WASHINGTON D.C. - Scientific Journal (April 7, 2012) - In an odd and unexplained phenomena, 14 million Americans were suddenly and mysteriously missing by their friends, lovers, spouses, family members and neighbors...as well as by their own government.
If was horrifically freighting, almost like a scene out of The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, The Outer Limits, or an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
A team of top scientists, here in the U.S. and around the world, have been working closely with the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics to discover the whereabouts of 14 million formerly middle-class Americans, who just seemed to have completely vanished off the face of the Earth.
Some of the "esteemed" draft dodgers in congress had quipped that they might be listed as "MIA", and that they could just be lounging on a hammock in Hawaii.
What first started out as whimpers and rumors many months ago, blew up into a full scale scandal after a breaking news report yesterday.
The Huffington Post reported yesterday in their "DAILY DELANEY DOWNER" (HuffPost Hill newsletter): "Last March there were 1.8 million people who had been out of work for 99 weeks or longer. This March there were 1.9 million people who'd been unemployed that long."
The author of the very disturbing news release wishes to remain anonymous because he now works for the corporation AOL, which in turn, is partnered with Time Warner, one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Among its many subsidiaries include New Line Cinema, Time Inc., HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, Warner Bros., Boomerang, Adult Swim, CNN, DC Comics, and Castle Rock Entertainment (Current TV is a progressive media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and could get kicked off of Time Warner).
The jobless numbers had stumped some the brightest minds in the world, so they started digging a little deeper. They all worked diligently, night and day, pounding on calculators, slide rules, and computers. They searched the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the IRS, and the Social Security Administration - - as well as the records from the NSA, FBI, NASA, and CIA. They left no stone overturned.
This is what they've managed to find out so far:
Two and half years ago (130 weeks ago) in October of 2009, 15.9 million Americans were out of work when the unemployment rate was reported to be 10.2%.
So the world's brightest sat down and did some simple math:
15.9 million Americans who were out of work 130 weeks ago - 1.9 million who were just reported as being unemployed over 99 weeks = 14.0 million"missing" Americans.
Did all 14 million of these people find jobs since that time, and are no longer unemployed? Or are they just ignored and no longer counted? (And what about the additional 6 million Americans who graduated from high school and college since that time? Did they all find jobs too?)
People are starting to demand answers to this grave and terrible mystery. Like Obama says, "It's math!"
(Below) Some scientists have even suggested that millions of America's unemployed might have all been lost in a massive Black Hole, mostly sucked in by apathy and indifference.
Congress is launching a full-fledged investigation into the matter, in case these "missing" Americans might be in need of some financial and medical assistance...such as food stamps and Medicaid.
The Republicans are especially concerned, and blamed Obama for being excessively cruel and miss-treating the poor and down-trodden.
When Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner was asked about the possibility of giving up on the search for 14 million destitute and suffering American citizens, he angrily responded, "Hell no we won't!"
When pressed further, John Boehner said a few Democrats and all the Republicans were willing to do all they can to find the 14 million Americans and provide them with food, so long all there were off-setting costs in Social Security and Medicare, and that there were also more tax cuts for the rich.
"We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem," he added. "We need to provide certainty for the job creators."
(Below) - John Boehner answering reporter's questions while stumping for Paul Ryan's austerity budget plan.
Updates soon.
- It's been a while, but Fox News almost got it right
http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-been-while-but-fox-news-finally.html - 15 Million Americans Jobless Over 2 years
http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/2012/01/15-million-americans-jobless-over-2.html - Why Congress Refuses to Tax the Rich
http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-congress-refuses-to-tax-rich.html
This is True and in Arizona companies would rather hire Entry level(young) instead of Experienced workers. As I was told when I interviewed for a position only to be told they were looking for people out of school.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE:
ReplyDeleteThe standard unemployment rate, known as the "U-3 rate", counts people as unemployed only if they looked for work sometime in the past four weeks.
An alternate rate, called the "U-5 rate", includes people who have looked for work in the past year, but not in the past four weeks, as well as "discouraged workers", those that the government "claims" is not looking for work (because they believe none is available).
If those groups are included in the calculation, the national unemployment rate would be 9.6 percent instead of the current 8.2 percent. (I's say it's DOUBLE that if they go back 99 weeks, and we'd have almost 20% unemployment...or 1 out every 5 working age people).
The Hill noted the higher rate would be "a potentially devastating assessment for the White House, especially in an election year."
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/220457-gop-lawmaker-calls-for-change-to-how-government-measures-unemployment-
The Huffington Post (who I really like) plays it down:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/duncan-hunter-unemployment-rate_n_1414472.html
UPDATE from Bob Hall:
ReplyDeleteSince October 2009: Civilian Employment-to-Population, October 2009 vs. March 2012: 58.5% vs. 58.5% - Utterly unchanged at 58.5%, our working-age population with a job, yet we're told the unemployment rate has decreased.
Civilian Unemployment Rate, October 2009 vs. March 2012: 10.0% vs. 8.2% - Quite a dramatic improvement. Somehow, though, these numbers don't "feel" like what we're actually experiencing. Behold the power of political deception:
Not In Labor Force, October 2009 vs. March 2012: 82,728,000 vs. 87,897,000 = "Not In Labor Force" is what our government calls long-term unemployed Americans and "claims" have given up in discouragement/despair/disgust. In other words: they don't count.
www.facebook.com/BobHall2012Campaign