Hilda Solis: Cooking Obama's Books

Hilda Lucia Solis may be the most important person in the country when it comes to the 2012 Presidential Election.  Why?  Because Hilda can make Obama's Unemployment Number anything that Obama wants it to be.  Right now he is tuning 8.5% Unemployment Rate.

Who is Hilda  and how does she do it?   I was hoping you would ask.  She is the 25th United States Secretary of Labor, serving in the Obama administration.  Solis was raised in La Puente, California by immigrant parents from Nicaragua and Mexico.  Her Dad was a Teamsters shop steward and organizer.  Her Mom  belonged to the United Rubber Workers.
 
Solis gained degrees from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) and the University of Southern California (USC) and worked for two federal agencies in Washington, D.C. Returning to her native state, she was elected to the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees in 1985, the California State Assembly in 1992, and the California State Senate in 1994. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the State Senate, and was re-elected there in 1998.  SOLIS, LIKE MOST OBAMA APPOINTEES, HAS ZERO BUSINESS EXPERIENCE.  Interesting that the Secretary of Labor has never even run a snow cone stand and has no business experience.  The Secretary of Labor has never even had a real job.  She is a Socialist Bureaucrat.

So now we know Hilda's background and qualifications?  Now, why is she so important to the 2012 Election?  Have you heard that 2012 is all about JOBS?  One unit that reports to Hilda is called the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).    It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor representatives. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labor.  Among the BLS many functions is to MEASURE AND REPORT THE U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS.

To measure the unemployment rate the BLS SURVEYS AND ESTIMATES THE SIZE OF THE WORK FORCE, EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, AND THEN CALCULATES THE UNEMPLOYMENT PERCENTAGE.  The BLS has been cooking the books!!!!

How?  The BLS estimates the percentage of our population that are in the workforce  either seeking or holding jobs.  This is called the "labor force participation rate".  The BLS has since Obama's election lowered the participation rate to make the employed numbers larger and the unemployment rate smaller.  The claim is that people are "dropping out" of the labor force.  Why would people stop working during tough economic times?  It makes no since?

Now the numbers:  When Bush left office 66.4% of the population was counted in the labor force (the participation rate). Unemployment was calculated at 7.8%. Today BLS uses 64% of the population claiming that for some number of reasons 2.5% of our population has dropped out of the workforce. By bringing down the size of the workforce they also bring down the unemployment rate to the current number of 8.5% Again, does it make since that with tough economic times that fewer Americans need and seek work? Don't think so.

If Obama's BLS used the same participation numbers as Bush did before leaving office (66.5%) the current unemployment rate would be 12%. By making arbitrary adjustments as needed to the participation rate Obama can show any number he chooses as an unemployment rate. In fact he can take the number to 0% (zero unemployment) by continuing his downward adjustment to 58.5%. Even Obama probably will not go that low, of course, unless he thinks he needs 0% (everyone that wants a job has one) to be re-elected.

So bottom line, the American electorate to be informed either needs to determine which "Obama facts" are fictional, or they have to dig a little to get the truth.  In the employment area we need to know what is being used as the size of the work force, what the true employed number is, and then we can calculate or evaluate the unemployment rate.

Isn't it interesting it that most government reported metrics are tricky.  For example when they talk about cuts in the federal budget, they are usually talking about reducing the growth percentage, not real cuts.  When they talk about "paying" for something.  The increased taxes come in the current year, and the offsetting cuts are usually over a 10 year period.  In this case Hilda's people look at the employed number, calculate the unemployed number, and then adjust the "participation rate" as needed.  After all, who out there has ever even heard of a "participation rate".  Let's don't get in the weeds, right?

Someone needs to think about the weeds because that is where the snakes like Obama and Hilda live. 

Jim