Most of us were surprised to see the outstanding job report. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLM), the U.S. added 467,000 jobs, way above projections. I heard some reports of 600,000 new jobs. This was a shock, because previous job reports were astonishingly low, even during the traditionally peak Christmas period. How could this happen? What brilliant strategy did the Biden administration implement to get such results. The answer, sadly, is they lied.
First the official report from the BLM:
January 2022 Jobs Report: Continued Growth | U.S. Department of Labor Blog (dol.gov)
This is clearly a Joe Biden puff peace with no basis in reality. Sadly, another government department that has shredded its’ last hint of credibility.
Here is a report from Bill Hennessey, at Substack:
It turns out that rather than gain new jobs, about 300,000 jobs were lost. According to the ADP, which counts people actually getting paid, “Businesses’ payrolls fell by 301,000 last month in a broad-based decline, according to ADP Research Institute data released Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 180,000 rise.”
Some people instantly believed this report and celebrated. Even places like Fox News reported this as good news. But those of us living in the real world were skeptical for a lot of reasons. One is that every business is in desperate search of new hires. There are even tables in places like Safeway where someone can instantly apply for a job. We have all seen reports of people who just aren’t working. Sometimes because COVID restrictions prevent them from working. Sometimes because they just got used to not working.
I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for many years during my youth. We got a lot of snow. Snow can be incredibly beautiful. It is clean, and white, and it covers up things very well. But eventually the snow melts, and everything becomes visible again. Often things look much worse than they did before. That is why it is called “spring cleaning.”
In this case, at lease some of the snow will melt rapidly during the heat of the 2024 campaign. A campaign that has already started and which will become increasingly intense during the weeks and months ahead.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how many jobs the Biden Administration pretends to grow. What matters is how many people are actually working. The rosy picture the Biden Administration is trying to paint regarding our economy won’t matter if gas prices keep soaring, the cost of everything keeps going up, shelves are increasingly empty, and everyone is experiencing shared misery. If you combine that with serious international problems in Ukraine and possibly Taiwan, then this becomes truly explosive.
When Winston Churchill came to power he told people the cold, stark truth. During his first speech before parliament, he said the following:
“We are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history…. That we are in action at many points—in Norway and in Holland—, that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean. That the air battle is continuous, and that many preparations have to be made here at home.
I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.
You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs—Victory in spite of all terror—Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
During challenging times, real leaders always emerge. Often, they are people we already ignore, just previously ignored. We are headed toward some rough waters. That is becoming increasingly obvious. But we are also headed toward a new spring. A time when the snow job will become impossible to ignore. A time when real leaders, with real solutions, will emerge. Spring can be the most beautiful time of the year.
TDM