Obama campaign heads ‘forward’ to the abyss.

Obama campaign heads ‘forward’ to the abyss.(Politico).By Keith Koffler.The Obama team needs to take a step backward and reconsider its new campaign rallying cry, “Forward.” The slogan reflects a hubris that bodes poorly for President Barack Obama’s prospects. Only a group of people who do not fully understand how Americans perceive them could proclaim “forward” when 60 percent of the country thinks the nation is on the wrong track.That track, after nearly 3½ years of his presidency, is the one that Obama put us on. Not anybody else. The slogan at least suggests a certain integrity on the part of the White House when it blames President George W. Bush for its problems. Obama and his aides must really believe the policies they presume to move forward with are not at all responsible for the nation’s dire condition — and think that Americans agree with them on this. Before they agree to move forward with Obama, they will likely take a look at where he has brought us. Forward to where? Americans will ask.

1. Under Obama, the unemployment rate soared above 8 percent and has stayed there. Forward to 9 percent? 
2. Under Obama, the national debt has risen by some $5 trillion. Forward to $6 trillion? 
3. The economy grew by only 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Forward to 1 percent?
4. Opposition to Obama’s signature achievement, “Obamacare,” runs roughly 10 points ahead of support. Forward to more unpopular programs?

The only reassurance Americans might get from being told to move “forward” is that Obama has not been clear about where he wants to go. Take a look at Obama’s campaign website. There’s almost nothing about what he intends to do during a second term. “Forward” is not just a sign of presidential hubris. It’s a Freudian slip, a revelation of the left-leaning instincts of the most liberal president this country has ever had. “Obamacare’s” cost, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates when it was passed, would be close to $1 trillion. The White House declared that it had responsibly “paid for” the program with spending cuts and tax increases. Left out was that all those savings will no longer be available to bring down the deficit. The suggestion was that “Obamacare” was cost free. Not at all.Hmmmm......"FORWARD" Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.Read the full story here.

"Forward" - Report says 230,000 unemployed losing benefits over weekend.

"Forward" - Report says 230,000 unemployed losing benefits over weekend.(TheHill).More than 230,000 unemployed workers will lose their jobless benefits this weekend as portions of federal programs expire across several states.
All told, 409,300 long-term unemployed Americans in 27 states will have lost upward of 20 weeks of federal unemployment benefits by this past Saturday, even as the many state jobless rates remain high, according to a new analysis by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).The latest batch of cuts affects 236,300 unemployed people in eight states — California (11%), Texas (7%) Pennsylvania (7.5%), Florida (9%), Illinois (8.8%) North Carolina (9.7%) Colorado (7.8%) and Connecticut (7.7%) — half of which have jobless rates above the 8.1 percent national average posted in April.

"A growing number of long-term unemployed workers are being left behind," said Christine Owens, executive director of the NELP.
"Job openings are not taking the place of these cuts,” Owens said.Hmmm.......Reality shows that only 44 % of the total U.S. population works.Read the full story here.

"Forward" - 324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months.

"Forward" - 324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months.(CNSNews).324,000 women dropped out of the nation’s civilian labor force in March and April as the number of women not in the labor force hit an all-time historical high of 53,321,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The civilian labor force consists of all people in the United States 16 years or older who are not in the military, a prison, or another institution such as a nursing home or mental hospital and who either have a job or are unemployed but have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are currently available to work.
The civilian labor force is a subset of what BLS calls the civilian noninstitutional population, which includes all people in the country 16 or older who are not in the military, a prison, or another institution such as a nursing home or mental hospital.

This year (in both January and April), only 57.6 percent of the women in the civilian noninstitutional population were in the labor force. That is the lowest rate of labor force participation by American women since April 1993, according to historical data maintained by BLS.

The rate of female participation in the civilian workforce peaked twelve years ago--in April 2000--when hit 60.3 percent.

In February, according to BLS’s seasonally adjusted data, 52,833,000 American women were not in the labor force. In March that climbed to 53,090,000—a one-month increase of 257,000. In April, it climbed again to the historical high of 53,321,000—a one-month increase of 231,000 from March and a two-month increase of 488,000 from February.

In February, there was an historical high of 72,706,000 women in the labor force. But in March, that dropped to 72,529,000—a decline of 177,000. And in April, it dropped to 72,382,000—a decline of another 147,000.

Thus, in March and April, according to the BLS data, a total of 324,000 American women dropped out of the civilian labor force.Read the full story here.