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.