Oh, the Irony

Coincidence of the day: Head of California agency that under-reported unemployment stats an Obama donor. This is the title of an article written by Doug Powers regarding an interesting finding within some recent unemployment statistics data. Doug Powers is an author for a right-leaning political blog, but in this case, however, I don't think that matters in light of the fact that he is simply reporting facts. Unfortunately for Obama supporters, these unearthed facts don't help his cause.

"On Oct. 11, the federal government reported that weekly jobless claims were down significantly, suggesting a dramatic national increase in economic growth and a steep decline in layoffs. Jobless claims, according to the Labor Department, had fallen by 30,000 to 339,000, their lowest level since February 2008." Doug Powers muses at how quickly the media (sources such as CNN) made claims like “Jobless claims fall to four-year low.”

Powers goes on to state: "But within hours, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Labor Department analysts announced that one major state had failed to fully document jobless claims. They declined to name the state. [...] Early Thursday, the federal government finally revealed that California had, in fact, under-reported jobless data, skewing the national jobless claims results. This week’s updated jobs report corrected the error and showed unemployment claims spiking back up by 46,000 to 388,000..."

"Last year California Governor Jerry Brown appointed a man named Marty Morgenstern to head the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency, which oversees the Employment Development Department that 'failed to fully document' jobless claims [...] Here’s the total coincidence part that will shock the hell out of you..." This is where Powers provides a chart itemizing all donations made by Morgenstern to the Obama campaign.

It is perfectly clear where Powers stands on this issue. He seems amused at the irony, yet disgusted all at once. I can't help but be upset about the under-reported unemployment data "coincidence" myself.

The Debate on the Debate

The Obama Matrix, a commentary in the Wall Street Journal, gives a glowing report of Mitt Romney's debate performance, but depicts a rather grim view of Obama's performance.

"Liberals and the media are attempting to explain President Obama's anemic debate performance by claiming that..."

The first sentence in this article is a dead giveaway as to what the author's position and party affiliation are. He doesn't categorize himself openly, but based on the opinions contained in his commentary, we know that he is most likely Republican and a strong Romney supporter. He also describes Obama's debate performance as "anemic" - a less than favorable description.

"For the first time, the carefully crafted campaign illusions that the President has constructed were exposed." The author points out that (during the portion of the debate on future economic plans) Mitt Romney explained his economic plan in depth and point by point, while President Obama "repeated his lines from the stump about Mr. Romney's $5 trillion tax cut for millionaires and billionaires that 'dumps those costs on middle-class Americans' and raises their taxes by $2,000." It did seem as though President Obama was struggling to come up with a response beyond his notes and predetermined arguments.

President Obama spoke in length about his past four years as President and how, in spite of his many "inherited" problems, he has made great, positive progress. The author states that "The evidence of Mr. Obama's time in power includes his 2008 vow to cut the deficit in half. Instead he doubled it in 2009 and then presided over three more $1 trillion-plus reprises. He said he'd cut health costs by $2,500 per family, yet average employee-sponsored family premiums have climbed $1,975 since ObamaCare passed. These are facts." The author goes on to describe the dismal numbers and percentages of unemployment in our country and the number of people who can't get jobs.

This author is definitely more supportive of Governor Romney's debate performance, but don't let that distract from some good, valid points he makes. He also supports his claims with video clips of similar commentary, so be sure to watch those in order to help better understand his view.