November Jobs Report: Long On Quantity...Short On Quality.

President Obama and his adoring media could barely catch their breaths when reporting that 321,000 jobs were created in November. The liberal MSNBC host Rachael Maddow opened by saying:

Any Republicans asking “where are the jobs?” today should probably have their heads examined.

The only problem with the 321,000 jobs is the quality of that number. With further examination, you would see that the full-time workforce fell by 150,000 jobs and, the part-time workforce rose by 77,000.  In other words, once again, good full-time jobs are suffering at the hands of more and more part time employment; as this chart clearly shows:

Since 2010 and the passage of ObamaCare, the percentage of part-time employment in the workforce has soared.

This is a problem that we have seen all along as companies struggle to avoid paying the employer mandate of ObamaCare by converting full time employees to those working less than 30 hours a week. This is also why, in so many polls, Americans still think that the economy -- especially jobs -- is the number one priority facing this country.

References:

U.S. job growth soars, tops 300k | MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/us-job-growth-soars-tops-300k

Obama hails strong jobs report: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/226132-obama-hails-strong-jobs-report

Hold on: Jobs report wasn't so great after all: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102243878

75 Percent Of Jobs Created This Year Were Part-Time Due to Weak Economy and ObamaCare: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/part-time-job-creation_n_3788365.html

Half Of All Jobs Created In The Past 3 Years Were Low-Paying: Study: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/low-paying-jobs_n_3266737.html

PollingReport.com: Priorities and Problems: http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm

Obama's Executive Order On Amnesty Is M.I.A.

Supposedly, just after the election, President Obama issued an executive order to give 4.5 million illegal immigrants amnesty.   Then, there was this headline on the Drudge Report: "Obama DID NOT SIGN any executive orders implementing amnesty?"  When you click on that link it takes you to a World Net Daily (WND) story titled: "Amnesty shocker! The secret behind Obama's 'order'."

What that story indicates is that Obama never issued an executive order on amnesty.  Instead (and, even more lawless), His Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, issued a memorandum that authorized the unconstitutional misappropriation of funds in order to fund the hiring of agents to process illegals and add them to the work visas or green card rolls.

Proof of this is supported by the President's own White House Briefing log on executive orders, where the last order authorized by him was on October 17; three weeks "before" the election.

With this revelation, it appears that Obama's move on immigration can easily be brought down in Federal Court because the appropriation of funds is the sole responsibility of Congress.  Further, any misappropriation of Federal funds is a crime under Federal law.  So, is it possible that Jeh Johnson, a lawyer, will wind up in cuffs over this?

The real question is: Why is Obama playing this game with immigration by claiming executive action?

References:

Amnesty shocker! The secret behind Obama's 'order': http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/amnesty-shocker-the-secret-behind-obamas-order/

Presidential Briefing Room: Executive Orders: http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders

Misappropriation:  http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/misappropriation

The Liberal Myths Being Told About Wal-Mart

On Black Friday, liberals and unions were out in force protesting Wal-Mart's pay practices; arguing that this mega-retailing giant should pay at least $15 an hour. Of course, most of the protestors were union personnel who don't work at Wal-Mart, and who want them to unionize so their dues collection will increase and then they can help Democrats get elected.

One spokesperson for the protestors claimed that Wal-Mart can afford to pay better wages because the Walton's are billionaires; claiming they collectively are worth $150 billion.  Of course, while he was speaking, you could see a number of bobble-heads in the background nodding in agreement.

Yes, the Walton family is worth billions, but that extraordinary net worth has more to do with the fact that they own stock (51%) in the company and less to do with company profits. In other words, their wealth is separate from Wal-Mart's profits.  This in the same way Bill Gates -- who no longer works for Microsoft -- is worth $81 billion.  Giving workers a raise to $15/hour, will not diminish the Walton Family's wealth one iota.  All it would do is raise prices for the over 100 million people who shop at this retail giant each year.  They are the ones, many with low incomes, that will be hurt the most by this supposed minimum wage hike.

Then there's this;  Wal-Mart, as a company, only makes a modest profit of a little over 3%.  Compare that to every liberal's darling, Apple, who returns profits in excess of 20%.  So, when you buy that iPhone or iPad for, hypothetically, $400, you wind up paying Apple $80 for the privilege of owning their products.  If Apple was Wal-Mart, that same product would only cost you $330; based on a 3% profit margin or a profit of $10 on a product that costs $320 to make.*  Of course, no liberals seems to want to protest at Apple about the fact that about 170,000 underpaid and overworked Chinese are used to help them achieve that very hefty 20% profit margin.

The savings that Wal-Mart offers is what that company is all about.

In this country, we have 48 million people in poverty.  What Wal-Mart gives them is the ability to buy many things that they could not otherwise afford.  At the same time, the average salary at Wal-Mart is $12.94 per hour, which is substantially higher than the President's proposed $10.10 minimum wage.  And, that $12.94 is equivalent to nearly $27,000  on an annualized basis.  A salary that is significantly higher than the $20,600 which the average Mississippian makes in a year; and not far from the $28,000 that the average American makes.

The simple fact is that union personnel want to lower the savings that more than 100 million shoppers receive by shopping at Wal-Mart.  Savings that allows them to buy other products and services from other retail outlets.  In doing so, jobs are being created elsewhere in our economy, but liberals (especially like Senator Elizabeth Warren) would rather that this economic benefit be stopped. Mostly hurting the lower class and the poor; yes, the people they always talk about helping.

*Disclaimer: The profit example is a hypothetical that assumes that both Apple and Wal-Mart are both the manufacturer and the direct sellers of an identical product; and, that, in manufacturing their own products their costs would be the same.  It also assumes that for every product they produce, the profit margins are equal; which is never the case.

References:

Walmart hit with protests on Black Friday: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/28/news/companies/walmart-black-friday-protests/

America's Richest Families: http://www.forbes.com/families/

Bill Gates Net Worth: https://www.google.com/search?q=net+worth+billl+gates&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

Wal-Mart Stores Profit Margin (Quarterly): 3.12% for Oct. 31, 2014: http://ycharts.com/companies/WMT/profit_margin

Apple Profit Margin (Quarterly): 20.10% for Sept. 30, 2014: http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin


Quick Facts: Mississippi Versus U.S. Averages: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/28000.html

Apple's Chinese Employee Problems: http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/12/12/apples-labor-practices-in-china-scrutinized-after-foxconn-pegatron-reviewed/

Warren puts pressure on Wal-Mart | TheHill: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/224535-warren-puts-pressure-on-walmart

Why The Ferguson Police Force Is Too White

All too often, since the Michael Brown shooting, I've heard the media and activist blacks question the racial makeup of the Ferguson Police Department.  The City of Ferguson is more than two-thirds black.  Yet, despite this, the police force is made up of 50 whites and only 3 blacks.  Of course, this would imply that the Michael Brown shooting would never have occurred if only African Americans patrolled those primarily black neighborhoods.

However, the racial disparity in Ferguson is indicative of all too many minority cities and neighborhoods through the country.  As a New York Times study reported, white police dominate black police an average 30 percentage points higher in nearly all predominately black communities.

But, no one seems to want to analyze why there aren't more black police officers; especially when a city has a black mayor and a black police chief.  For example, Dellwood, Missouri is 84% black and the police force is 94% white.  They have both a black Mayor, Reggie Jones, and a black Police Chief,  Lt. Norman Campbell.  Yet, no one is talking about the disparity between the racial makeup of the police force and the community. This is because it would expose the reasons why these neighborhoods, in general, have low black police participation rates and, why blacks, have high rates of unemployment and low pay.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the main requirements for becoming a police trainee is having a high school diploma.

In light of that, blacks fall well short.  First of all, only 68% of blacks graduate from high school; the lowest rate among any other ethnic group.  As a result,  one-third can't even apply to take the police academy exam.  But, having a high school diploma means nothing if the person holding it is functionally illiterate.  That is a big problem. Studies have shown that by the ninth grade, less than 44% of black children are literate relative to that education level.  This is down from a 50% literacy rate for those tested in the 4th grade.  So, essentially, blacks tend to fail police academy tests because all too many are illiterate.  After all, one of the major duties of any policeman is to write up a police report to be used as a legal document in a criminal court.  If you can't effectively write, you can't be a police officer.  But, instead of recognizing this deficiency and addressing it on an educational basis, Eric Holder's Justice Department is trying to increase the number of blacks in heavily minority neighborhoods by dumbing down the written Police Academy entrance exams.  All that means is that there will be less quality policing these communities.  In my opinion, this is what Holder will do with the Ferguson Police Department when he completes his Department of Justice investigation.

Another problem standing in the way of potential black candidates entering the force is the high rate of those having criminal records.  Nearly one in three African American males, aged 20 to 29,  are under some form of court supervision.  Meaning that, again, another third of blacks are automatically disqualified from entering any police academy.

Lastly, I think that the supposed distrust of police is another reason that some blacks don't want to become police officers.  Why would anyone who distrusts an organization want to become a part of it?  Of course, the opposing argument there, is that a more racially balanced police force in minority communities would ultimately aid in dispelling that distrust.

To me, black leaders -- including Barack Obama and Eric Holder -- need to stop focusing in on what is wrong with white America and start focusing in on what is wrong with black America in terms of education, literacy, and criminal behavior.  Only then will minority policing by blacks increase. In a city like Ferguson, that same leadership needs to understand that the police are doing their jobs to primarily protect blacks.  While, at the same time, never knowing if their life could end at any moment while on duty. They are not there to just protect the one-third that is white.  To this last point, please view the Milwaukee Sheriff's video commentary in the link below.

References:

Ferguson, Mo., has 50 white police officers, three black: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/aug/17/andrea-mitchell/ferguson-police-department-has-50-white-officers-t/

New York Times:  The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html?_r=0

Dellwood, Missouri:  A Message from the Mayor: http://www.cityofdellwoodmo.com/908/A-Message-from-the-Mayor

Real median household income by race: http://migrationfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/rmn/2013/10/16/real-median-income.png

Requirements to becoming a Police Officer: http://education-portal.com/articles/Police_Officer_Educational_Requirements_for_Police_Officers.html

Study: Record High School Graduation Rate On Track for 2020 But low-income and minority students still lag behind, the study finds: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/04/28/high-school-graduation-rates-reach-record

What’s up with African American literacy rates?: http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/oct/03/whats-african-american-literacy-rates/

Dumbing down police recruitment exams - World Magazine: http://www.worldmag.com/2011/03/dumbing_down_police_recruitment_exams

Statistics of incarcerated African-American males:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics_of_incarcerated_African-American_males
 
Crime rate in Ferguson, Missouri (MO): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Ferguson-Missouri.html

 David Clarke, black Milwaukee sheriff: Eric Holder has ‘disgusted’ me: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/3/david-clarke-black-milwaukee-sheriff-eric-holder/

"Hands Up...Don't Shoot" and What That Lie Is Supposed To Say

There is absolutely no proof that Michael Brown ever had his hands up in surrender, or that he ever said "don't shoot".   One of the most credible testimonies of the Grand Jury proceeding was that of Witness #10.  What he initially saw was a scuffle inside the police car with Brown reaching through the driver's side window. Then Brown ran away from the car; stopped and turned; made some kind of body gesture; and then charged the Officer Wilson ; at which time he was shot dead.

The reason why Witness #10 is so credible is because his testimony squared with other testimonies; including that of Officer Wilson. It also squares with the forensics data collected from the car and the scene; and with the results of 3 autopsies.

So, if "Hand's Up...Don't Shoot" never happened, why is this lie being perpetuated by protestors across the country, by some St. Louis Ram's football players, and now by some members of Congress? Well, as reported by the DailyMail, one protestor by the name of Taylor Gruenloh explained it like this:

"Even if you don't find that it's true, it's a valid rallying cry. It's just a metaphor."

A valid rallying cry? A metaphor?  A metaphor for what?  Are we now supposed to believe that we have a wholesale problem of police killing unarmed blacks with their arms up in the air in surrender?  Think about that.  If that was really true, wouldn't there be rioting all the time?  The fact is, that in the last 6 years, there have only been 5 riots and only one of those five was a result of a white cop shooting an unarmed black man by the name of Oscar Grant.  In that case, the white officer was tried and found guilty of manslaughter.

All the "Hand's up...Don't Shoot" lie is doing is furthering the tension between black citizens and white police. As a result, effective policing in black neighborhoods will be in decline.  White cops are not going to be as willing to confront suspected black criminals, and quite frankly, this hesitancy could get more cops killed.  Police being killed in the line of duty far exceeds two blacks being shot by white police in the last 6 years.  In the last 10 years, more than 1,500 police officers have be killed on the job.  Think about that when you thank about Michael Brown attempting to grab Officer Wilson's gun.

What is really sad, is that Officer Darren Wilson is being punished for the rest of his life for doing his job.  He confronted Michael Brown after he had just committed a strong arm robbery at a convenience store, followed by Brown attempting to take his gun, and then, ultimately having to kill Brown in order to stop him from charging and possibly attacking or even killing him. As one witness (a woman) said in watching Brown's actions: "...all I kept saying was, is he crazy?".  And, crazy he probably was.  He did have high levels of Delta-9-THC (the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) in his blood stream.  Levels that were more than twice needed to cause mental impairment and the lack of, otherwise, normal judgement.  According to the University of Washington's  "Learn About Marijuana" webpage, pot can, in some cases, cause aggressiveness and violent rage; especially in adolescents. This is probably why Brown attacked Wilson in his car and why, even after being shot several times, decided to, as one witness said, "bum rush" Officer Wilson. Further, it should be noted that Brown had 1.5 grams of pot on his person when he was shot.

So, what is "Hands up...Don't Shoot" really saying.  It is saying that the criminal activities of blacks, like those of Michael Brown, should be ignored by white police; even if their lives are at risk.  The only metaphor that can be drawn from that fact is lawlessness.  Additionally, can we stop perpetuating the lie that Michael Brown was some kind of a saint?  If his pot use was at the heart of his behavior that day, and even if he had never crossed paths with Darren Wilson, there was a high probability that he would have eventually confronted some other police officer with potentially similar results.

References:

Witness 10 proves Darren Wilson had a reasonable belief he needed to shoot Michael Brown: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/01/witness-10-proves-darren-wilson-had-a-reasonable-belief-he-needed-to-shoot/

'Lie, Lie, Lie': Scarborough Blasts 'Hands-up' Congressmen: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2014/12/02/lie-lie-lie-scarborough-blasts-hands-congressmen

Did Michael Brown ever really say, 'Hands up, don't shoot': http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854388/Did-Michael-Brown-really-say-Hands-don-t-shoot-Ferguson-protesters-rallying-cry-based-lie.html

5 Race Riots in Obama's Post-Racial America: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/11/5-Race-Riots-in-Obamas-Post-Racial-America

Cops Killed In Last 10 Years: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+cops+killed+each+year&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

Evidence: Michael Brown Was High on Pot and Carrying a Bag of It: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/evidence-michael-brown-was-high-pot-and-carrying-bag-it

University Of Washington: Learn About Marijuana: http://adai.washington.edu/marijuana/factsheets/aggression.htm

Urban Dictionary: bum rush: To run full speed into somebody and body slam them into a brick wall, chain link fence, or similar immovable object: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bum%20rush 

Obama Is Lying About The Keystone Pipeline

Shortly after the House of Representative passed a bill that approved the completion of the Keystone Pipeline, President Obama was asked to comment and he said this:

Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn't have an impact on U.S. gas prices.

Therefore, according to Obama, Canada merely wants to use us as a conduit to send their oil to every place other than the United States.  Additionally, it will not have an impact on our gasoline prices.   Both of these comments are bald-faced lies.

If the only intent was for Canada to sell its oil overseas, then why build a pipeline extending a total of 2,100+ miles from their western province of Alberta to eastern Texas and western Louisiana?  After all, a 2100 mile pipeline is both expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain; greatly adding to the per-gallon cost of the oil moving through it. They had a cheaper alternative. Were they to build a pipeline that was only 850 miles long from their oil terminal in Hardisty, Alberta to their largest western seaport: Port Metro Vancouver.  Then, they could ship to some of the largest importers of oil in the world like China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.

But, as the President knows, Canada views us as a friendly and reliable trading partner.  This is why they are already our largest importer of foreign oil; accounting for 37% of our imported oil and  helping us to reduce our dependence on potentially unfriendly sources like the Middle East and Venezuela. 

Then, there is the issue as to whether or not Keystone will lower gasoline prices.  Simple economics and the Law of Supply and Demand says yes.  If you haven't noticed, gasoline prices in the U.S. are now at 4-year lows; from prices at the pump that were, in some cases, over $4 a gallon, to today's average price of below $3 and still falling.  The reason for this is the fact that there is an oil glut; primarily due to increased oil production in this country resulting from fracking.  The additional oil from the Keystone will only add to that glut and, as such, further reduce the price of gasoline.

Reduced gasoline prices is the real reason behind Obama's blocking of this project.

He knows that lower prices will undermine his push on climate change measures.  Lower gasoline prices means that people will be tempted to drive more and, at the same time, be less tempted to buy a newer, more fuel efficient car; including electric cars.  Thus, carbon emissions will only go up, not down.

Throughout his Administration, President Obama has done everything possible to keep gasoline prices  as high as possible by limiting oil production in this country.  He's used his Department of the Interior to limit oil leases on federal lands and our coastlines.  He has attempted to stop drilling on private lands bt using the EPA to expand endangered species to include those on prominent oil drilling territories and to file lawsuits over fracking.   Believe me, his intended expansion of the Clean Waters Act to include non-navigable waters will also ultimately be used to restrict drilling and fracking. That's because water is essential to all oil drilling.  In conventional drilling it keeps the drill bits cool.  In the case of fracking, high pressure water and chemicals are used to fracture shale and release the imbedded oil (and/or gas).


References:

Keystone pipeline: Obama bashes project while in Myanmar: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/14/keystone-pipeline-obama-bashes-project-while-in-my/

Keystone Pipeline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline

Distance From Hardesty To Port Metro: https://www.google.com/search?q=distance+from+hardisty+to+port+metro&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

Global Oil Glut Sends Prices Plunging - WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/articles/global-oil-glut-sends-prices-plunging-1413334648

Time to Process Oil Leases On Federal Lands: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Time-required-to-drill-1-sm.png

Oil Leases: Bush versus Obama: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/u-s-oil-production-up-but-on-whose-lands-2/

 EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination Lawsuits: http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303404704577313741463447670

Inflation-Adjusted Gold Hits 5-Year Lows

Recently, gold hit $1,177 an ounce. When it did that, anyone who had bought gold in the last 5-years was losing money on their investment because $1,177 is a price that hasn't been seen since early 2010.

When you adjust the $1,177 in terms of the value of today's dollars, you literally have to go back to September/October of 2009 when gold was selling at around $1,061 an ounce; just to break even against inflation.  If that isn't enough to convince someone not to buy into all the  hype, then think about this.  Today, gold is selling at a 38% loss from its 2011 high of $1,904.

A lot of these gold bugs, who desperately want to sell you the loser gold that they are currently stuck with, are using all kinds of phony arguments to convince you that it is a great investment.

The typical claim is that it is protection against inflation.  This despite the fact that, over the last 5 years there has been about 8.5% inflation and gold has fallen on its tail; down 38%. Another is that gold is a protection against another stock market crash.  Well, today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at record highs and all of 2008 market crash losses have been erased.  At 17,828, the DOW is now 35% higher than it was in 2007 at pre-crash highs.

Finally, don't buy into the hype about silver either.  Its doing even worse.  When gold hit that 5-year low, silver also saw a low of $15.56 an ounce, you literally have to go back 6 years to see silver at that low.  Also, silver is down 68% from its 2011 high of $49 an ounce.

References:

Inflation Calculator: http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

CNBC: Interactive Silver Chart: http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/SIZ4/tab/2