in the year Obama was elected. Thus, it is not clear if voters will reward him for the signs of economic improvement that have come in recent years, or hold him accountable for the fact that the economy is still struggling nearly four years after he took office.”

Perhaps before any conclusions are drawn from the Gallup report, a few things should be pointed out.

First, as mentioned several times on The Blaze, before accepting survey results, one should take into account the possibility of “sampling errors.” That is, one must bear in mind of the likelihood of skewed polling data.

Second, as the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein notes, there are some rather inexplicable results in the Gallup report:

… residents of Washington are more optimistic than, well, anyone else. Our Index is -4. The next-most optimistic state, North Dakota, is at -26. That’s rather odd, given that North Dakota’s unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, while the District of Columbia’s is stuck above 10 percent.

Indeed, that is odd.

“One possibility is that the poll is wrong,” Klein writes, “Another is that the political nature of the economic crisis leaves residents of Washington feeling more in control than residents of other states.”

Echoing the sentiments of Mr. Klein, even Gallup is slightly confused by the results: “There are no clear patterns in the states that rank in the top and bottom 10 in economic confidence. For example, the top 10 states vary by region and political leanings, including the most (Hawaii, along with D.C.) and least (Utah) Democratic states.”

This begs the obvious question: how did Gallup structure its phone survey?

Gallup explains:

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking January 1-December 31, 2011, with a random sample of 174,639 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones…Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Okay, now that the methodology is understood, what do the results mean? That is, what does it mean when Gallup says that the District of Columbia has a “-4″ economic confidence rating?

The Index is based on the average differences between Americans’ assessments of current conditions (11% excellent or good and 48% poor in 2011) and their views of whether the economy is getting better (29%) or worse (66%). The Index has a theoretical range of -100 to +100, with negative scores indicating respondents are more negative than positive about the economy.

So, with that in mind, and despite the possibility of “sampling errors,” these are the most economically confident states (and the District of Columbia), according to Gallup:

Photo 2 of 11

10. Utah

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -31

Photo 3 of 11

9. Massachusetts

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -31

Photo 4 of 11

8. Iowa

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 5 of 11

7. South Dakota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 6 of 11

6. Hawaii

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 7 of 11

5. Maryland

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -28

Photo 8 of 11

4. Nebraska

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -27

Photo 9 of 11

3. Minnesota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -27

Photo 10 of 11

2. North Dakota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -26

Photo 11 of 11

1. District of Columbia

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -4

(H/T: The Huffington Post)

Here‘s the Chart That Has One Finance Writer Feeling ’Something Is About to Happen’

Joe Weisenthal is the intrepid finance writer over at Business Insider. He’s usually more plugged in than a Chevy Volt. So when he looks at a chart and says he feels “something is about to happen,” it’s not a bad idea to pay attention. And that’s just what he did.

Here‘s the chart from Weisenthal’s Wednesday-morning post:

I‘ll let Weisenthal explain what he’s seeing;

The above chart is the VIX. Sometimes it’s called the “fear index”. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a quick way of looking at how much investors are willing to pay for downside protection in the market. Right now, complacency is high, and nobody wants to pay much for “insurance.”

Once again, we‘re getting close to what’s been a floor for the index (since the crisis) and so it seems inevitable that something is going to come along and jolt everyone awake. [Emphasis added]

In other words, the lower the line on the chart, the more complacent people are. And when people are complacent, they don’t prepare. And that’s usually when something big happens to wake them up.

So what are the risks out there? Check out his post on Business Insider to see.

h/t to the Blaze

12 Months of Prepping, One Month at a Time

Last week Glenn Beck had wealth coach, author and investor Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad Poor Dad fame as a guest on his new network GBTV show. It was enlightening, frightening and a call to action. Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump just wrote a new book called the Midas Touch and in a recent Newsweek article they warned that real unemployment is near depression era levels.

The interview with Beck, left even Glenn a bit speechless. Robert Kiyosaki admitted that he is a huge fan of Glenn Beck’s and not only agrees with him on just about everything, but was even more gloom and doom than Beck on America’s future.  It really was the first time I’d seen Beck a bit speechless.

Kiyosaki is an absolute believer in preparedness and the 5-Gs:  Grub and Water, Gas, Gold and Silver (or things you can trade for), Guns and Ammo, Ground (Property) and of course Beck would add God, making it the 6-Gs.  When Glenn asked him if you had nothing in place where should someone start he responded, “With the Grub, Food!”

Kiyosaki and Beck both said they hoped they were wrong, but Kiyosaki said he thought this was going to be the greatest depression ever, it could be worldwide and predicted there would be violence.

Beck is doing a special on this Thursday 10.13.11 at 5p.m. on GBTV (also available afterward on Demand) on his solution.  He urges everyone to sign up at GBTV.com so you can watch the show… the first two weeks are free so you can cancel before having to pay if you decide it is not for you.

Gaye Levy, Contributing Writer  -  Activist Post

Once the prepping bug hits, it is easy to want to go for it.  You know what I mean:  Let’s do it and let’s do it all Right Now!

There are some problems with this.  First there are time constraints, and second there are money and budget issues.  But the biggest problem and undoubtedly the one that is overlooked in the initial flurry of readiness preparations, is that without reasonable care and thought given to the process, the tasks and the actual products involved, you can make some costly mistakes.  I say this from experience.  In my haste to get “stocked up” I bought gear that I don’t like and will never use.  I purchased foodstuffs I will never eat.  Stupid stupid stupid of me.  I should have taken my time, done my research, and made a well thought out and educated decision before I even got started.

Today I would like to help you break down the overwhelming task of emergency preparation by providing you with a month-by-month calendar of things to do, tasks to complete and items to purchase.  For the newbies, this gives you a manageable number of things to do in a short period of time.  Instead of looking at a task list 10 pages long, you have a short list that is eminently doable in 30 days or less.

And for the more experienced prepper?  You can start with month #1, look at the activities and tasks involved and fill in any gaps you may have in your own preparation.  In some cases you may see a need to update or rotate what you have on hand and in others, you may find the need to practice a particular skill.

I love lists.  So bear with me as I present a readiness calendar to guide your through twelve months of prepping.  Hopefully you will find that one month’s work is not too costly, not too time-consuming and not too difficult.  The most difficult part as I see it will be getting off your bum and starting.  So let’s do it!

MONTH 1

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Water-3 gallons per person and per pet
• Hand-operated can opener and bottle opener
• Canned meat, stew, or pasta meals – 5 per person
• 2 flashlights with batteries

TASKS:

• Inventory the disaster supplies you already have on hand, including your camping gear
• If you fill your own water containers, mark them with the date they were filled
• Date cans of food and food containers if you have not already done so

MONTH 2

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Canned vegetables – 4 per person
• Toilet paper – 3 rolls per person
• Sanitary napkins – 2 months’ supply
• Instant drinks (coffee, tea, powdered soft drinks)
• Family sized first aid kit

TASKS:

• Change the batteries  and test your smoke detectors.  Purchase and install smoke detectors if you don’t have them
• Make an inventory of home contents for insurance purposes. Take photographs (digital are easiest) of your house and contents. Store a copy away from your home.

We will protect your privacy...guaranteed!

MONTH 3

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Canned fruits – 3 cans per person
• Any foods for special dietary needs (enough for 3 days)
• A large plastic tub or bin for storage of food and other emergency supplies.

TASKS:

• Conduct a home fire drill
• Locate the gas meter and water shutoff points and attach/store a wrench or shutoff tool near them.  Also store special shutoff instruction, if any.
• Establish and out-of-state contact to call in case of an emergency
• Identify a location for your storage of plastic bin or tub.

MONTH 4

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Extra baby bottles, formula and diapers if needed
• Extra pet supplies; food, collar, leash, etc.
• A stash of at least $100 in small bills – more if  you can afford it
• Begin to stockpile extra supplies of critical prescription medications. Talk to your pharmacist for help in making this happen.

TASKS:

• Place a supply of prescription medicine(s) in a storage container and date the medicine(s) if not already indicated on its label
• Start putting supplies in storage container(s) and include blankets or sleeping bags for each family member

MONTH 5

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Canned, ready-to-eat soup – 4 per person
• Liquid dish soap
• Plain liquid bleach
• Portable am/FM radio with batteries
• Liquid hand soap and hand sanitizer
• Disposable hand wipes
• Disposable latex or nutile gloves

TASKS:

• Make two photocopies of important papers and put one in the storage container, and one away from your home.
• Talk with neighbors about organizing a neighborhood preparedness group.

MONTH 6

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Box of granola or power bars – 1 per person
• 6 rolls of paper towels
• Box of N-95 or N-100 face masks – 1 per person.

TASKS:

• Check to see if stored water has expired and needs to be replaced
• Put an extra pair of eyeglasses in the supply container
• Find out about your workplace disaster plans and the disaster plans at your children’s schools

Food Storage
Freeze Dried Food
Dehydrated Food
MRE
Survival Kits
Water Storage
Mountain House Food
MRE Meals
Emergency Supplies
Emergency Preparedness

MONTH 7

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• NOAA Alert Weather Radio
• ABC fire extinguisher
• Jug of juice – 1 per person
• Adult and children’s vitamins
• A pair of pliers and/or vise grip
• 100 feet of rope or paracord

TASKS:

• Take a first aid/CPR class
• Show family members where and how to shut off utilities

MONTH 8

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Box of crackers or graham crackers – 1 per person
• Dry cereal or instant oatmeal – 1 weeks’ worth per person
• 1 box of large, heavy-duty garbage bags

TASKS:

• Make a small preparedness kit for your car. Include food, water, blanket, small first aid kit, a list of important phone numbers
• Secure water heaters to wall studs (if not already done)

MONTH 9

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Extra batteries for flashlights, radio and hearing aids (if needed)
• Duct tape
• Add an additional 3 days of water to your supply per person and per pet

TASKS:

• Follow up on efforts to organize your neighborhood
• Conduct an earthquake drill at home: stop, drop and hold, then go outside. (Remember, and earthquake can happen anywhere as recent events have demonstrated.)
• Replace prescription medicines as required by expiration dates

MONTH 10

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Take the month off from purchases. Yay!

TASKS:

• Secure shelves, cabinets and drawers to prevent them from falling and/or opening during earthquakes
• Imagine your house with no electricity. What more do you need?

MONTH 11

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Package of paper plates
• Package of napkins
• Package of eating utensils
• Package of paper cups

TASKS:

• Exchange work, home and emergency contact phone numbers with neighbors for use during an emergency

MONTH 12

SUPPLIES & GEAR:

• Heavy work gloves
• Begin to try to expand your food supply to twice of what you have on hand right now. Continue with this effort into coming 12 months.

TASKS:

• Check to see if your stored food and water needs to be replaced.

MONTH 13

Congratulations.  You have completed your year of preparations.  Now is a good time to go back to month 1 and review, replenish, rotate and drill.  Good job!

The Final Word

Once a month for the next twelve months I will feature an article devoted exclusively to the monthly tasks at hand, including suggested activities, recommended purchases, viable alternatives, budget saving strategies and references to more reading material.  Sometime I may deviate from the list a bit and other times I may enhance it.
The final word for today is this:

Emergency preparation is your journey and should be unique to your circumstances, your family, your geographical location and your financial resources.  Yes, it can be a chore.  But as I have said before, it should be a chore with a happy ending.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!

Gaye Levy, the SurvivalWoman, grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area. After spending many years as an executive in the software industry, she started a specialized accounting practice offering contract CFO work to emerging high tech and service industries. She has now abandoned city life and moved to a serenely beautiful rural area on an island in NW Washington State. She lives and teaches the principles of a sustainable, self-reliant and stylish lifestyle through emergency preparation and disaster planning through her website at BackdoorSurvival.com. SurvivalWoman speaks her mind and delivers her message with optimism and grace, regardless of mayhem swirling around us. Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!

Ask Marion~

Related:

Personal Preparedness, The Leibowitz Society, Coming Collapse and how long things will last…

Bartering

FEMA: Include Pets in Your Preparedness

Handwriting on Wall: Texas Walmart Posts Food Shortage Signs in Store Window

Survival and Self-Sufficiency Tips

Doomsday? China claims U.S. already in default

The faces of stock traders tell the story that big trouble is brewing.

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

As a means of stirring up political opposition to the intention of Congressional conservatives to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, the Obama Administration, Congressional Democrats, and liberals in general have warned that if we do not raise the debt limit the U.S. will 'default on its obligations to its lenders.' Apparently that warning was highly misplaced. One of America's largest creditor nations, China, is claiming today that the U.S. is already defaulting on its loans. Is this the doomsday many have warned about for at least 3 years?

The Obama Administration has pursued a policy of deliberately devaluing the dollar and spending the nation into oblivion with money that is borrowed. Many astute political observers, including this writer, have warned incessantly that such a policy would ultimately lead to economic collapse. The more the Administration spends borrowed money without restraint, the more likely it is that the nation will default, given that it has no money to pay its creditors and its creditors are becoming more convinced by the day that they cannot lend America any more money.

Without the luxury of continuing to borrow money, the vast majority of America's obligations to senior adults and the disabled poor will go unfunded. This will lead to widespread suffering on a scale never before experienced in the United States of America.

Not surprisingly, the stock market plunged again today in response to such news, dipping below 12,000 for the first time in months. Today's plunge represents the worst sustained decline in stocks since 2002, just after the 9/11 attacks.

What does this mean for the average citizen on the street?

t means inflation will necessarily skyrocket. This has already happened in the food and energy sectors, but the government conveniently does not count these two items in its inflation numbers. Further, look for food shortages, energy shortages, and continued skyrocketing costs. Electricity rates will be raised to historic levels, in keeping with a statement Obama made in 2007, "Under my plan, energy costs will necessarily skyrocket."

The nation can also look for civil unrest as citizens grow increasingly outraged that their government has deliberately pursued policies that have brought the nation to the brink of ruin. Even James Carville, former Bill Clinton advisor, confirmed that such a scenario is not mere speculation or fear-mongering but a distinct possibility.

What can the government do to reverse this march into the abyss? Stop spending money. Cut the budget drastically. Don't borrow any more money. The government must live off of only what it takes in from the citizens in the current tax structure. And taxes must not be raised in any shape, form, or fashion. That would merely throw dirt on the grave.

In addition, the nation must lower the tax rate for business, making this country the most business-friendly nation on earth. Only the private sector can get the economy moving again, and a friendly and non-oppressive tax structure would do the trick in getting businesses to invest and hire workers.

Be sure to catch my blog at The Liberty Sphere. Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.

Source: Examiner.com

• China ratings house says US defaulting: report

 

German Rating Agency Feri Downgrades US Government Bonds: AAA to AA!

The first Western downgrade of US government bonds is a fact! The German credit rating agency Feri lowered its rating on US debt by a full notch, from AAA to AA.

Here is the German press release: Feri Downgrades US Gov Debt AAA to AA

The English translation:

Homburg, 8 June 2011 - The Bad Homburg Feri EuroRating & Research AG downgraded the first credit rating agency's credit rating for the United States from AAA to AA. Feri analysts justify the downgrade by the continuing deterioration of the creditworthiness of the country due to high public debt, inadequate fiscal measures, and weaker growth prospects.

"The U.S. government has fought the effects of the financial market crisis primarily by an increase in government debt. We do not see that there is sufficient attention being paid to other measures, "said Dr. Tobias Schmidt, CEO of Feri Rating & Research AG. "Our rating system shows a deterioration in economic health, so the downgrading of the credit ratings of U.S. is warranted."

For the third consecutive year the deficit of the United States is in double digit percentages relative to gross domestic product (GDP). "Deficits of such magnitude are not a sustainable fiscal policy. We would reconsider the rating when the U.S. government creates a long-term sustainable budget," said Schmidt.

Feri Rating is listed on the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as an EU credit rating agency approved and created with more than 20 years experience in sovereign ratings. Every month, the Feri analysts evaluate sovereign credit ratings from the perspective of a foreign investor based on the ability and willingness of countries to repay their debts. The credit ratings have eleven possible gradations between "AAA" (best credit) and "Default".

Obama's Jobs Plan Takes a Page From Marx

By Investor's Business Daily

Politics: The president has unveiled a plan to cut joblessness with an industrial policy from the 19th century. In this "new" economy, government will pick winners and losers for industry. It didn't work then, it won't work now.

Taking a cue from classical Marxist theory as well as vintage union organizing doctrine, both discounting the value of service work over manufacturing, we now see President Obama touting training for factory jobs over all others, pushing government spending in that area and calling it a jobs recovery plan.

"I see a future where we train workers who make things here in the United States, and continue a important and honorable tradition of folks working with their hands, creating value, not just shuffling paper," he said Wednesday at Northern Virginia Community College, urging students to pack up and go to ... Detroit.

As he announced his public-private "Skills for America" partnership to train and credential 500,000 students for jobs in industries favored by the Obama administration, it bears looking at how at odds this approach is to both history and economic reality.

"We know it means building the infrastructure, the roads and bridges, and manufacturing new products here ... that create good jobs," Obama said. "Above all, it means training and educating our citizens to out-compete workers from other countries."

The Bill Moyers crowd has been touting manufacturing-era nostalgia for years, claiming the world would go back on its axis if America could just shut its market and put everyone back into blue collars, turning gears and listening for the lunch whistle.

Fact is, the more advanced the economy, the greater percentage of the work force that moves out of manufacturing and into services.

Economists call this the "tertiary progression" of development - from farming and fishing, to the Industrial Revolution, to an advanced service economy. Every rich nation has followed this path - every one.

In the U.S., that move started not last decade but more than 70 years ago. In the U.S. there are six times more service workers than factory workers, boasting higher skills and per capita income. U.S. trade data consistently show U.S. surpluses in service exports across the board because that's America's competitive advantage.

Now the president wants us to "give back" all that white collar development and return to a simpler sort of economy premised on manufacturing - one that's more characteristic of today's China or Peru than a developed economy such as America.

Amazingly, he wants this even though he admits state-directed industrial policy has failed. "We've got a lot of programs out there," he said. "If a program does not work in training people for the jobs of the future and getting them a job, we should eliminate that program."

Which defies belief when one recalls he's holding up job-creating free-trade treaties with Colombia, Panama and South Korea for just such a useless training program called "Trade Adjustment Assistance," or TAA.

That program is so bad a 2008 American University study by Kara Reynolds and John Palatucci declared it "of dubious value in terms of helping displaced workers find new, well-paying employment opportunities." Obama is holding up a proven way to create jobs - trade deals - to expand TAA from $2 billion to $7 billion.

It's as if all the economic knowledge acquired in the course of the 20th century never made it to the Obama White House. Obama wants to pick industrial winners while the economy languishes from high taxes, massive new regulatory burdens and his failure on free trade.

The only logic that can explain this is that Obama means to spend more money on vocational education to prepare kids for work in industries dominated by unions - Obama's main base of political support.

Presumably, if enough community college students can be trained for traditionally unionized manufacturers, employers will have no choice but to hire them. That's a win-win-win-win for educational bureaucrats, unions, jobs and Obama's political prospects.

Too bad the rest of the economy - which accounts for three-quarters of all U.S. output - didn't make Obama's list of industrial winners.

We the Sheeple? – Glenn Beck

America's March to Socialism: Why we're one step closer to giant missile parades
is now available as an audio book...

GLENN: Okay, so I'm reading the story in Pravda, American Capitalism Gone With a Whimper. They are taking us that it's happening at breathtaking speed because we're sheeple, that Russia, they already went through this, and you need to learn the lesson. And this is what they say is happening. First the population in America was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education based on pop culture rather than the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas than the drama in D.C. that directly affects their lives. True. They care more for their right to check down a McDonald's burger or a Burger King burger than for their constitutional rights and then they turn around and lecture us in Russia about our rights and about our democracy? Pride blind the foolish.

That line sticks out to me: Pride blind the foolish. We're arguing over things we should not be arguing about. The other line that sticks out to me is the substandard education based on pop culture rather than the classics. I was with George Wythe University who was the guy who was really the mentor to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson had a way of education, and it's all based in the classics. At George Wythe University, they only have textbooks. They only use the classics. I've seen the difference.

Pravda goes on and says, "Then their faith in God was destroyed until their churches, all tens of thousands of different branches and denominations were for the most part little more than Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega-preachers were more than happy to sell their souls in flocks to be on the winning side of one pseudo-Marxist politician or another. Their flock may complain but when explained that they would be on the winning side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes of earthly power. The final collapse came with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months have been truly impressive. His spending and money‑printing has been record‑setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more than another year ‑‑ and there is no sign that it will not ‑‑ America will best resemble the Weimar Republic and, at worst, Zimbabwe."

My friend, I have told you these things were coming. I tell you now, they are coming. We must educate ourselves and be involved and put down our differences and connect with ‑‑ make a vow to yourself today that there are Democrats out there, if you're a Republican, that there are Democrats out there that truly get it. They don't hate America. There are Democrats now that are saying in their own circles, they don't want to say anything. I really, truly believe not enough people are reaching out to the other party and to the independents as well. They are saying to each other, this is crazy. This can't... but they want to believe. There's nothing, there's nothing wrong with being wrong. What's wrong is being wrong and then not admitting that you were wrong and just keep going down the path because you're too proud. Pride blind the foolish. The media elite will ask me, "Where were you when George Bush..." well, for the first half, blind. For the second half, speaking out. It doesn't matter. I'm not on any side. Are you? When it really comes down to it, are you on any side other tha n your children's side? The minute the Democrats say, "Whoa, Marxism, oh, wow," and they turn around and they say small government, I'm with them. I'll call myself a Democrat. I don't care. Minute the Republicans do it, fine. If the it's the, you know, polka dot purple people eater party, then guess what button I'm wearing. I don't care.

Let's just start speaking the truth to each other. These past two weeks have been the most breathtaking of all, Pravda continues. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system by the they thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loss and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look more than ordinary street thugs in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in sheer volumes. These men, of course, are not elected panels but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs of their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress. Again congress has put up little more than a whimper to their masters. And then came Barack Obama's command that GM's president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader of Pravda. In the land of pure free markets, the American president now has the power, the self‑given power to fire CEOs, and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions. More advice to us and then to the people of Russia from the e ditorial this weekend in Pravda, next.

(OUT 10:43)

GLENN: So this weekend I'm reading an article out of Pravda, an editorial, American Capitalism Gone With a Whimper, and it has so much in it. They are warning us against Marxism and saying that it is coming at a breathtaking speed here in America. The article continues, "So it's no surprise that the American president is followed up with his bold move of declaring that he and another group of unelected chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automotive policies. I'm sure that if given a chance, they would happily try to redesign for the whole world. Prime minister Putin less than two months ago warned Obama and the U.K.'s Blair not to follow the path to Marxism; it only leads to disaster. Apparently even though we suffered 70 years of this Western‑sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish drunken Russians. So let our wise Anglo‑Saxon fools find the folly of their own pride. But again the American public has taken this with barely a whimper, but a free man whimper. So it shouldn't be any surprise to discover that the Democratically congress of America is working on regulation that would give the American treasury department the power to set fair minimum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private businesses give out pay raises and bonuses. Barney Frank stresses that this only a ffects the companies that receive government monies. But it is retroactive. And taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive. The Russian owners of American companies ‑‑ listen carefully, America. The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at what is happening in America and look at the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left. The proud American will go down into his slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world how free he really is. And the world will only snicker.

Now, there are going to be those who dismiss this coming out of Pravda as political games. They will dismiss this as, "Well, of course they are saying that because they want to destroy America." Whatever. Sometimes there's a great amount of truth in an imperfect messenger. There is an awful lot of truth in this editorial. We'll include it in our free e‑mail newsletter. Don't have to agree with it, don't have to agree with everything in it. Some of the stuff is pretty harsh. But let's just make sure that the last sentence isn't true. The proud American will go down into his slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world how freely he truly is. That is why I say we must stop arguing back and forth about the parties because we're not seeing the real issues. They are giving you the scraps off the table and we beat our chest and we say, "We're free. No, but I like freedom because the Republicans." "No, no, the Democratic freedom is better." They are both slavery. One's just slavery light and the other is socialism. The world will only snicker because of our arrogance for so long. Let's just think the unthinkable. Think of it as an actual possibility so we can avoid it. And unite together and rediscover who we truly are, not what we've allowed ourselves to become.

Posted:  Daily Thought Pad

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