43 Months of Depressing Misery

PJ Media » 43 Months of Depressing Misery
Mort Zuckerman accurately contended in a Friday evening Wall Street Journal op-ed, “we are experiencing, in effect, a modern-day depression,” where “dependent millions” relying on food stamps and swelling the disability rolls “are the invisible counterparts of the soup kitchens and bread lines of the 1930s.”
....

Full-time employment only increased by 43,000 in August. It’s down (yes, down) by 902,000 since March, and by over 1.4 million since Obama took office.

562,000 fewer married men and 700,000 fewer married women were employed in August than were when the recession officially ended in June 2009.

22% of the 3.47 million private-sector jobs created since the recession’s end have been at temporary help services.

What about what the new jobs created actually pay? The National Employment Law Project recently reported that “Lower-wage occupations were 21 percent of recession (job) losses, but 58 percent of recovery growth. Mid-wage occupations were 60 percent of recession losses, but only 22 percent of recovery growth.” The leftists at the NELP wouldn’t state the obvious, so I will: Their research proves that the Obama administration’s economic policies are gutting the middle class.

Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs

Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs | Reuters
Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher.
There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.

The Disappearing DUI: MLive finds wide disparities in drunk driving arrests; see how your police rank

The Disappearing DUI: MLive finds wide disparities in drunk driving arrests; see how your police rank | MLive.com
The totals do not include additional arrests by campus police at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, though the trend there was similar.
MSU police arrested three times as many drunken drivers as Michigan’s.
Ann Arbor Deputy Police Chief Gregory Bazick said he could not explain the differences, or why his department ranks so low overall.

Muskegon seems to be a great county to drive drunk!

Obama's Communist Party Endorsement

Articles: Obama's Communist Party Endorsement
Nevertheless, we must not allow the extreme rhetoric in which the endorsement is couched to distract us from a more fundamental issue, which is this: the CPUSA endorses Barack Obama on the very same grounds -- even in the same words -- that Obama uses in defense of himself.
If a communist were operating under the official umbrella of the Democratic Party, and were thus forced to use Democrat talking points rather than speak his own radical mind, we would interpret this as typical leftist cynicism and subterfuge.
But this time the words appear on the CPUSA's own website.

Newport Beach Lifeguards Make $200,000 and Can Retire at Age 50

PensionWatch » Blog Archive » Inside Edition: Newport Beach Lifeguards Make $200,000 and Can Retire at Age 50

EyeOnMuskegon 2012-9-9

CARPE DIEM: There's One Place with Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs

CARPE DIEM: There's One Place with Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs
The jobs report today was pretty grim even though the jobless rate fell to 8.1%.
But there's at least one place where the job market is booming like never before, where the state jobless rate is only 3%, where there are ten counties with jobless rates below 2% and where one county with a jaw-dropping 0.7% unemployment rate: North Dakota.

At Top Business Schools, an MBA Application Drought

At Top Business Schools, an MBA Application Drought - Businessweek
A handful of schools reported even steeper drops, including Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business, where applications fell 18 percent

'2016: Obama's America' Now No. 2 Ever in Political Documentary Genre

'2016: Obama's America' Now No. 2 Ever in Political Documentary Genre | NewsBusters.org

The Making of the Pure Michigan Sing-Along Video | Pure Michigan Blog

The Making of the Pure Michigan Sing-Along Video | Pure Michigan Blog

The Pure Michigan Statewide Singalong

Debt collectors cash in on student loan roundup

NYT: Debt collectors cash in on student loan roundup - Business - US business - The New York Times - NBCNews.com
In all, nearly one in every six borrowers with a loan balance is in default.
The amount of defaulted loans — $76 billion — is greater than the yearly tuition bill for all students at public two- and four-year colleges and universities

Jeff Bezos And The End of PowerPoint As We Know It

Jeff Bezos And The End of PowerPoint As We Know It - Forbes
I know what some of you are thinking—it works for Bezos because he’s revealing products that people can see and touch.
Let me be clear—picture superiority works in any presentation, even for the most complex ideas.

Is America the greatest nation on earth? MLive readers join the debate

Is America the greatest nation on earth? MLive readers join the debate | MLive.com

Decision on Muskegon County jail, juvenile facilities still weeks away following planning event

Decision on Muskegon County jail, juvenile facilities still weeks away following planning event | MLive.com
However, the final decision by the County Board of Commissioners is likely still several weeks away, perhaps coming after the Nov. 6 general election.

Muskegon County commissioner, township trustee candidates maintain primary wins after recounts

Muskegon County commissioner, township trustee candidates maintain primary wins after recounts | MLive.com
Based on the recount, Hughes gained three votes and finished with a 772-748 edge over Plummer, who is completing his first two-year term as a county commissioner.

Congressman Huizenga facing Muskegon Democratic challenger who received 1,800-plus write-in votes

Congressman Huizenga facing Muskegon Democratic challenger who received 1,800-plus write-in votes | MLive.com
Muskegon City Commissioner Willie German Jr. received nearly 2,000 write-in votes in the Aug. 7 primary election

The Terrifying Line in Obama's Speech That Everyone Missed

The Terrifying Line in Obama's Speech That Everyone Missed - Investors.com
Instead of stirring rhetoric filled with hope and promise, Obama pledged that under his leadership, "our path is harder" and "our road is longer."
Seriously?
After four years of the worst economic recovery since the Depression, falling incomes, lower-paying jobs, increased hopelessness and exploding debt, all Obama has to offer is that he'll make this nightmare last even longer?

Molitor Meet & Greet 9 6 2012

Canada cuts ties with Iran, closes embassy, orders Iranian diplomats home

Canada cuts ties with Iran, closes embassy, orders Iranian diplomats home http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canada+cuts+ties+with+Iran+closes+embassy+orders+Iranian+diplomats+home/7206256/story.html#ixzz25tapdxGi
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has severed Canadian ties with Iran over its sponsorship of terrorism and amid fears about the safety of diplomats in the country.
Baird says the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave.

No talk of auto bailouts' ugly side

No talk of auto bailouts' ugly side | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
In moving to get GM through bankruptcy, the task force and its bosses at Treasury effectively shafted 22,000 salaried retirees of the former Delphi Corp., the long-time GM parts supplier the automaker spun off in 1999.
Despite an 85 percent funding level in its pension fund, Treasury urged the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to seize the Delphi pension plan.

The net effect: Many retirees saw their annual payouts cut by as much as two thirds, even as union members were "topped up" with taxpayer dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program; their former colleagues at GM saw comparatively minor cuts to their pensions; and key members of the auto task force still won't tell congressional investigators who made the call to treat Delphi's salaried retirees differently than everyone else.

State canvassers finalize six initiatives for Nov. ballot

State canvassers finalize six initiatives for Nov. ballot
 http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120908/POLITICS01/209080346#ixzz25t0ZrAZp
Proposal 1 will be a referendum on the repeal of Public Act 4 — the emergency manager law — followed by proposals for constitutional amendments to guarantee the right of collective bargaining (Proposal 2), increase use of renewable energy (Proposal 3), allow home health care workers to bargain (Proposal 4), require a two-thirds vote by the Legislature to pass any tax increases (Proposal 5) and mandate a public vote on any new international border crossing (Proposal 6).

Those Jobless Numbers Are Even Worse Than They Look

Mortimer Zuckerman: Those Jobless Numbers Are Even Worse Than They Look - WSJ.com
They are working part-time only because they've been unable to find full-time work.
This involuntary army of what's called "underutilized labor" has been hovering for months at about 15% of the workforce.
Include the eight million who have simply given up looking, and the real unemployment rate is closer to 19%.

Baby Boomers and Strategic Defaults - a Demographic Study

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Baby Boomers and Strategic Defaults - a Demographic Study: Why Did People Walk Away? Did They Struggle With Morality? Would they Recommend Walking Away to Others?
Moreover, a massive debt overhang still remains and the pending foreclosure pool is mammoth.

Frank Marshall Davis and the Subversion of the Democratic Party

Articles: Frank Marshall Davis and the Subversion of the Democratic Party
In other words, the Hawaiian Communist Party went underground, realizing that it lacked political viability.
 Hawaii's communists changed their tactics, concentrating instead on the mainstream Democratic Party, even running their members in local elections to seize delegate positions.
One of those who not only urged this tactic, but was himself elected to a Democratic precinct was Frank Marshall Davis.
With that, the steady subversion of the Democratic Party was on.
This began a long march to transform the Democratic Party from the party of Truman and JFK to the party of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

Going Ape

Going Ape - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online
Oh, dear. Speaking of animals, several bloggers note that Dr. Mann’s lawyer’s last celebrity client was Joe Camel – the tobacco industry’s anthropomorphized dromedary.
By “anthropomorphized dromedary,” I mean they put him in a suit and got rid of the hump — in much the same way that the “hockey stick” graph got rid of the hump of the Medieval Warm Period.

Eastwood says his convention appearance was 'mission accomplished'

The Carmel Pine Cone's first story of the week
But in a wide-ranging interview with The Pine Cone Tuesday from his home in Pebble Beach, he said he had conveyed the messages he wanted to convey, and that the spontaneous nature of his presentation was intentional, too.

Breitbart film bares roots of 'Occupy' movement

Breitbart film bares roots of 'Occupy' movement | Fox News
“The Occupy movement is far from over.
We are approaching a European-type financial crisis. we are coming to a radical austerity and then you are going to see it taken to the streets and it’s not going to be pretty.”

Are Chinese Banks Hiding “The Mother of All Debt Bombs”?

Are Chinese Banks Hiding “The Mother of All Debt Bombs”? | The Diplomat
Chinese LGFVs are known mainly for their unique ability to sink perfectly good money into bottomless holes in the ground.
So taking on such a huge mountain of debt can mean only one thing — a future wave of default when the projects into which LGFVs have piled funds fail to yield viable returns to service the debt.

Arkansas coach John L. Smith files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Arkansas coach John L. Smith files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy | Michigan State Spartans | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
“From a personal standpoint, I don’t want the university being embarrassed, but I’m not embarrassed,” Smith said at the time.
“It’s something that’s happened.
 I made some mistakes, and to be honest with you, I’m a football coach, not a businessman.”