Hillary's Email Claim: "My predecessors did the same thing"

For months now, Hillary Clinton has been using the kind of excuse for her email server problems that you might hear from a ten-year-old: "my predecessors did the same thing".

Well, now, the recent Inspector General's audit and report on email usage by each Secretary of State since Madeleine Albright is out, and that report says something quite different. Here are the excerpts for each Secretary of State:

• Secretary Albright (page 20): "...did not find any evidence to indicate that Secretary Albright used either [State] Department or personal email accounts during her tenure".
• Secretary Powell: (page 21): "...Secretary Powell stated that he accessed the email account via his personal laptop computer in his office [via State Department services], while traveling, and at his residence [via a private line], but not through a mobile device."
• Secretary Rice (page 22): "...Secretary did not use either personal or [State] Department email accounts for official business."
• Secretary Kerry (page 25): "...while he has used a personal email account to conduct official business, he has done so infrequently."

So, in essence, Hillary, is, again caught in a lie.  Her only predecessor that used private emails to conduct official business was Colin Powell; and, not the plurality she implies when she says "predecessors".   But, unlike Secretary Clinton, he retained the text of those emails on a laptop that he carried with him at all times and was only hackable while online.  In Hillary's case, those emails existed on a private server, accessible 24/7, which resided in her New York home and was not maintained and monitored at all times for any attempts at hacking.  She also used unsecured mobile devices such as an unmodified Blackberry and iPhone.  We also know that there were hacking attempts in January of 2011.  Yet, she continued to use that server for 2 more years until she left office in 2013.

Clearly, Clinton's email usage had a far larger potential for the abuse of federal regulations and posed a much greater security risk than any Secretary of State; either before or after her tenure.  This whole email server scandal shows her gross incompetence and inability to protect some of the world's most sensitive information.  Just another example of why she shouldn't be President.

References:

[The text of the] State Department report on Clinton's email practices: https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/state-department-report-on-clintons-email-practices/2039/?tid=a_inlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/state-department-report-on-clintons-email-practices/2039/?tid=a_inl

Hillary Clinton said 'my predecessors did the same thing' with email: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/09/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-said-my-predecessors-did-same-thin/

Clinton email use broke federal rules: inspector's report: http://www.newswest9.com/story/32061296/clinton-faulted-on-emails-by-state-department-audit

The Obama Economic Recovery Is Even Worse Than Previously Thought

Yesterday morning, the U.S. government released its initial report on the economy in the second quarter of 2015; and as measured by Gross Domestic Product (total consumer and government spending+business inventories+the net of imports and exports).  But, also with this reporting, the Bureau of Economic Analysis -- the group that develops the GDP numbers -- will apply the new formulation for how the GDP is calculated and will apply those changes back to 2012.  Many economists predicted that recalculations would smooth out the erratic swings and actually result in higher GDP growth. Boy, were they wrong.

Prior to the revised calculations, 2012 through 2014 had dismal growth rates that averaged only 2.4%.  Now, with the new revisions; the average growth for those years is just 2.1%; which puts it at almost half of the average 3.97% growth rate following all previous recoveries from recessions since 1960. It also puts growth below the previously calculated average of 2.24% since the recovery started in the third quarter of 2009.  Worse than that, the growth rate for the first six months sits at just 1.45% -- when averaged against just 6-tenths of a percent in the first quarter and 2.3% in the second.  This is a slowing of 31% from Obama's previous 3-year average of 2.1%.

Simply, each successive year under President Obama's watch is getting weaker.  Not a good trend, and it reflects on how government imposition in the economy, such as ObamaCare, is affecting economic growth.

References:

US government revises earlier GDPs to fix anomalies in reporting: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/30/us-government-revises-earlier-gdps-to-fix-anomalies-in-reporting.html

Our dismal GDP numbers: Under Obama US stuck in slow growth rut: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/04/29/our-dismal-gdp-numbers-under-obama-us-stuck-in-slow-growth-rut.html

Here are the revisions made to GDP growth over the last three years: http://www.businessinsider.com/q2-2015-gdp-revisions-2015-7

A Rise to a 5.5% Unemployment Rate Is a Good Thing?

Since the latest jobs report was released yesterday morning, more than a few economists are touting a strengthening jobs market because the unemployment rate rose from 5.4% to 5.5%. Oddly enough, this would normally be true since the official and publicly announced unemployment rate is calculated without including workers who have given up looking for a job but still want to work.  Sensing a better chance of employment, many of those are once again attempting a job search. Add some of those people back into the workforce and it is natural for the unemployment rate to go up.  That is as long as the number of workers rejoining the workforce is greater than the number of jobs being created.  Superficially that was the case.  The size of the workforce grew by 397,000 and 280,000 jobs were created; resulting in an increase of unemployed by 125,000 and an increased unemployment rate.

However, if this was really true, we should have seen a corresponding reduction in the number of people not looking for work.  We didn't.  Instead the U-6 number of Table A-15 -- the Alternative measures of labor underutilization -- stayed the same at 10.8%.

Also, if the job market was truly improving, the number of people who are long term unemployed should be going down.  But, again from Table A-15, the U-1 percent for those people out of work for more than 15 weeks rose from 2.3% (in the prior month) to 2.4%. At the same time, job losers (the U-2 report of the same table) rose from 2.6% to 2.7%; month-over-month.

I guess I'm tired of economists simply looking at the top line numbers and ignoring the details and coming up with the false conclusion that this report shows a strengthening job market.

References:

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION—MAY 2015 - Bureau of Labor Statistics:  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Economists agree that the May jobs report was good all around: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-unemployment-rate-rose-2015-6

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The July Jobs Report

The Good:

Obviously, the good was that 209,000 jobs were created.  Additionally, 119,000 people rejoined the workforce rather than sit home or waste time trying to find a job that was impossible to find.  This month broke a long standing trend of people leaving the workforce.  As a result, a long-term trend of a falling labor participation rate was reversed with that rate rising from 62.8% in June to 62.9%.  Most notably, the number of people forced to take a part time job because there was no full time work fell by 129,000.  People 55 years and older continue to beat the general population with an unemployment rate of 4.5%.  This simply proves that older Americans are willing to work longer and that employers are more willing to hire the older worker because of their experience and dependability.

The Bad:

The unemployment rate went up from 6.1% to 6.2%. This is not as bad as it sounds because it was primarily driven by people re-entering the workforce.  This is typical of a recovering employment situation where discouraged workers start looking for work again; rather than not be counted as part of the workforce and not part of the calculus for the unemployment rate.  The U-6 unemployment rate continues to remain high at 12.2% and went up again this month.  Many consider this the true unemployment rate because it does not "exclude" discouraged workers.

The Ugly:

While teen (16-19) unemployment was lowered this month, it still stands at a horrible 20.2%.  But, the ugly fact was that Black teen unemployment rose again this month from 33.4% (last year) to July's 34.9%.  Simply, employers are more willing to employ older adults than hire the less experienced teens.  The high Black teen unemployment shows that small businesses still haven't recovered in the minority neighborhoods of our major cities. High teen unemployment is one of the fallouts from increasing the minimum wage because older adults are more likely to compete with teens for entry level, minimum wage jobs.  Long term, this could result in a highly unemployable subset of workers who gained no experience during these lean years of high teen unemployment.  It could also result in increased income inequality in the years going forward.

Reference:

Employment Situation Report for July 2014:  Above data from Tables A-1, A-2, A-9, A-10, and A-15: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Old Workers Hit New Record High As Jobs For Key 25-54 Age Group Slide By 142K: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-01/old-workers-hit-new-record-high-jobs-key-25-54-age-group-slide-142k

Obama, TV Weathermen, Climate Change, and Dr. Easterbrook

Most of us know that, in order to sell Americans on some agenda item he's pushing, Obama likes to use people as props; especially those with individual life stories that help promote his goal.  When it was learned that doctors weren't supporting ObamaCare, he gave a Rose Garden speech surrounded by lab-coated Physicians; even though no doctor actually goes out of his office wearing a lab coat.  When it's a woman's issue, he surrounds himself with women; all with some heartfelt story to tell.  So, it's no wonder that, when releasing his latest alarmist report on Climate Change, he enlisted 8 TV Meteorologists -- led by Al Roker -- to help sell the fact that we need to act now on reducing green house gases.

The problem that I have with Al Roker and those 7 others being used in this way is that they are being  hypocritical to their own profession.  Al Roker and the rest all know that weather forecasting is an imperfect science.  Usually, a 5-day forecast can be fairly accurate. But, even so, precipitation predictions are always dealt with as "chances" of rain or snow, and, when it comes to 7 and 10-day forecasts, the accuracy of those predictions are always subject to revision.  So, with that in mind, every meteorologist worth his/her salt should be the most skeptical of people when it comes to predicting global warming and climate change.  They, more than anyone, understand that they "cannot" accurately predict temperatures 10-days out; let alone, what they will be at the end of this century. 

This is why the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change has been 95% wrong on all of their decades-out temperature forecasts because, stupidly, their computer models neglected to predict the current nearly 18 year halt in global warming.  It is also why the Hurricane Prediction Center is almost always wrong. For example, last year, they predicted an Atlantic hurricane season that would be above average in activity.  Yet, 2013 was one of the quietest on record.  Despite dire predictions of extreme weather, 2013 was also the quietest in many other areas.  There were the fewest 100 degree days than had been seen in the last 100 years.  It was one of the quietest years for tornadoes.  Antarctic ice returned to record levels; and, because the ice was getting so thick, one scientist says polar bears are at risk because they can't break through to find food.  This despite Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth movie showing polar bears struggling to survive by desperately holding onto increasingly smaller sections of  ice.

The fact is simple. Climate Change is a political ruse to push a liberal, environmental agenda and promote the also-liberal agenda of redistribution of wealth.  The core belief that increases in green house gases has been blown out of the water due to the fact that, despite rising carbon emissions, global warming has been on hold for 17 years and 9 months. Now, if you really want to know the truth about climate change, look at this chart:

As shown, temperatures are actually lower, now, than they have been in the last 1000 years.  The chart was developed by a climate scientist by the name of Dr. Don Easterbrook; and, in 1998, he was the only one to predict the current halt to global warming. What's even more significant about his prediction is the fact that it was during the very same year that the world had a record spike in temperatures, but, from that year forward, the rise abated; just as Easterbrook predicted.  Further, he predicts the trend to continue for at least two more decades.  Now, I ask you. Have you ever heard of him?  No. That's because his work is being ignored since it doesn't support the current political agendas.

References:

Obama Uses Your TV Weather Guru to Show How Wind Blows on Climate: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-06/obama-looks-to-weathermen-to-make-case-on-climate-change.html

On Climate Change, Would You Trust People Who Have Been 95% Wrong: http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/2014/01/on-climate-change-would-you-trust.html

‘Least extreme U.S. weather year ever?’ 2013 shatters the record for fewest U.S. tornadoes — 15% lower than previous record — 2013 also had the fewest U.S. forest fires since 1984: http://www.climatedepot.com/2013/12/27/2013-shatters-the-record-for-fewest-tornadoes-15-lower-than-previous-record/

What Happened to the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season?: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/what-happened-to-the-2013-atlantic-hurricane-season-16616

Another Climate Embarrassment: Fewest 100+ Degree Days: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/08/another-climate-embarrassment.php

What Global Warming? Too Much Ice Endangers Polar Bears: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/043014-699080-its-too-cold-not-too-warm-for-polar-bears.htm

Global Temperature Update: No global warming at all for 17 years 9 months: http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/05/04/global-temperature-update-no-global-warming-at-all-for-17-years-9-months/

Dr. Easterbrook: Global Cooling Is Here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/global-cooling-is-here/10783

Donald J. Easterbrook At ICCC4: Don J Easterbrook ICCC4

New Federal Climate Change Study: The Need To Take Urgent Action?

This week, the Obama Administration presented a new Climate Change study which the White House science adviser, John Holdren, says is "the loudest and clearest alarm bell to date signaling the need to take urgent action."

Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear the words "urgent action" it tells me we must act immediately.  But, here's the thing.  The report that Holdren is referring to took less than a year to write and was publicly released in draft form in January 2013.  From then to now, almost a year and a half later, it was supposedly being peer reviewed and tweaked until the final version was released May 6.

If there was so much urgency, why did it take so long to say we need to act immediately?  Maybe Politics?  It's an election year and the Democrat base needs to be energized.  Obama is not about saving the planet.  He is about saving the Democrat-controlled Senate from defeat in the Fall and, while I can't prove it, the release of the report was obviously politically timed. Obama's been in office for more than 5 years -- two of which he had supermajority control of both Houses of Congress -- yet, only now, is he planning to "unilaterally" do something about climate change. This from a President who has logged more carbon polluting air miles than any other in the history of this country.

References:

Federal report: Warming disrupts Americans' lives: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fed-report-warming-disrupting-americans-lives

Podesta: Congress Can’t Stop Obama On Global Warming: http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/05/podesta-congress-cant-stop-obama-on-global-warming/

Obama on Climate Change: Do As I Say, Not As I Do: http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/2014/04/obama-and-climate-change-do-as-ii-say.html

March's Employment Report Finally Exposes Obama's Poor Job Creation Record

In the latest employment summary, it was reported that 192,000 jobs were created in March.  Additionally, the jobs numbers of both January and February were revised upwards to 144,000 and 197,000; respectively.   So, in three months 533,000 jobs were added to the economy. Yet, the unemployment rate actually went up from from 6.6% to 6.7%.  This simple contradiction exposes a clear flaw in how we measure unemployment as a nation and how Obama has benefited from it and has been able to make the claim of 49 consecutive months of job creation.

For over 4 years, the Obama Administration -- not the country -- has benefited from the fact that millions of able-bodied unemployed workers have just stopped looking for work out of sheer frustration.  Quite simply, when a job seeker gives up, our government no longer considers them part of the unemployed or part of the workforce.  Thus it appears there is job creation and a lowering of the rate of unemployment when there really wasn't.  Proof of this comes from the fact that, from January through March, the number of unemployed workers rose from 10.236 million to 10.486 million.  This was despite a supposed job creation of over half a million jobs. Logically, you can't have job creation when job losses are increasing.  Thus the flaw in our system of measuring this important number.

The reality is that we still have record numbers of sidelined workers who have given up; and, that is the only reason why Obama's job creation record, is as good as it is.  But, if one looks at the U6 accounting of the unemployment rate, which doesn't exclude those no longer job hunting, we have an unemployment rate that is still at 12.7%; well above the officially high rate of 10% in 2010.  The simple fact is that, for every job Obama says he created, two unemployed workers just gave up looking for work.

References:

March Employment Situation Summary: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

March Household Survey Data:  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm

March Alternative Measures Of Labor Utilization (U1 through U6): http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

49 Consecutive Months Of Private Sector Job Growth: http://www.dpcc.senate.gov/?p=blog&id=172