July 2, 2009, Bloomberg reported that almost 500,000 jobs were lost in June which followed a 322,000 job lost in May. I have been saying that the Obama Administration is operating out of the FDR playbook.  As expected the stimulus is not working. The spin is now that we have a “jobless recovery”, which is like paying for a meal at an expensive restaurant and leaving without eating the food, and then saying you went out for dinner.

            The jobless rate is now 9.5%, and will likely reach 10.5% in December. Some think that the worse it gets the more likely will the policy decisions in Washington change. I disagree.

            The FDR play book tells us that largess is a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled politician like President Obama. Added to his acumen is the fact that this President has the historical proof of how WPA programs yield votes if used properly. By that I mean that FDR was reelected to his second term by an unheard of 99% of the vote. The economy at the time was totally broken and voters were dependant upon government jobs, grants, loans, and welfare. Survival is a powerfully motivating force, not for change, but to maintain the status quo. The status quo is high unemployment in the private sector. President Obama will out spend President Roosevelt who spent more in his first five years as President than all the presidents that preceded him.

            Bloomberg reports that unemployment will continue to rise as the “boost” from stimulus package fades. What boost, from made up numbers? The Obama Administration’s accounting on preserving jobs requires venders who sell to stimulus recipients to fill out a form. The instructions require the vender to list as preserved any anyone who took part in the sale. This would include the switchboard operator who may have spoken to the customer, the person packing the product, the person delivering the product, the CEO etc. An employer who returns the form with zero jobs preserved can expect a call from the administration. Even where the sale was insignificant so far as maintaining the job of the workers involved, the administration will not take no for an answer, and will pressure the vender to enter the number of persons who took any part in the sale. You will probably not hear this from your usual news source, which is why I deliver these reports.