Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Happy Days?

Happy Days Are Here Again?

According to a headline and accompanying article on MSN, Friday, March the 8, 2013, we are now sitting in the high cotton of the years prior to the 2008 crisis.
The headline read:
The Stock Market and Rising Real Estate Market Have Returned Wealth to pre 2008 Levels
A picture illustrated two men of Wall Street giving each other a high five showing their glee.
Happy days are indeed here again.
However, I read the entire article twice, hoping for a phone number that could tell me where I could find my lost businesses, good credit and high paying job.  
Maybe, a 1- 800 – return it to me number or a website. No luck, though, it is too bad, I guess I won’t be able to find it that way.
The article from News Center headlined:
US adds 236K jobs, unemployment falls to 7.7%
Isn’t that just great news?
However, if you continue reading the article, it can be quoted as saying,
“The unemployment rate, which had been stuck at 7.8 percent or above since September, declined mostly because more people found work. Another factor was that 130,000 people without jobs stopped looking for work last month. The government doesn’t count them as unemployed.”
If the government does not see these 130,000 workers as unemployed, what do they see them as, particles out there like the cosmos floating around in space?
This is another example of misinformation and bias that comes from the media.
The article goes on to state that the economy is now generating more higher paying jobs, such as accounting, engineering and information technology.
My career is as an accountant. I am still at 40% of my pre 2008 salary. My colleagues are in the same situation. In fact, one, holding a master’s degree, was asked last year to take a cut in pay where he is underemployed in order to continue to have a job. It may not be that way all over the US, but it is that way in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the same vein, Conservative Byte.com, can be quoted as, “The number of Americans designated as ‘not in the labor force’ in February was 89,304,000, a record high, up from 89,008,000 in January, according to the Department of Labor.”
This is an increase of 296,000 from January to February.  
Conservativebyte.com also gives this statement for clarification.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics label people who are unemployed and no longer looking for work as ‘not in the labor force’ including people who have retired on schedule, taken early retirement or simply given up looking for work.”
So, how are we in the money again?
Supposedly, we have higher paying jobs and as the same MSN internet articles states, “robust sales in the auto industry and a steady housing market are spurring more hiring, which could trigger more consumer spending and stronger economic growth.”
“Hourly wages rose 4 cents to $23.82 last month. Wages have risen 2.1 percent over the last year, slightly ahead of inflation. Higher pay is vital to the economy because consumer spending drives 70 percent of the economic activity.”
Wow, once again, I am amazed. My house is still on the tax records at about 45% of its original appraisal from 2003. That appraisal was made when it was an extreme fixer upper listed by HUD.
I had to put another $ 25,000 into it in order to make it livable and up to code.
The $ 23.82 an hour wage would be welcome to me and my peers. We are all still at about half or less of pre 2008 wages. Some are the ones who have stopped looking for work, or have had to go to other states to find a job.
Wayne Allyn Root, former 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential Candidate, writing for Townhall.com can be quoted about the March 8th unemployment figures as follows:
America under Obama has become a vast wasteland of lousy part time jobs with low pay and no benefits. If we had a Republican president, don’t you think the media might be mentioning this? Is it possible the ‘good news’ in Friday’s job report is actually terrible news? It isn’t actually 236,000 Americans returning to work. It’s simply about 100,000 desperate American workers each taking three part time jobs, plus dipping into their 401K, plus maxing out their credit cards, to survive for another month. Or didn’t you hear that Americans are dipping into their retirement accounts in record numbers?”
He goes on to say, “According to a report released February by the National Employment Law Project, higher-wage industries are accounting for 40 percent of the job losses in America, but only 14 percent of the job growth. Lower wage industries are accounting for 49 percent of the job growth. Back in 1980, less than 30 percent of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40 percent of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.”
As for the high stock market, that is so easily manipulated by the uber rich. They can pump it up or deflate it at will. Don’t buy it. It is just 1987 all over again. The big dogs play and the little dogs pay. Everyday people lose their investments. The stock market is a game no one should play. In fact, I would recommend pulling all monies out of the stock market and buying gold and silver coins. At least, it has value whether the economy is up or down. Worst come to worst, you can trade it for food and other necessities.
I don’t know what others might think of this media data, but I am reminded of an old saying, “Don’t pee down my back of my neck and tell me it is raining.”
Read, my friends and neighbors, read all the reports from the lame stream left and the free thinking independents.  Make your own decisions and trust your own judgment.