Participation Needed

I have written about the "Participation Rate" before. Usually as a passing reference. Forget the unemployment rate. They finagle those figures. They are, flat out, unreliable. The Participation Rate is the only true and accurate indicator of the employment picture.

The Participation Rate, today, is the lowest it has been in thirty eight years. That is 1977 when Jimmy Carter was President. In other words, there was more employment under Reagan. There was more employment under George H.W. Bush. There was more employment under Clinton. There was more employment under George W. Bush. There was more employment when Barack Obama took office.

So despite his strutting and self aggrandizement and his constant promises to focus on jobs, he has failed. Not only has he failed at getting people working, those middle class people that are working, are earning, on average, ten percent less.

American citizens are not a part of Barack Obama's agenda. "Global Warming" is. In spite of the fact that there has been no warming in decades. In spite of the fact that the polar ice caps are growing. In spite of the fact that Polar Bears are happy and breeding. Barack still drags down the economy for minute theoretical gains that will mean nothing.

So coal mining jobs disappear. Whole states are dragged down as more unemployed hit the streets. But Barack knows best. And down goes that pesky Participation Rate once more. Agencies pass laws but call them regulations to prevent a conflict with Congress. These arbitrary, and often ill-conceived, regulations cost American businesses time and money to comply to. They also create insecurity. Businesses don't hire or even lay more people off. And down goes the Participation Rate.

Taxes, Obamacare, an unsure future create a shaky business climate where fewer people start businesses or expand existing, keeping the Participation Rate in the doldrums. But our President still struts on the stage, bragging about how he has fixed the economy. The only thing he has fixed is the numbers that he presents to the public. 

We will be a great country again when the government gets out of the way and lets the American people participate. There is much talk on the liberal side about income inequality. Sure, some people earn more than others. Americans don't care about that. They only want an opportunity to work and advance their own cause.