Bewildered or Deceptive?

The failure of President Obama and his advocates, including the mainstream media, to understand economics 101 is distressing to say the least. Whether it is intentional duplicity, guile, or dishonesty on his part, or just plain ignorance because he doesn’t understand – it is disconcerting and frightening that our President would be so irresponsible as to lead American’s astray from truth!

Recent attacks against free enterprise and private equity by Barack Obama and his apologists are the tip of the iceberg and reflect an underlying agenda that is alarming. Even so, let’s address the attacks with substance and truth. The attacks are seeking to vilify the free enterprise system, private equity investors, and specifically Mitt Romney because of his business success. Barack Obama wants to disparage those who have been successful in business and fails to realize that rising tides float all boats. It is the foundation for his class warfare argument! Truth is, if we do not have a successful free enterprise system, no one, and I mean no one benefits. If we disrupt the balance and supplant the free enterprise system with government, we all lose and the middle class will disappear – in fact, we will elevate the impoverished. It is in our free enterprise system, and it’s success, that we overcome poverty. Why else have we seen nations around the world, even socialistic and communistic nations, adopt free enterprise? Within this context, free enterprise and private equity are synonymous.

Private equity in its simplest form is the foundation of free enterprise and economic markets. Anyone who invests capital directly into a business with a hoped for economic return is engaged in some form or degree of private equity. Whether you are Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, the owner of a small business selling jewelry out of your home, or a large private equity fund, you invest time and capital into building a business and making it successful – this is basis for the private equity markets. Interestingly, you may not even be aware that you are a private equity investor. If you have pension or retirement funds (IRA or 401k) and are invested in the debt or equity markets, you are participating in private equity investments in one form or another; if you have donated to a charity or not-for-profit you may be, tangentially, a private equity investor; it is only a matter of degree. Private equity investors are individuals, pension funds, charitable funds, educational foundations, governments, corporations, etc., each of whom provide capital to build and sustain free enterprise markets and businesses. That said, no one invests their money with an expectation to fail, only to succeed; and success comes with sustainability and a return of capital and then some. The role of government is not to constrain these markets, but to encourage and expand them. For in such we see the ‘private equity multiplier effect.’ The ‘private equity multiplier effect’ is most easily seen in job creation, wealth creation and innovation.

Mitt Romney creates billions of dollars for others

Mitt Romney’s self-made business successes have come under attack from President Obama. We read that his success has created personal wealth estimated at $350+ million. What isn’t discussed are the billions of dollars of wealth created for so many others. What Mitt Romney garnered in wealth from his business success is nominal compared to what he has created for so many others, including pension fund and retirement accounts for many Americans, charities, employers, employees, individual investors and shareholders, and businesses. If one understands the multiplier effect of wealth creation, this means that in his career, Mitt Romney has had a profound and extended impact in the lives of innumerable Americans – far beyond the 100,000 jobs created in and as a result of his work.

The President of the United States has available to him the full resource of the United States. He has access to the brightest and most capable economic minds on the planet, and yet he doesn’t understand basic economics? He doesn’t understand the private equity multiplier effect? Or, he does and deliberately seeks to misinform the public? Either way, it is irresponsible and/or dishonest! The President of the United States is held to a higher standard. As a people we entrust him with the burden of care and stewardship to lead with integrity. We trust him to put country above self, and not subordinate American’s to ignorance, deception and deceit for personal power or position. He has a sacred trust and stewardship to lead with integrity and truth. This is a standard that all who have been elected to public office must abide. Even so, many don’t, and neither is this President.

It has been said that the fear of losing the office of POTUS is greater than the want to secure it; and it is becoming more and more apparent that Barack Obama, and those who advocate for him, are willing to abandon truth and integrity in an effort to preserve power and position. Their want for power and position, and willingness to do whatever it takes to preserve it, is frightening given the agenda they hold to neuter and undermine America’s divine exceptionalism and freedoms.

Fundamental to America’s economic strength, and consequentially our freedom, is our adoption of free enterprise and “free markets”. Free enterprise embodies the principles espoused in our Nation’s founding documents, wherein we are empowered with the agency to choose and act, within the bounds of nature’s law. In free enterprise, we act on principles embodied in such and granted by “nature’s God”, the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Barack Obama should be ashamed!

A new book by David Parker

_______________________
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

After Obama’s presser today in Chicago, wherein he clearly revealed his campaign’s focus is to attack private equity, free enterprise, and Mitt Romney’s results-oriented capacities, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement:

PRESIDENT OBAMA FAILS TO ACCEPT MORAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS FAILED POLICIES

“President Obama confirmed today that he will continue his attacks on the free enterprise system, which Mayor Booker and other leading Democrats have spoken out against. What this election is about is the 23 million Americans who are still struggling to find work and the millions who have lost their homes and have fallen into poverty. President Obama refuses to accept moral responsibility for his failed policies. My campaign is offering a positive agenda to help America get back to work.”

CNN’s Gut Check:

4:28 p.m. ET: The Obama Campaign Tweets:

Barack Obama (‏@BarackObama)
“Mitt Romney takes from the poor … and gives to the rich. He’s just the opposite of Robin Hood.” http://OFA.BO/j6FZcR #RomneyEconomics

Obama’s false, class warfare tweet deafeningly chirps “I’M DESPERATE.”

4:37 p.m. ET: President Obama, at the NATO summit press conference, pits POLITICAL EQUITY against PRIVATE EQUITY: “My view of private equity is that it is, it is set up to maximize profits and that is a healthy part of the free market, of course. That’s part of the role of a lot of business people. That is not unique to private equity. … But understand their priority is to maximize profits, and that is not always going to be good for communities or businesses or workers. And the reason this is relevant to the campaign is that because my opponent, Gov. Romney, the main calling card for why he should be president is his business experience. He is not going out there touting his experience in Massachusetts, he is saying, ‘I am a business guy and I know how to fix it,’ and this is his business. And when you are president as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. … And so if your main argument for how to grow the economy is, ‘I knew how to make a lot of money for investors,’ then you are missing what this job is about.”

Obama’s argument is silly. Governor Romney’s leadership at Bain Capital focused on people… how to save dying businesses, create jobs for people, and turn failure into personal success for them.

In spite of Obama’s eye-rolling rhetoric, attention today was on Obama supporter New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (see Luke’s post):

It is never a good day for a candidate when a prominent surrogate becomes the story and sucks all of the political oxygen out of the room. Cue Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, whose comments Sunday on “Meet the Press” about negative campaigning has overshadowed all other political stories in the past 24 hours.
…
“This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides,” Booker said Sunday on “Meet the Press.”
“It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity [...] This stuff has got to stop because what it does is it undermines, to me, what this country should be focused on. It’s a distraction from the real issues. It’s either going to be a small campaign about this crap, or it’s going to be a big campaign, in my opinion, about the issues that the American public cares about.”

It wasn’t long until Booker was taken to the Obama wood shed:

It took only a matter of hours after his “Meet the Press” appearance before Booker put out a three-minute, 42-second You Tube video clarifying his remarks and endorsing the Obama campaign strategy to criticize Romney’s business record.

Booker said he decided to make the video because he “got so much feedback…” I’ll bet. Heads in the White House and Chicago must have exploded.

“Let me be clear, Mitt Romney has made his business record a centerpiece of his campaign,” Booker said in the straight to camera explanation. “He’s talked about himself as a job creator, and therefore it is reasonable, and therefore I encourage it, for the Obama campaign to examine that record and discuss it. I have no problem with that.”

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt claims Booker wasn’t asked to make the video and the views Booker expressed in the video are his own. (The Obama Machine is depending on American gullibility and ignorance to pass off that bit of balderdash.)

…[Y]ou could see from Obama’s comments at the NATO press conference, that his campaign used the “Booker news cycle” to double down on their attacks on Romney and Bain.

And what seems to have been lost in the shuffle was that Booker would not back off his criticism of the negative tone of the campaign.

“I used the word nauseating on ‘Meet the Press,’ because that’s really how I feel when I see people in my city struggling with real issues and still feeling the challenges of this economy, and still looking for hope and opportunity and real specific plans,” Booker said. “I get very upset when I see such a level of dialogue.”

Gut Check conclusion:

The dialogue Booker bemoans had a presidential podium at an international news conference moments ago.

All this from a President who presides over the most onerous economic stagnation since the Great Depression, who has racked up nearly more debt than all other presidents combined, who hasn’t passed a federal budget since he’s been in office, and, at the same NATO summit, had the audacity to counsel struggling European nations to forget austerity measures and spend more money they don’t have.

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By Gary Varvel - May 22, 2012

(emphasis added to article)

Did you see the frenetic diatribe from V.P. Joe Biden in prized swing state Ohio the other day? Going into almost Howard Dean scream mode, Biden worked himself into a lather making up stuff on how Republicans, the rich, and Mitt Romney don’t think the middle class “dreams” about becoming millionaires or president of the United States.

Seriously.

Drama Joe:

At a campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio, today, Vice President Joe Biden lit into Republicans and their presumed presidential nominee Mitt Romney for what he described as a failure to understand the plight of the middle class.

“I resent when they talk about families like mine that I grew up in. I resent the fact that they think we’re talking about envy: it’s job envy, it’s wealthy envy; that we don’t dream,” an impassioned Biden told a crowd of manufacturing workers.

“My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be president of the United States, that I could be, I could be vice president! My mother and father believed that if my brother or sister wanted to be a millionaire, they could be a millionaire! My mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams!

“They don’t get us! They don’t get who we are!” he yelled before the crowd, drawing loud applause.

Biden was referring broadly to Republican criticism of the administration’s push for higher taxes on wealthier Americans and expanded investment in federal programs aimed at boosting low- to middle-income families.

What a crock.

Biden was so into his theatrics while yelling he didn’t even notice a fly landing on his head.

Last night, FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly jumped all over Biden’s rant. He asked what the beef is from the Obama administration:

O’Reilly – “Bottom line: This is all a bunch of garbage. The class warfare the Obama administration is peddling is bogus.”

Vice President Joe Biden's private water-front residence sits on four and a half acres in Wilmington, Delaware.

● Like a laser, Mitt Romney keeps steering the political conversation back to what Americans want to know. Today, Romney for President has released a positive new television ad titled “Day One.” The ad will air in four key battleground states: Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

Mitt Romney has outlined a bold agenda to spur economic growth and create jobs. On his first day in office, he will approve the Keystone pipeline, introduce pro-growth tax reforms, and repeal Obamacare.

Day One (See Spanish version here.):

Mitt Romney has a vision for America. It is an America driven by a growing middle class. An America that lets free enterprise work. An America where education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded.

We can restore America’s greatness — beginning on day one with President Romney. Let’s make that vision a reality.

Seeing our Vice President resort to purple face class warfare to hawk Obama’s trillion and a half dollars per year deficit-socialist-beg-China spending and obfuscating Obama’s utter economic failure is another jolting reminder. America – time to break into a run… in a different direction.

Biden and Barack must go.

Help Governor Romney turn America around by donating here.

› Jayde Wyatt

Speaking to voters at Hotel Fort Des Moines in Des Moines, Iowa today, Governor Mitt Romney treated listeners to a powerful, plain-spoken speech on America’s federal spending addiction and our nearly incomprehensible national debt.

Prior to his appearance in Des Moines, the Romney campaign released a thought-provoking web video focusing on Iowans – “a few of the 23 million” – who are struggling under the oppressive Obama economy:

A Few of the 23 Million:

Before The Gov delivered his remarks, the Des Moines Register published an article by Jennifer Jacobs highlighting some of Romney’s remarks:

Romney speech: Prairie fire of debt doesn’t care if it’s a donkey or elephant in your lawn

A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation, and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will tell Iowans today he can douse the flames.

“That fire could care less if you have a donkey or an elephant in your front lawn, it’s still coming for your house,” Romney’s prepared remarks say, according to his campaign. “There’s plenty of blame to go around for both parties.

“But in my years leading businesses, an Olympics and a state, I’ve learned one simple principle of leadership that never falters: Leaders lead. I will lead us out of this debt and spending crisis.”

While Romney deftly blocks Obama’s fiery darts and keeps bringing the campaign dialogue back to the economy, Jacobs writes that the Obama re-election campaign is trying to “pierce” Romney’s message by running Iowa TV attack ads against the governor.

Romney intends to steer the conversation toward government spending and debt.

“President Obama started his days in office with the trillion-dollar stimulus package – the biggest, most careless one-time expenditure by the federal government in history. And remember this: the stimulus wasn’t just wasted – it was borrowed and wasted. We still owe the money, we’re still paying interest on it, and it’ll be that way long after this presidency ends in January,” Romney’s prepared remarks say.

VIDEO of Romney’s excellent speech may be viewed here.

★ Transcript of Romney’s remarks from Des Moines:

Thank you all very much.

It’s good to be back in Iowa. So many friends here hold a special place in my heart.

I’ve come here today to talk to you about an issue that affects the very heart of America.

Of course, Iowa is much more than a collection of beautiful farms and small towns and cities bounded by two of America’s great rivers. Iowa is a collection of the values that built America and that have sustained us through good times and bad. You know them well: hard work, taking care of our neighbors, family, faith in God and country. Common sense, kitchen table values. Not fancy, but enduring.

These aren’t the values that lead to out-of-control spending sprees, or to piling up massive amounts of debt you know your children – and grandchildren – will have to work all their lives to pay off. These aren’t the values of putting off difficult decisions with the hope that maybe someone else will solve them.

Today America faces a financial crisis of debt and spending that threatens what it means to be an American. Here in the heartland you know in your hearts that it’s wrong.

We can’t spend another four years talking about solving a problem that we know we are making worse every single day.

When the men and women who settled the Iowa prairie saw a fire in the distance, they didn’t look around for someone else to save them or go back to sleep hoping the wind might blow another direction. They knew that their survival was up to them.

A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act that fire gets closer to the homes and children we love.

This is not solely a Democrat or a Republican problem. The issue isn’t who deserves the most blame, it’s who is going to do what it takes to put out the fire.

Continue reading below the fold.

Read more…

These are serious times for America.

Every time we pass a home foreclosure sign, pull up to the gas pump, grab a grocery cart, or grapple with monthly bills, we’re gut-punched with the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.

Polls show approval for America’s gutter-sliding direction is way down.

That rattles Obama.

The Obama economy is not a winning referendum and many a ‘time we’ve seen how adoration loss sends the President and buddies into a tizzy.

Obama and operatives are digging deep. Their politicking has turned into a mud grab and they’re pelting fast and furiously at Mitt Romney.

Which conjured-up fetid glob will stick? A ridiculous hit job report about a 50-year-old incident that allegedly took place when Romney was a teenager? Romney hates dogs? Romney is waging war on women? His wife never worked a day in her life? She’s like Hitler? Greedy, out-of-touch, corporate raider Romney?

The latest slime comes in the form of a new Obama ad portraying Romney at Bain Capital as a job-destroying vampire. It’s the first attack on Romney’s business record:

The ad, at the unusual length of two minutes, will run in five battleground states—Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Colorado—and is part of a larger $25 million, monthlong ad campaign. Republican officials tracking the ad buy said the Obama team was only airing the two-minute spot on Wednesday in the five states. The ad was expected to air during the evening news and direct viewers to an Obama website about Romney’s economic record and a longer, six-minute version of the ad appearing online.
…
The commercial will be coupled with a series of events Obama’s campaign is holding this week in Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Nevada and North Carolina to highlight Romney’s role at Bain Capital, a company he co-founded. Deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said in a call with reporters that Obama’s team would highlight Romney’s Bain record “during next few weeks.”

Surprise! The ad is not accurate:

That picture is not accurate, as Mike Flynn reports today in an article on Breitbart.com. Bain Capital shut down GST Steel in 2001, two years after Mitt Romney left the company to accept the job as CEO of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Flynn reports the key decision-maker at Bain Capital, when GST Steel was closed, was Jonathan Lavine. Lavine is an Obama supporter and bundler who raised more than $100,000 for the president’s reelection campaign. Lavine started working for Bain in 1993.

Even Steve Rattner, former Obama adviser, says Obama’s new ad is sludge:

“It [Bain Capital] did it superbly well, acting within the rules, acting very responsibly, and was a leading firm,” Rattner noted. “I do think to pick out an example of somebody who lost their job, unfortunately, this is part of capitalism, this is part of life. And I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.”

The ad cost around $83,000. If the mud ball sticks, Team Obama will buy more air time (dip into some of that $15 million Hollywood/George Clooney money).

Romney’s campaign welcomes the attention on jobs:

“Mitt Romney helped create more jobs in his private sector experience and more jobs as governor of Massachusetts than President Obama has for the entire nation,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement.

Romney for President blocked the Obama gunk with a new web video ‘American Dream’:

The investment that Mitt Romney and others made in Steel Dynamics helped to grow the company and create jobs. For the workers of Steel Dynamics, this is a perfect example of the American Dream.

A mud bomb thrown today is so lame it plopped on the thrower’s shoes even as it was flung from his hand:

“Romney wants to create the illusion that somehow his experience equips him to lead the economy but there’s nothing about the record that would support that.” – David Axelrod, Obama campaign Senior Adviser

Thanks for the belly laugh, Axelrod!

In an interview with Newsmax TV, Ed Conard, a former Bain Capital business partner with Governor Romney, says Romney has a “deep understanding” of the economy:

Mitt Romney understands how the economy works and he is ready to focus on long-term growth by encouraging private investment in innovation, author Ed Conard told Newsmax TV.

Conard, a former partner in Romney’s Bain Capital, is the author of “Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong.” In the book, he argues that the Obama administration has discouraged risk-taking, with the result that the economic recovery is stuck at a snail’s pace.

He told Newsmax TV the Obama administration has discouraged investment by trying to penalize the wealthy and successful.

Conard continues:

“They threatened all the successful risk-takers with much higher taxes,” he said.

Romney, on the other hand, is an experienced businessman who knows how to look at the big picture, said Conard. He praised Romney’s leadership skills at Bain.

“He made tough decisions when he had to make tough decisions. And he always made them with the highest level of integrity, which was aiming at what is the most valuable in the long run,” Conard said.

Conard comments on liberals’ view of the economy:

…[L]iberals still see the economy as it was back in the 1950s, not as it is now. And the current reality, he says, is that people with big ideas need investors with deep pockets.

“The people who need to take risks are the most talented people in the economy,” he said. “People who have a lot of equity have to start underwriting risk with that equity.”

He said conservatives, unlike liberals, understand the importance of equity. “We don’t want to take that equity, redistribute and consume it.”

Conrad said Romney is an extraordinary executive:

“He has a deep understanding of business. He has a deep understanding of the economy. He had one objective, and that was to dig down and find the truth. … He worked hard to build consensus…”

Read more here.

Obama would be thrilled if we forgot he was a drug-using, Bill Ayers-fraternizing, community organizing, ‘present’-voting, now school record-hiding, trillions in debt-amassing, triple AAA rating-losing, illegal immigrant-excusing, un-read bill-passing, foreign leader-bowing, “I’ll get back to you Medvedev-ing”, crony-capitalizing, cornhusker kick-backing, class envy-stoking, job-losing, food stamp-increasing, opponent donor name-publishing, vacation-taking Golfer-in-Chief.

Mud slinging is Obama’s only defense.

Mitt Romney believes in the American Dream and is uniquely qualified to keep it alive.

That rattles Obama.

(emphasis added to articles)

› Jayde Wyatt

Seeking to capitalize on the high unemployment rates that have plagued Obama throughout his presidency, and in an attempt to spin the low job opportunities into something positive, President Obama is now touting the low jobs numbers as a successful and innovative way of solving America’s immigration problems.

Obama’s supporters are citing a recent study which shows that due to reduced job opportunities in the US for such an long period of time, immigration from Mexico has slowed to near zero. For the first time since the Great Depression, immigrants from Mexico have found it more appealing to go back to Mexico to find a job than to stay in the US.

In a press conference this morning, President Obama said:

“Look, are we going to be a country that sees the glass half empty, or the glass half full? Yes, I know a lot of people are out of a job, but lets look at the other side of the coin. America’s illegal immigration problem has been solved!”

 

Political analysts are unsure how well this strategy will play out in the upcoming election but it is clear that Democratic strategists believe they are playing with a winning hand.

“Republicans are always talking about how to solve America’s immigration problems,” said David Axelrod, “but only President Obama can say he has done something about it. We are not going to run from the our record on job creation, in fact, we are proud that it has helped solve our immigration problems.”

President Obama has resisted building a physical fence between the U.S. and Mexico saying that there are other ways to solve our immigration problems. It appears that in just three short years of his presidency, Obama has found his method and built the most effective “virtual” fence yet seen to solve America’s immigration problems. 

The Obama campaign has been having a difficult time coming up with a slogan for his 2012 presidential run. 

Here are a few possible slogans that the Obama campaign is considering: 

“No Jobs=No Immigration Problem!” Obama 2012

“Solving American’s Illegal Immigration Problem One Job Loss At a Time” Obama 2012

“President Obama – The only president you can trust to put a fence between the US and Mexico”

****In case you’re not sure, most of the above story is a joke. While it is in fact very true that immigrants are suffering from unemployment in the US and are returning to their home countries in massive numbers to find jobs, Obama has not decided to use the bad economy as a campaign slogan for solving America’s immigration problems. 

● However, we believe that Obama should be held accountable for the results of his policies.  It must be said that Obama’s policies in the last three years have led to the worst opportunities for immigrants in modern American history. Americans should be alarmed that immigrants are leaving America because there are better job opportunities for them elsewhere. This is not the America we know and take pride in.

● In fact, most Americans come from relatives who were immigrants themselves. We are a nation of immigrants. Many can remember the stories their parents told them about how their family came to America seeking a better life. These stories have been a point of pride and accomplishment told by immigrants since America’s founding. It is a sad day for America when Obama’s economy has damaged the ability for the new generation of immigrants to create their own story of coming to America and living the American Dream. 

● Unbiased economists agree that if you look at history, three years is normally plenty of time to recover from a recession. Obama has been president for the last three years and still the US economy has not even come close to a full recovery. America should be creating jobs at more than twice the rate it is creating them now. Obama has had his chance. It’s time for a change.

Here is Florida’s Senator Marco Rubio, himself a Hispanic, talking about Hispanics and the economy:

I wrote about April’s pitiful job report when it was released on Friday; but there’s more…

Not only did 342,000 frustrated Americans drop out of the labor force last month – because they couldn’t find work – 65.8% of them felt so desperate they pulled a Hail Mary. 225,000 workers applied for Social Security disability benefits in April. And, 40 % of those applicants were accepted:

Almost 90,000 workers enrolled in the program in April, pushing the total for new enrollees above 333,000 in the first four months of the year.

Add in spouses and dependents, and the number of beneficiaries added to the program so far this year climbs to 539,000.

As IBD reported recently, more than 5 million workers and their families have enrolled in the disability program since President Obama took office.

● The Preezy of the United Steezy’s own economic advisers were sounding the ‘disability warning bell’ last fall:

The Obama administration’s economic advisers warned in a report last fall that the mass exodus of workers who can’t find a job onto the disability rolls poses a long-term risk to the economy. Once enrolled, they almost never return to the active workforce. This can, the report said, result “in a loss to society of the economic contribution those workers could have made.”

Not only do those on our swelling disability rolls not contribute to the economy, working Americans end up paying for their retirement.

Keep in mind if the labor force had NOT declined, April unemployment would be at 8.3%, instead of 8.1% as reported. If our labor force participation rate was the same as it was in June 2009, unemployment would be at 11%. Factor in the underemployed – those working part-time who want full-time work and the number is around 17%.

● Yesterday, President Obama launched his campaign for four more years in the White House by exhorting Americans to not ask if they are better off than they were four years ago, but – if they reelect him – how they’re going to be tomorrow. Today, Romney for President took a good punch at Obama’s reelection rhetoric in a new video ad. Here is Silence:

● An article in Friday’s Wall Street Journal examines some of the reasons behind America’s rapidly shrinking labor force:

[T]he recent fall is so sharp and surprising that aging baby boomers can’t be the entire reason. Another explanation is surely the slow pace of job growth, which means fewer opportunities to entice what economists call the “marginal” worker back into the labor force. Older workers who’ve lost a longtime job may find themselves unemployable in a rapidly changing economy. They may retire earlier than they might have preferred.

Second earners in a household may also not find work at a high enough wage to justify the costs of commuting or child care. In a recovery that is really cooking, like the Reagan boom, these workers find that the opportunities reward more work. In today’s mediocre expansion, not so much.

That’s especially true when stagnant wage growth means less reward for the effort. Over the past 12 months, average weekly earnings are up 2.1% but inflation has climbed by 3%. Real pay is rising far too slowly, which makes work less attractive.

The Federal Reserve has maintained a super-easy monetary policy in the name of reducing the jobless rate and to reflate the housing market, but this has contributed to higher food and energy prices and thus reduced real income gains. This too is a disincentive to work and undermines one ostensible purpose of the Fed’s easing.

● What begins as a helping hand morphs into a hammock…

Another culprit may be the rapid expansion of government transfer payments during this recession. Medicaid, disability payments and food stamps have all risen sharply in recent years, starting under President Bush and accelerating under President Obama.

This is a particular disincentive to low-skilled workers to enter the job market because in some high-benefit states they need to earn $30,000 or more to compensate for the benefits they lose. This is an insidious high marginal tax rate that deters many from ever acquiring the basic skills and experience they need to move up the income ladder.

● An important reason why this nation needs PRESIDENT Romney:

Reversing this falling labor force trend is a major policy challenge, especially as more of the baby boomers retire. The U.S. will need more workers to finance more retirees. This will require faster growth and more job creation than we’ve seen in this disappointing recovery.

The tragedy of the Obama Administration is that it put the political pursuit of its social welfare agenda above policies to nurture a strong, durable economic expansion. Americans are paying for that mistake in less work and less reward for the work they get. The priority of the next Administration must be to reverse the decline.

(emphasis added to articles)

Obama believes he deserves four more years…

No!

America deserves jobs.

America deserves a leader who will end the suffering.

America deserves Mitt Romney.

► Jayde Wyatt

The U.S. Labor Department shared discouraging news this morning.

In the month of April only 115,000 jobs were added to our economy. Economists had projected an increase of 160,000-170,000 jobs. This is a worrisome downward development.

“The labor market data confirms that the economy gained little momentum over the past six to nine months,” said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho USA.

At the same time, April unemployment dropped from 8.2% to 8.1%.

Why?

More people have thrown in the towel and dropped out of the labor force. They gave up.

Statisticians don’t include the ‘giver-uppers’ number in their unemployment data. Get this… 342,000 Americans stopped looking for work last month. The labor participation rate is the lowest its been since 1981. That’s a new 30 year low of 64.3%.

We’ve got a new American demographic – job-search drop outs:

● Mitt Romney was a guest on FOX & Friends this morning. Along with the foreign policy topic of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng and the Richard Grenell resignation, host Gretchen Carlson asked Romney about the latest jobs report:

“We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month. This is way, way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery.
…
It’s a terrible and very disappointing report this morning.
…
The President, in his first year in office, said that he would hold unemployment below 8% and we’ve had 38 straight months unemployment above 8%. This is the longest period of high unemployment that we’ve seen since we started collecting these records back in 1948. It’s a terrible record and it shows that the President’s policies have simply not worked. It’s taken far too long for our economy to recover.”- Mitt Romney

Additional jobs report data:

● Long-term unemployment continues to be a problem. The average unemployed American has been without work for 39.1 weeks, or about nine months. Over 40 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than six months.

● There are 7.9 million people working part-time involuntarily.

John Silva, chief economist at Wells Fargo added his thought on our shrinking labor force dilemma: “If there are less people working, then your potential for what the economy can produce is reduced.”

Look at the 86 million invisible unemployed:

Fifty percent of kids coming out of college can’t find jobs or work equal to their skills. Home prices, factory orders, retail sales, and construction orders are down.

Veteran White House reporter Keith Koffler wrote this today:

But the trend is clearly downward. This is a huge setback for the president, and if things don’t improve soon, a very bad omen for his reelection prospects. They’ll spin the 8.1 percent number at the White House, but they know they have a problem.

At this point in a recovery, the economy should be pumping out jobs. Something is very wrong, and the president … has no idea what to do about it.

(emphasis added)

…[I]f April is indicative of the new normal, and winter was a blip, we won’t erase the gap until the 2030s. Spin today’s numbers how you’d like, but that’s a future nobody should hope for. – Derek Thomson, senior editor, The Atlantic

UPDATE – Check out Team Obama’s spin: President Obama’s Low Bar For “Good News”

► Jayde Wyatt

As the general election has just kicked off, with the economy getting the main focus and attention, and Obama taking some hits on his record, it is also important to see how American voters view President Obama’s conduct and his handling of issues that matter to most Americans.

Let’s look particularly at a demographic that may play an important party in determining who becomes the next President of the U.S. in November 2012 – the Jewish American electorate. Since this race is going to come down to a battle over swing states, those that historically and demographically choose the President, the Jewish population in Florida, Ohio, Philadelphia and Cleveland could be the demographic giving Mitt Romney the edge over the President.

A new poll, conducted by Knowledge Networks for the AJC, shows the mixed political mind of the American Jewish community as the nation heads into general election season. It reveals Romney making significant inroads in the Jewish community, getting the support of 28 percent, 6 months before election day. In comparison, President George W. Bush, considered one of Israel’s greatest friends, got only 24 percent of the Jewish vote in his reelection bid in 2004. Senator McCain, also known as a strong supporter of Israel during his years in the Senate, got only 22 percent.

The poll also shows President Obama getting only 61 percent of the Jewish vote, a decline of 17 points down from the 78 percent he got in 2008. 11 percent are undecided, but when asked whom they are leaning towards, 5% picked Romney and 6% picked the president. Even before the Veep pick, the national convention, and the campaign effort which is expected to be aggressive and carefully area targeted in the months ahead, that gives Mitt Romney roughly 33% of the Jewish vote.

Based on this poll data, one could confidentially assume Mitt Romney getting around 39% of the Jewish vote in November. It matches President Reagan’s 1980-1984 support.

The analysis is based on poll data, which could be spinned and twisted brilliantly by both campaigns, but also gives us a glimpse of how the electorate is somewhat similar to 1980 when Ronald Reagan challenged President Jimmy Carter. When asked for the most important issues in deciding their vote, 80 percent of American Jews cited the economy, 57 percent health care, 26 percent national security and 22 percent U.S.-Israel relations. But among those who are more focused on national security concerns or U.S.-Israel relations, only 42 percent would vote for Obama. Forty-four percent of those who cite national security and 45 percent of those who cite U.S.-Israel relations would vote for Romney.

Regardless of how the respondents intend to vote, 60 percent think the Democratic Party is more likely to make the right decision in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. 37 percent choose the Republican Party. The same is with national security issues and the economy in which 36% trust the Republicans compared to 60-62 that trust the Democrats.

Nonetheless, if this election is a combination of the economy and national security issues, based on the assumption these factors will be key in determining the support each candidate might get – the President’s record, his name recognition, his incumbency advantage and Mitt Romney’s aggressive campaigning mode, one could definitely expect Mitt Romney to pick up high support among Jewish voters. Consequently, that would create an opening and opportunity for the Republican party to open it doors, run competitive Jewish candidates, make Jews feel comfortable in the GOP party, and most of all, be just enough to tilt some highly contested Battleground states in Mitt Romney’s column.

Mitt Romney has just been given a BIG helping of Special K…

Ohio Governor John Kasich and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl are keen to support Governor Romney ‘s campaign for the presidency. Ohio Lt. Gov Mary Taylor is also standing with Romney.

Serving as an important link to the northeast and midwest, here’s the latest from the beautiful Buckeye State:

Announcing his support, Governor Kasich said, “The biggest issue in this presidential election will be who can make the economy stronger so that America’s families can be stronger. I’m for Mitt Romney because he’s got the proven experience as a manager and as a job creator that America needs right now. The progress we’ve made in Ohio is hampered by a White House that can’t make up its mind and which can’t set the right course for our economy. Mitt Romney’s got what it takes to get us back on track and I look forward to working with him to make his campaign in Ohio and across the country a success.”

Lt. Gov. Taylor said, “With job creation being Ohio’s top priority, the presidential race is going to be about whose policies can help us continue to get back on our feet. The tax-and-spend policies we see now from the White House are only barriers to our efforts to get Ohioans working again. By contrast, Mitt Romney has a deep understanding of the needs of job creators and will put that experience and know-how to work for Ohioans and the nation, and I’m happy to support his campaign for the presidency.”

Romney responds:

“I am proud to have earned the support of Ohio Governor Kasich and Ohio Lt. Gov. Taylor,” said Mitt Romney. “This might be the most important election in a generation. Our country can continue on its current path, or we can choose another path – one with lower spending, more jobs, and less debt. Ohio will be a critical – and possibly deciding – state in November. Having the support of Governor Kasich and Lt. Gov. Taylor will be vital in our efforts to defeat President Obama and change the direction of the country.”

Background on Governor Kasich:
Governor John Kasich was elected in 2010. Previously he served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives where he was chairman of the Budget Committee and the architect of the first balanced budget in decades. In his first year as governor, he closed an historic $8 billion budget shortfall without a tax increase and instead cut taxes by $800 million. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on Gov. Kasich’s watch Ohio has created more than 82,000 jobs –the most in the Midwest and the fourth largest increase in the nation – and both Standard & Poors and Moody’s have raised Ohio’s credit outlook from negative to stable.

Background on Lt. Gov. Taylor:

Lt. Gov. Taylor was elected with Gov. Kasich in 2010. Previously she served in the Ohio House of Representatives and as Auditor of State. As Lt. Gov. she oversees the Department of Insurance and leads the Administration’s effort to streamline and update Ohio’s regulatory policies.

From the magnificent Grand Canyon State, which attracts five million visitors per year, comes the call from Senator Jon Kyl to unite behind Governor Romney:

Announcing his support, Senator Kyl said, “After a long primary, it is time for the Republican Party to come together and support the candidate who will defeat President Obama. That is why I am proud to support Mitt Romney. President Obama’s record is full of broken promises and failed policies. Mitt Romney will restore American greatness at home and abroad. He has a bold economic plan that will create jobs and help middle class families prosper. He will also make the 21st century an American century and regain America’s respected status in the world. These next months will be hard fought and change will not come easy, but I am proud to stand with Mitt and to do anything I can to make sure he is our next president.”

Romney:

“Senator Kyl has been a leader in the Senate in the fight to cut spending, make government accountable, and to protect our country,” said Mitt Romney. “I am proud to have the support of someone who shares my vision for getting our country on the right track by allowing the private sector to flourish and getting government out of the way. Senator Kyl has been a tremendous public servant for Arizona and I look forward to working with him to reach out to Arizona voters over the next few months.”

Background on Senator Kyl:

Senator Kyl Was First Elected To The U.S. Senate In 1994. For over four years, Kyl has been the Senate Minority Whip. He also served eight years in the U.S. House and was a lawyer before entering government. He and his wife Caryll have two children.

As the GOP’s presumptive nominee and 2012 standard bearer, Romney is in Arizona today to speak at the 2012 RNC State Chairmen’s Meeting. It’s the last formal meeting before the nomination convention in August in Tampa; those running Republican organizations at the state level will be in attendance.

C-Span will air it LIVE at 3:45pm (ET). CNN will provide a livefeed here.

From PBS NewsHour:
GOP Establishment Gets Behind Romney
By Christina Bellantoni, Terence Burlij
April 20, 2012:

It’s a big day for Mitt Romney, who will be embraced by GOP establishment figures during the Republican National Committee’s meeting of state chairmen and officials in Scottsdale, Ariz.

All week he’s been collecting endorsements from governors and other top lawmakers — including House Speaker John Boehner …
[...]
The unity weekend is intended to help the entire party shift focus onto the general election.

Santorum supporters are joining Romney:

A top RNC official contended Thursday that enthusiasm for Mr. Romney, who has struggled at times to connect with the party’s conservative base, is on the rise.

“Romney is getting conservatives on this committee to rally behind him,” said Illinois RNC member Demetra DeMonte, the elected secretary of the RNC and a founding member of the RNC’s Conservative Caucus. Ms. DeMonte had originally favored Mr. Santorum, who often outpaced Mr. Romney in primaries and caucuses among evangelical voters and tea party activists.

The unity weekend is intended to help the entire party shift focus onto the general election.

★ UPDATE - Watch Romney’s speech here.

By the way, the Romney campaign is giving away FREE bumper stickers. Get yours now; click here!

(emphasis added to endorsements/article)

► Jayde Wyatt