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#  Why Economic Engine Can’t Get On Track

August 20 2012

Written by Kay Martin.

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![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2012/cw1067o.png)LEANING RIGHT - President Obama has been speaking of the upswing in the economy. “The economy is growing again” he said in the State of the Union message. He failed to mention that for 156 weeks more and more Americans have become dependent on welfare. Or that for those receiving welfare the concept of the family is becoming more and more irrelevant. Crime at all levels has increased.

The US has become an ever-growing welfare state under Obama. The July unemployment report from the Department of Labor shows the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.1% with a total of zero jobs added during the month.

When Obama took office in January 2009 the rate stood at 7.8%, a rate higher than the historic norms yet below the current rate. The rate has now been above 9% for 36 consecutive months.

In spite of Obama’s recent talk of job related improvements, millions of Americans have suffered the ill effects of unemployment. Teenagers have been hit especially hard. For example, in November 2009, more than 25% of 16 – 19 year olds were unemployed compared to ten percent for all workers. This is said to be the highest rate of teenage unemployment in the U.S. since WWII.

Recent data shows:

Unemployment for US Youth

 2008 2009

White 12.2 16.0
Black 21.0 32.3
Latino 15.9 21.5

These figures are actually closer to 50% now yet these groups continue supporting the administration.

Nearly 15% of the US population relied on food stamps in May 2012, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The number of Americans using the government’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program – more commonly known as food stamps – shot to an all time high of 45.8 million in May 2012, the USDA reported. That’s up from 12% a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

The really bad news we face is that food stamp recipients will no longer be able to buy booze or play the lotto.

Gas prices have surged in recent weeks and analysts predict they’ll keep rising creating fresh openings for GOP attacks against Obama. This makes little or no sense when you consider that the US has more oil in our back yard than the rest of the world combined. All we have to do is drill baby drill!

All this has given rise to a statistic that is largely ignored. The number of people in US prisons and jails continues to rise. The number is more than 3,000,000 who are now getting 3 squares and a cot.

This is the result of the breakdown of the family, the growth of welfare and unemployment, the growth of the food stamp program, the fact that 83% of American physicians have considered leaving their practice over Obama’s health care reform law, and just plain laws of physics – action and reaction.
 *(Kay Martin is a writer and a contributor to CityWatch. His years of travel and work included tours in Russia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, Hawaii, Latin America, and the Pacific. His new book “Along for the Ride” will be out and available shortly. He can be contacted at kaymartin@hotmail.com.)* –cw

CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 67
Pub: Aug 21, 2012

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