Mar 06 2009
Is Barack Obama Over His Head? Less than 2 Months in Office the American Economical Structure is in Ruins & Now, Some States Want their Sovereignty:
Cease and Desist; Is Barack Obama Over His Head? Less than 2 Months in Office the American Economical Structure is in Ruins & Now, Some States Want their Sovereignty:
By Marc Chamot
Source: AP-“The nation’s unemployment rate bolted to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession. Both figures were worse than analysts expected and the Labor Department’s report shows America’s workers being clobbered by a wave of layoffs unlikely to ease in the coming months.”
There seems to be no action from this president and congress to stem the carnage, all that I’m seeing, is nothing more than inter-parties bickering going on, while this country goes to hell:
“I am not seeing any effort to save jobs and industries with this administration and this Democratic controlled congress, all I’m watching is in horror, as this nation is transforming itself into a welfare state”
I knew back around 2006, when the Democrats took back Washington, the senate and congress, things began to go downhill for most Americans since then. I also knew that when presidential candidate Barack Obama was running on promised change, we all believed in him and it seems that he’s bringing this change all right, but the wrong kind.
Since Barack Obama won the U.S. presidency, the stock market took a nose dive, 1 day of Obama as President-elect = 486.01 point drop, 2 days of Obama as President-elect = 929.49 point drop, 7 days of Obama as President-elect = 1342.62 point drop, 14 days of Obama as President-elect = 1628 point drop Obama is inaugurated as President = additional one-day 332.13 point drop Start Day Before Obama wins Election, to End Day Obama is President = 1667.51 total drop It’s really ironic, because after all, Wall Street financed most of his campaign for the U.S. presidency and they are the ones paying a heavy price for it now.
While the stock market began to collapse, millions of jobs were also being lost, and even with these new damning unemployment figures, showing the total carnage that has befallen to all Americans. It seems that the federal government is powerless and it doesn’t have a way or a solution to resolve this economic chaos into our favor.
“Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, more than half of which occurred in the past four months. President Barack Obama called that tally “astounding.”
The more Americans become unemployed, and the more Americans go to the poorhouse because of massive stock market losses, it will put this nation into a financial brink of disaster, and not only for this country but also for the world in a matter of time.
There will be no more tax base, moneys to earn and spend to make this economy working again, and where will the money come from to support YOUR welfare state Mr. President?
As the days go by, I totally believe that this federal government has completely lost touch in their ability to lead and find proper solutions for the welfare of its peoples. For that exact reason states need to take back America, and it’s up for the states to take drastic measures for its people who are hurting through this new depression.
But there is good news out there and the fight is just beginning, because some states have just begun to take back control of matters from the feds. It could also eventually lead to withholding tax moneys from the federal government for ineptness and incompetence to properly lead this nation.
“As millions of Americans apathetically watch our beloved republic move toward socialism and increased power of the federal government to control our lives, some are not content to sit idly by and do nothing.
In response to the unconstitutional spending spree by our liberal president and Congress, governors and state legislators across the nation have decided to take action. Eight states have introduced legislative resolutions asserting state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to our Constitution.
The Tenth Amendment solemnly reminds us that the powers not delegated to the United States [federal government] by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
“On Feb. 18, the Oklahoma House of Representatives became the first legislative body to pass such a state resolution, specifically warning the federal government “to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.” A dozen other states are expected to follow in its footsteps.”
Jobless rate bolts to 8.1 percent, 651K jobs lost
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa, Ap Economics Writer
WASHINGTON – The nation’s unemployment rate bolted to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession.
Both figures were worse than analysts expected and the Labor Department’s report shows America’s workers being clobbered by a wave of layoffs unlikely to ease in the coming months.
“There is no light at the end of the tunnel with these numbers,” said Nigel Gault, economist at IHS Global Insight. “Job losses were everywhere and there’s no hope for a turnaround any time soon.”
February’s net job loss came after even deeper payroll reductions in the prior two months, according to revised figures released Friday. The economy lost 681,000 jobs in December and another 655,000 in January.
Employers are shrinking their work forces and turning to other ways to slash costs — including trimming workers’ hours, freezing wages or cutting pay — because the recession has eaten into their sales and profits. Customers at home and abroad are cutting back as other countries cope with their own economic problems.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, more than half of which occurred in the past four months. President Barack Obama called that tally “astounding,” but urged the American people to give him time to let his economic revival plans take root.
“This recovery plan won’t turn our economy around or solve every problem,” Obama said. “All of this takes time and it will take patience.”
With employers showing no appetite to hire, the unemployment jumped half a percentage point from 7.6 percent in January. That was the highest since December 1983, when the jobless rate was 8.3 percent.
All told, the number of unemployed people climbed to 12.5 million. In addition, the number of people forced to work part time for “economic reasons” rose by a sharp 787,000 to 8.6 million. That’s people who would like to work full time but whose hours were cut back or were unable to find full-time work.
If part-time, discouraged workers and others are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 14.8 percent in February, the highest on records dating to 1994.
The pain hit blue- and white-collar workers, those without a high-school diploma and those highly educated. The jobless rate for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher jumped to 4.1 percent last month from 3.8 percent in January. That’s the highest on records dating to 1992.
Meanwhile, the average work week in February stayed at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set in December.
More positive economic news came from the Federal Reserve, which reported that consumer borrowing increased at an annual rate of $1.76 billion in the first month of the year. Economists expected borrowing to decline at a rate of $5 billion.
Still, the small rise in January is unlikely to shake economists’ views that borrowing will remain weak this year as consumers tighten their belts in the face of massive layoffs and the recession. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
On Wall Street, stocks surrendered early gains as the severity of U.S. job losses began to register with investors. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 110 points in afternoon trading and broader indexes also fell.
Job losses were widespread last month.
Construction companies eliminated 104,000 jobs. Factories axed 168,000. Retailers cut nearly 40,000. Professional and business services got rid of 180,000, with 78,000 jobs lost at temporary-help agencies. Financial companies reduced payrolls by 44,000. Leisure and hospitality firms chopped 33,000 positions.
The few areas spared: education and health services, as well as government, which boosted employment last month.
Disappearing jobs and evaporating wealth from tanking home values, 401(k)s and other investments have forced consumers to retrench, driving companies to lay off workers. It’s a vicious cycle in which all the economy’s negative problems feed on each other, worsening the downward spiral.
A new wave of layoffs hit this week.
General Dynamics Corp. said Thursday it will lay off 1,200 workers due partly to plummeting sales of business and personal jets that forced it to cut production. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., and Tyco Electronics Ltd., which makes electronic components, undersea telecommunications systems and wireless equipment, also are trimming payrolls.
The country is getting bloodied by fallout from the housing, credit and financial crises_ the worst since the 1930s. And there’s no easy fix for a quick turnaround, economists said.
Obama is counting on a multipronged assault to lift the country out of recession: a $787 billion stimulus package of increased federal spending and tax cuts; a revamped, multibillion-dollar bailout program for the nation’s troubled banks; and a $75 billion effort to stem home foreclosures.
Even in the best-case scenario that the relief efforts work and the recession ends later in 2009, the unemployment rate is expected to keep climbing, hitting 9 percent or higher this year. In fact, the Federal Reserve thinks the unemployment rate will stay elevated into 2011. Economists say the job market may not get back to normal — meaning a 5 percent unemployment rate — until 2013.
Businesses won’t be inclined to ramp up hiring until they are sure any economic recovery has staying power.
The economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, and it will probably continue to shrink during the first six months of this year.
Given Friday’s grim figures, Gault predicted the economy would probably shrink in the first quarter at a pace of at least 6 percent, and that the unemployment rate will rise as high as 10 percent in the first half of 2010.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier this week that recent economic barometers “show little sign of improvement” and suggest that “labor market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks.”
