The two stories enclosed tell the tale regardless of what the White House may want to spin politically....Unemployment is the issue that most challenges our nation as we need to have people working to improve our economy. Unemployment checks are a patch but to ensure that workers become consumers, they need a job and a regular income.
The fact that the average American understands this simple concept but politicians fail to grasp this is the issue in the 2012 election. Based on what we have seen over the last three years, the President hasn't got a leg to stand on.
Meanwhile, the level of insensitivity shown by the Obama Administration to those out of work is demonstrated by the article at this link -
White House threw secret 'Alice in Wonderland' bash during recession - NY POST
A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.
“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in October 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/in_blunderland_hKpNQkHfvpEWe4F51kI4dP#ixzz1it445MEw
Clueless. Totally clueless. The recession was at it's worse so they hid the lavish affair from the press and the public for fear of a backlash. And people wonder why those who want Obama out of the White House are so opposed to this Politician. Obama and his lecturing wife really don't care about the average citizen or the problems of our country. They are too busy running up a luxury tab on the taxpayer's dime. Obama is unworthy of being in the White House and has shown a complete lack of understanding for what is required as Leader of our nation. Leaders take care of the needs of others first, as that is what is required. With millions losing their homes, the Obama's treated themselves first.
13.1M Americans remain unemployed
Jan. 7, 2012
Written by Derek Kravitz
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — For many people whose job prospects faded most during the recession, 2011 brought a small dose of relief.
When unemployment was surging, the youngest U.S. workers, the oldest, those without college degrees and men as a whole all suffered disproportionately. Last year, those groups — whose unemployment rates still exceed the national average — had better success than others in finding jobs, according to Labor Department data released Friday.
Many found low-paying jobs in technology firms and as health care technicians, machinists, autoworkers, hotel and store clerks and waiters.
All told, about 13.1 million Americans remain unemployed. About 2.5 million have quit looking for work altogether.
Education
Unemployment among workers with less than a high school diploma fell from 15.1 percent to 13.8 percent. By comparison, unemployment for those with a bachelor's degree declined by a smaller margin, from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent.
"The less-educated tend to suffer more in downturns and recover more rapidly when employment picks up," said Lawrence Katz, a Harvard labor and economics professor.
Gender
The unemployment rate for men fell more than twice as fast as for women in 2011. Hiring was strong among male-dominated industries like manufacturing. And more men entered some fields long dominated by women, including health care and retail.
The unemployment rate for men sank from 10 percent to 8.7 percent. But women remain better off. Their rate fell from 8.6 percent to 8.3 percent.
Age
In 2011, employment prospects were best for workers ages 20 to 24 and those 65 and up. Some young men are being hired for entry-level positions at lower pay than in years past. And some retirees returned to the workforce last year after their retirement portfolios took a beating over the past four years.
Unemployment is dropping faster for those ages 35 to 64. But part of the reason is that a disproportionate share of people in this age group have given up looking for jobs. Once people stop looking for work, they're no longer counted as unemployed.
Race
Unemployment fell most among Hispanics. Their rate declined from 12.9 percent to 11 percent. In part, that's because a larger-than-average share of Hispanics have stopped looking for work.
Immigration has also slowed. That means there are fewer foreign-born job-seekers in the United States.
Since the recession ended more than two years ago, the employment gap between blacks and whites has widened. The rate for African-Americans was unchanged last year at 15.8 percent. By comparison, white unemployment fell from 8.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
There is a real need to feed kids at school. For many, it is the best food they may get at anytime during the week, especially in poor communities. The staples of veal cutlets, mac n' cheese, chicken, hot dogs & beans fed generations of school children. Now, we have the lefties trying to push an unpaletable mix of trendy foods on kids when all they really want is the food that tastes good to them.
When you hear that the main reason they are making a change is " for the children", then you know that you are being rooked. There is a way to make sure kids get a good meal without serving up food that kids don't like and won't eat. When we waste food and tax dollars, we leave kids hungry and fail. In the end, this type of program allows the lefties political gains to be met, but the children leave hungry.
Michelle Obama's Unsavory School Lunch Flop
By Michelle Malkin
The road to gastric hell is paved with first lady Michelle Obama's Nanny State intentions. Don't take my word for it. School kids in Los Angeles have blown the whistle on the east wing chef-in-chief's healthy lunch diktats. Get your Pepto Bismol ready. The taste of government waste is indigestion-inducing.
According to a weekend report by the Los Angeles Times, the city's "trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop." In response to the public hectoring and financial inducement of Mrs. Obama's federally subsidized anti-obesity campaign, the district dropped chicken nuggets, corn dogs and flavored milk from the menu for "beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads."
Sounds delectable in theory. But in practice, the initiative has been what L.A. Unified's food services director Dennis Barrett plainly concludes is a "disaster." While the Obama administration has showered the nation's second-largest school district with nutrition awards, thousands of students voted with their upset tummies and abandoned the program. A forbidden-food black market — stoked not just by students, but also by teachers — is now thriving. Moreover, "(p)rincipals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away."
This despite a massive increase in spending on nutritional improvements — from $2 million to $20 million alone in the last five years on fresh produce.
This despite a nearly half-billion-dollar budget shortfall and 3,000 layoffs earlier this year.
Earlier this spring, L.A. school officials acknowledged that the sprawling district is left with a whopping 21,000 uneaten meals a day, in part because the federal school lunch program "sometimes requires more food to be served than a child wants to eat." The leftovers will now be donated to nonprofit agencies. But after the recipients hear about students' reports of moldy noodles, undercooked meat and hard rice, one wonders how much of the "free" food will go down the hatch — or down the drain. Ahhh, savor the flavor of one-size-fits-all mandates.
There's nothing wrong with encouraging our children to eat healthier, of course. There's nothing wrong with well-run, locally based and parent-driven efforts. But as I've noted before, the federal foodie cops care much less about students' waistlines than they do about boosting government and public union payrolls.
In a little-noticed announcement several months ago, Obama health officials declared their intention to use school lunch applications to boost government health care rolls. Never mind the privacy concerns of parents.
Big Government programs "for the children" are never about the children. If they were, you wouldn't see Chicago public school officials banning students from bringing home-packed meals made by their own parents. In April, The Chicago Tribune reported that "unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria." The bottom line? Banning homemade lunches means a fatter payday for the school and its food provider.
Remember: The unwritten mantra driving Mrs. Obama's federal school lunch meddling and expansion is: "Cede the children, feed the state." And the biggest beneficiaries of her efforts over the past three years have been her husband's deep-pocketed pals at the Service Employees International Union. There are 400,000 workers who prepare and serve lunch to American schoolchildren. SEIU represents tens of thousands of those workers and is trying to unionize many more at all costs.
In L.A., the district's cafeteria fund is $20 million in the hole thanks to political finagling by SEIU Local 99. The union's left-wing allies on the school board and in the mayor's office pressured the district to adopt reckless fiscal policies awarding gold-plated health benefits to part-time cafeteria workers in the name of "social justice." As one school board member who opposed the budget-busting entitlements said: "Everyone in this country deserves health benefits. But it was a very expensive proposal. And it wasn't done at the bargaining table, which is where health benefits are usually negotiated. And no one had any idea where the money was going to come from."
Early next year, Mrs. Obama will use the "success" of her child nutrition campaign to hawk a new tome and lobby for more money and power in concert with her husband's re-election campaign. It's a recipe for more half-baked progressivism served with a side order of bitter arugula.
Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies" (Regnery 2010). Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.
Yes, the First Couple are a real pair of " Experts " all right..... Expert BS artists
The two stories enclosed tell the tale regardless of what the White House may want to spin politically....Unemployment is the issue that most challenges our nation as we need to have people working to improve our economy. Unemployment checks are a patch but to ensure that workers become consumers, they need a job and a regular income.
