Post War Recessions Job Losws Compared

Job loses in Obama Recession as compared to previous post World War II recessions.

Obama Administration Rescued the Econmy?

Unemployment Rates by County in West Virginia, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Area	May 2008	May 2009	Net Change
United States	5.2	9.1	3.9
West Virginia	4.2	8.5	4.3
Barbour County, WV	4.7	9.5	4.8
Berkeley County, WV	4.7	9.4	4.7
Boone County, WV	4.0	9.7	5.7
Braxton County, WV	4.4	8.3	3.9
Brooke County, WV	5.4	12.4	7.0
Cabell County, WV	3.8	7.2	3.4
Calhoun County, WV	5.6	14.2	8.6
Clay County, WV	5.5	11.5	6.0
Doddridge County, WV	4.5	8.0	3.5
Fayette County, WV	4.3	9.7	5.4
Gilmer County, WV	3.5	7.8	4.3
Grant County, WV	4.6	8.9	4.3
Greenbrier County, WV	4.7	10.1	5.4
Hampshire County, WV	3.8	8.4	4.6
Hancock County, WV	5.4	12.4	7.0
Hardy County, WV	4.1	9.8	5.7
Harrison County, WV	3.7	6.9	3.2
Jackson County, WV	4.8	13.2	8.4
Jefferson County, WV	3.7	7.4	3.7
Kanawha County, WV	3.5	6.9	3.4
Lewis County, WV	3.9	8.0	4.1
Lincoln County, WV	4.7	10.8	6.1
Logan County, WV	4.1	8.7	4.6
Marion County, WV	3.5	6.0	2.5
Marshall County, WV	4.5	9.3	4.8
Mason County, WV	6.7	13.0	6.3
McDowell County, WV	5.8	13.0	7.2
Mercer County, WV	3.8	7.0	3.2
Mineral County, WV	4.2	7.3	3.1
Mingo County, WV	4.1	10.4	6.3
Monongalia County, WV	2.7	4.7	2.0
Monroe County, WV	4.2	7.7	3.5
Morgan County, WV	5.4	9.4	4.0
Nicholas County, WV	4.4	9.0	4.6
Ohio County, WV	4.0	8.4	4.4
Pendleton County, WV	4.2	7.9	3.7
Pleasants County, WV	5.1	9.8	4.7
Pocahontas County, WV	9.7	17.2	7.5
Preston County, WV	3.5	7.7	4.2
Putnam County, WV	3.3	7.0	3.7
Raleigh County, WV	3.9	8.2	4.3
Randolph County, WV	5.6	10.4	4.8
Ritchie County, WV	5.1	9.8	4.7
Roane County, WV	6.0	13.2	7.2
Summers County, WV	4.5	8.2	3.7
Taylor County, WV	4.2	7.9	3.7
Tucker County, WV	6.0	12.5	6.5
Tyler County, WV	5.3	10.4	5.1
Upshur County, WV	4.2	8.2	4.0
Wayne County, WV	4.7	8.2	3.5
Webster County, WV	6.0	11.7	5.7
Wetzel County, WV	6.1	11.7	5.6
Wirt County, WV	5.9	14.0	8.1
Wood County, WV	4.6	9.5	4.9
Wyoming County, WV	4.6	12.0	7.4

NOTE: Rates shown are a percentage of the labor force. Data refer to place of residence. State and county data for both the current and prior year are subject to revision early in the following calendar year.

Reregulation?

"Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market."

This was a quotation from the State of the Obama speech that experts say sheds no new light on what the president's plans are. An Associated Press analysis once again savages the accuracy of Obama's statements. You almost wonder if they forgot Bush wasn't the president anymore!

Regulation has become the name of the game. Obama blasts nameless predecessors for deregulating the housing market (when in fact, President Bush's calls for regulatory restraint of the mortgage industry were actually ignored.) We can expect proposals for regulations across the board from new environmental standards to just about everything else. Although sometimes necessary, sweeping implementation of regulation will stifle economic growth and restrict competition.

The intent is to roll back the Reagan Revolution in smaller government and make the federal government more intrusive in just about every field. Gary Howell in an earlier piece explained how proposed railroad regulations will hurt the industry and the economy.

Wait a second, how did deregulation get exclusively associated with Republicans?

Actually a Democrat helped to get the deregulation ball rolling in 1980. At that point railroads were so tightly regulated that profits were impossible and an entire industry hovered on the point of collapse. Congressman Harley Staggers Sr. (D) West Virginia crafted and got passed a the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 that significantly reduced federal burdens and allowed a small revival of the railroads. This did not come in time to save the local rail facilities, but it did prevent the passing of unprofitable lines into the hands of the federal government where they would simply waste taxpayer money instead of private capital.

Congressman Staggers was no conservative and his family are staunch and proud Democrats. However his deregulation act showed that lightening the load of government can help business survive and even thrive. This generation of Democrats could learn a lot from this predecessor.

Let's Save the Banking System Free Market Style

Sure we can leave the fate of our capitalist system in the hands of Obama and his band of Merry Marxists, but what fun would that be?

Here is a plan so simple that there are probably some flaws in it somewhere, but to me it makes sense.

The banks should all get together and offer a special investment product that offers one interest rate for a one year commitment and something better for two years. Tie it in with a special tax rebate offered to everyone. Make it easy so that $100 or more can be direct deposited into this special account. Then finally give it a big patriotic government sell. "Save $100 for a year, help save our economy" something like that.

This is a simple, free market way to get hundreds of billions of dollars into the banking system while actually benefiting the taxpayers. Instead of interest going to foreign investors buying up our future, the interest on this "loan" of sorts goes to the American taxpayers.

If one hundred million recipients of rebate checks sign up for this, we put a trillion dollars at least into the banking system. The money stays at home rather than going off to China.

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There is a lot of gloomy talk about the fact that even Americans of means have cut back their spending. In the short term this contracts the economy significantly.

In the long term, this might be a positive step. Part of our national problem is the general lack of savings by individuals. This recession could change spending habits for the better, encourage savings, and strengthen our financial system down the road. The economy will restructure and it will not be pretty, but at the end of the day the nation might emerge in a better position than before. Already we have seen our trade deficit shrink considerably. More money in our banks means more capital for loans.

Orwell Could Not Have Even Come Up With This One

In 1984, George Orwell's novel about an all encompassing police state, the government follows everything. It even has a thought police that attempts to control the very ideas that each person has. Inside each house is a camera through which speech and movements can be constantly watched.

At one point, however, the hero Winston manages to get out of the city alone to meet a girl. For once, he is alone and free of the watchful eye of the government.

Several states, federal transportation officials, and Congress have conceived of a plan to follow Americans around everywhere. A congressional panel recommended that all US cars be fitted with a GPS device that counts the mileage traveled by each vehicle. The plan is to tax drivers per mile.

Okay. Take the "Fairness Doctrine," sprinkle in the looming threat to gun rights, and stir in a healthy dose of federal oversight over each and every driver's comings and goings and tell me this: if the liberal left has its way, will Americans enjoy any freedoms or privacy? Did they ever learn the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence? Do they really want to turn the United States into an Orwellian nightmare?

Republicans have been accused by their opponents of not caring about the environment, the little guy, minorities, or anything else. Believe me, folks, when the government starts caring about you, IT IS A BAD THING!

Out of all of the crazy, nauseating proposals coming out of The Worst Congress in History, this is certainly the worst one. Tax every move I make and monitor me in the meantime?

Thankfully Barack Obama slammed the door shut on this idea in the strongest possible language, but we need to remember that the Nancy Pelosi Police State still looms as a possibility until the GOP gets control of Congress back.

We can do our part now. There are viable GOP candidates in the First Congressional District. Let us encourage at least one of them to start his or her organization now to raise funds and get people in place. The United States needs a Republican Congress more than ever. We need to send a message to Communists in San Francisco that this is our country and they cannot infringe upon our rights. They are ours by the grace of God, not something the government hands out like welfare.

If need be, we will fight for them.

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Boy has the country really done well since the Democrats seized Congress. Economic contraction, the NYSE at 1/2 of what it was when the GOP ran the show. Yes we deserved to lose in 2006, but man, did we have to lose to a group of Communist incompetents.

We Have Met the Enemy, And It Is the Federal Government

The basic problem driving the economic crisis, at least in the United States, is the mortgage crisis. This was combined with the fuel spike and a few other problems, but generally the housing market crash reverberated throughout the economy.

Some blamed bank mismanagement, but the federal government ponied up money anyway. Banks are the engines of capitalism. If they fail, we have serious problems. But why did they fail?

Last year the media gave us their answer. The simple greed of banks and individuals trying to turn a fast buck. Banks give questionable loans to questionable investors. Middle class greed was blamed; families spending too much on things they don't need. The whole issue became a homily on the evils of capitalism.

If only we had stuck to capitalism! In 1993 the federal government decided to enforce laws that the Reagan and first Bush administrations chose to ignore. These laws required banks to make an effort to find non traditional targets for loans. The idea was to expand home ownership among populations who generally could not afford them or who had poor credit. Banks had to prove that they made an effort to locate bad credit risks and give them loans.

Banks complied with the law. So long as the economy went very well, the industry could absorb losses and many credit risks could continue to pay. When a glitch in the system developed, up to 8% of the mortgage holders in the nation fell behind, some badly. Some folks truly hit hard times. They had jobs they expected to keep, made sound decisions, and were hit by unforeseen issues. Many were undisciplined, made poor decisions, and found themselves in trouble. Banks now held massive amounts of bad debt because of federal government policies that forced them to take it on in the first place.

The banks had the government by the you know whats. They get no money? Fine. They explain to the nation just exactly who got them into trouble in the first place. Instead of disavowing this nice little bit of socialism, we gave out the money and stabilized the system.

Now THE WON (kudos to whoever thought that one up, referring to the arrogant pronouncement to congressional Republicans that "I (Obama) won!" as if that means that Republicans should stop doing their jobs and kowtow) wants to compound the problem by sending many more billions to help people who never should have been homeowners to begin with. Some people responsibly went to their banks, worked out new arrangements, sacrificed, and got their bills paid up. Obama does not want to distinguish between those who sacrificed and those who are still just waiting around for the government to help them. Enough already!

Time for the honest taxpayer to take a stand. Massive federal interference in the market is what intensified a recession and turned it into the Great Depression. Back then it was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Now it is Obamiac spending plans. Let's get a grip here and think for a second before tossing more money away. After all, it is generating the disturbing trend of rising inflation during a contracting economy. Obama is transforming a recession into stagflation.

At least we know how to deal with that. Elect a conservative Republican as president. The way things are going, we ought to see one replace WON in a few years.