Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXXIX

Victor Davis Hansen wrote a column recently detailing the Obama administration's institutional deceptions ("When Untruth Undermines Democracy"). His point is summarized very succinctly with this one passage:

There is also Utopian arrogance in Washington that justifies any means necessary to achieve exalted ends of supposed fairness and egalitarianism. If one has to lie to stop the Tea Party or Fox News, then it is not quite seen by this administration as a lie.

A Conservative Shaggy Dog Story

From a piece on Roger Ailes. Ailes told this story:

It seems a liberal in a hot-air balloon is lost and late for an appointment and descends to ask a conservative for directions. The conservative pulls out a GPS device and tells him exactly where he is.

“You must be a conservative,” the balloon man says. The man on the ground asks how he knows that. The reply: “Everything you’ve told me is technically correct, I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is, I’m still lost. Frankly, you haven’t been very much help so far.”

The conservative replies that the balloon guy must be a liberal. How does he know? The punch line: “You don’t know where you’re going or where you’ve been, you’ve risen to where you are on hot air, and you made a promise that you have no idea how to keep. Now you expect me to solve your problems. The fact is, you’re in the same place you were before we met and now it’s my fault!”

Obama's Work (?) Force

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the unemployment numbers for May, and the official unemployment rate has ticked back up to 7.6%. The data provide a bleak employment picture of Obama's term in office. For example, 1.7 million more Americans are considered "not in the labor force" (and therefore not considered "unemployed") than a year ago. After 4+ years under Obama, the percentage of the population working shows a trend that is frightening, and receives little attention. Here's a graphic display of it.

It's a simple equation: Fewer people working = bad for the economy. That the official unemployment rate doesn't count these people doesn't change the reality of our situation. Obama and the Democrats are driving the American economy into the ground. And Obama has almost a full term to continue his damage.