Part-Time Nation: A deceptive jobs report obscures the dark truth about the Obama economy.

Last Thursday, an Obama-centric mainstream media trumpeted the creation of 288,000 jobs and the reduction in the unemployment rate from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent. Lost in the manufactured euphoria are the sobering details: America is well on its way to becoming a nation where millions of workers can only find part-time, lower-paying jobs.

On the surface, the numbers are impressive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the aforementioned 288,000 jobs gain, while the household survey reported a gain of 407,000. Yet those numbers pale in comparison to the rise in the number of voluntary and involuntary part-time jobs, coming in at 840,000 and 275,000, respectively. Since the BLS uses seasonally-adjusted figures to calculate jobs data, one cannot subtract the total number of part-time jobs from full-time jobs. However, data regarding seasonally-adjusted full-time jobs can be compared on a month-to-month basis and therein lies the true tale of woe.

As the graphs here indicate, this is the second largest decline of full-time jobs in the past year, but by far the largest addition of part-time jobs. So far this year the economy has created 926,000 full-time jobs and 646,000 part-time jobs. Overall, America now has 118 million full-time jobs compared to 28 million part-time jobs, according to the BLS. Thus, 23.7 percent, or nearly one-out-of-every four Americans, is working part-time.

“Has this admin EVER released a report of any kind that wasn’t later found to be Fraudulent?”

NOPE.

“Exactly what do we know about Hussein?.......”

On that very topic I was telling Mrs. RQSR just the other day about how as kids I remember we were always told to NEVER OPEN THE DOOR TO STRANGERS. (I’m certain you get what I’m saying here about Hussein.)

People voted the B-stard to the highest office of the land NOT knowing a damned thing about him.

We have to be careful because the effects of tariffs can be both SEEN and UNSEEN.

Some people and industries GAIN when the tariff is enacted and others lose. For instance, when Bush placed a tariffs on steel imports, it saved jobs in the steel industry. However, it resulted in higher steel prices, which in turn resulted in fewer sales of American steel products around the world and losses of far more jobs than are saved.

The number of jobs in the steel is exceeded many times over in industries making steel products, from automobiles to oil rigs, refrigerators, locomotives, etc., etc. Tariffs that save jobs in the steel industry mean higher steel prices, which in turn means fewer sales of American steel products around the world and losses of far more jobs than are saved.

The way gains and losses are distributed is absolutely crucial in understanding why tariffs along with many other policies are enacted.

The gains from tariff policies are a lot more visible than the losses. You can see the sawmills which would be closed down if the industry is not protected by tariffs. You can meet the workers whose jobs will be lost if tariffs are not enacted by the government.

Since the costs of the policies are distributed far and wide, you cannot put a face on the cost of a poor economic policy. Although 8 workers might lose their job for every job saved by a softwood lumber tariff, you will never meet one of these workers, because it is impossible to pinpoint exactly which workers would have been able to keep their jobs if the tariff was not enacted. If a worker loses his job because the performance of the economy is poor, you cannot say if a reduction in lumber tariffs would have saved his job. The nightly news would never show a picture of a California farm worker and state that he lost his job because of tariffs designed to help the lumber industry in Maine. The link between the two is impossible to see.

The link between lumber workers and lumber tariffs is much more visible and thus will garner much more attention.

The gains from a tariff are clearly visible but the costs are hidden, it will often appear that tariffs do not have a cost. By understanding this we can understand why so many government policies are enacted which harm the economy.

Before we do tariffs, I suggest we do something else less ( how to put it ), aggressive against our trading partners.

1) Lower or eliminate corporate taxes ( that will encourage businesses to repatriate their profits back home ). Make taxation TERRITORIAL ( i.e., you only pay taxes in the country you earned your money, we’re the only country in the civilized world that expands the reach of the IRS overseas ).

2) Cut unnecessary regulations ( for instance, I’d like to see the repeal of Dodd-Frank, which does nothing to stop Too-Big-To-Fail banks but only adds burdensome compliance requirements on many smaller financial institutions ).

3) Open up federal lands for energy exploration and approve private projects like Keystone XL.

4) Repeal Obamacare.

5) Make Union membership VOLUNTARY.

6) Repeal our 8 million word tax code and replace it with a flat or fair tax.

7) Shrink government. Let’s start with these departments : ENERGY, EDUCATION and COMMERCE.

8) Implement the The Mack Penny Plan to balance the Federal Budget.

Let’s start with the above and you’ll see companies and entrepreneurs take risks again but not until.

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