Ken Berwitz

One of the links I posted in my previous blog was to a feel-good commentary by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis which, I suppose, is supposed to make us happy about what a great job situation we have these days.

Here is a small part of what Ms. Solis had to say:

The big question: Are things getting better? To answer that, we need to look back more than a year ago, when the economy was losing a staggering 800,000 jobs a month. Our actions, most notably the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, stopped those losses.

The Recovery Act saved millions of American jobs — keeping health care providers in hospitals, teachers in classrooms, and police and firefighters on the beat. But the benefits weren't just in the public sector. During the past eight months, the economy has averaged 95,000 new private sector jobs.

Let's forget the whopping lie that we were losing 800,000 jobs a month (we lost a lot of jobs over a four month period, ONE MONTH of which was near 800,000.  But, true to the Chicago tradition the President came out of, Secretary Solis joins him in proclaiming this was some kind of ongoing average).  Let's instead talk about who was in charge during those job losses.

We'll start with a quick, one-sentence reminder:  Congress writes and votes on the budget. 

That's right.  Congress.  Not the President. 

So the big question now becomes, who was running Congress?  And the answer is....................Democrats.

The Democratic Party took control of congress - both the house and the senate- after the 2006 elections.  That means they wrote the 2007 and 2008 budgets.  Not President Bush or Republicans, but Democrats in congress.

And when does a budget kick in?  Fourth quarter.  So the first day of the Democratic congress's first budget was October 1, 2007. 

Ok.  Now look at the following chart, which tracks unemployment in the United States from 2006 to the present.  Please note where it was until October of 2007 (2007-10), when the budget was controlled by Republicans.  Then see where it went from there until the present, which is when the budget was controlled by Democrats:

That tells a story, doesn't it?

But not to worry.  The Obama administration has a three-word answer:  "Damn that Bush".

After two years and record deficits, we'll see how this flies in November.

If I were a Democrat, I wouldn't be expecting a victory celebration.....