The Rest... of the Story

 

 

"And now you know...the rest of the story..."

 

Paul Harvey was a true American journalist and broadcaster. It is great to every now and again to find a radio station which will play some old Paul Harvey newscasts. One of my favorite parts of every one of his newscasts was when Paul Harvey did a segment titled "The Rest of the Story". You see, Paul always knew that there was more of the story left to be told, and he loved to tell it.

 

My, my, how we have fallen from that lofty perch that Mr. Harvey had put us on. Today, we get half truths, un-truths and fables. Our Administration seems to relish in this new environment of "newspeak". A prime example of not hearing the entire story was the jobs report yesterday. Was it more than was expected? Yes - but this type of number should have been expected as we go into the warmer months of the year. It was good enough for el-president to take a victory lap in the Rose Garden and then once again, "spike the football". 

 

So what is the rest of the story? Let me give just a few data points:

• 92,594,000 Americans are not in the work force. That is yet another new record for low workplace participation. That leaves only 62.8% of all eligible Americans working. To make matters worse, is the number of 92.594M is one million higher than last month. THIS is why the unemployment rate dropped to a 5 1/2 year low. If the same number of people were in the workforce now, as were in 2008, the U3 unemployment rate would still be sky high.
• Incomes remain stagnant. Unless you have some kind of Wall Street connections, chances are your income is either flat, declining, or going up at a snail's pace. 
• Many of the new jobs being "reported" as created are part time, or seasonal. In addition, many have no or low benefits.
• China is going to overtake us this year as the world's number one economy. At one time we left the Commies in the dust. Seems like those days might be over. 

So where in the world does all this leave us? Smack dab in the middle of our new reality, of our new norm. Just like in the book 1984, we have Big Brother continually feeding us propaganda and lies. Here is the truth: the economy is NOT okay, the jobs being created are NOT the right kind of jobs, and MOST Americans are falling further and further behind. With a population of 313 million people, we cannot afford to have almost a 100 million people sitting on the sidelines. And that my friends...is the rest of the story!