The REAL unemployment rate...

[JGRuby]

I do not necessarily want to lose my position and I do feel that healthcare needs to be reformed but that in of itself will not prevent me from voting for a replublican. I feel like there are worse candidates than Obama, Santorum and Gingrich to name two - I will wait to see how Romney does but he is anti 2nd amendment - so to be 100% honst I am uncertain of how I will vote - I will vote though because it is my duty and responsibility. As much as you hate Obama I hate GW and Cheny and that taste has not left my mouth. I have not seen how the republican party has changed since then. I believe that regardless of the party of our currrent president we would be in the same shape based on the mess that was left for them by GW and the good ole boys.

I do not look for job security and I have had a loaf of white bread for dinner before. I stand on my own two feet and if needed for the right reason would walk. I get my security from knowing myself and my capabilities. I like clean sheets but not at the price of my concience.

James Ruby

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I haven't voted for a presidential candidate who was actually elected since Reagan's first term.. he was a disappointment

 

[deen_ad]

I know a lot of underemployed who are very talented people,.. including the guy I see in the mirror when I shave. I have a computer science degree, was an R & D technician until the H1B visa Indians and Asians flooded in and took the good jobs for lower pay, and I am a master tile setter and was a contractor until the illegal aliens and green carders flooded in and work for a small fraction of what I am worth

Same here, I have the equiv of a Masters in Civil Engineering and an AA in Computer Managed Information Systems. Worked for the WA DOT for 30 years, 20 as an engineer and 10 as a Network Manager. Did contract work for the US Forest Service and US Bank on SAN and Oracle Financials. Worked for Paccess (major packaging supplier to NIKE) as Network Manager. Now all I can find is security for a retirement center at minimum wage.

 

[dmancornell]

Voting for Romney or Obama won't make any difference in the unemployment rate. It's not what Obama is doing, it's the fact that the US government has been a parasite sucking the life out of the US economy for decades.

If you think the current situation is bad, wait until the US dollar collapses from FED QE'ing.

 

[Father of four]

I was unemployed for a loooong time. I filled out applications and sent out my resume for close to 300 different types of employment positions. I only received like10 responses. 4 were actual interviews. Each of them told me many many people were applying for this position. The only reason I even got the interviews were because of an employee knew me from her previous employer, my sister-in-law used to work there and another because I actually answered the phone when the guy called.

The full time job that I sooooo thankfully have now was only offered to me by word of mouth. I went form making $20hr FT...to nothing...up to $10hr PT (shoveling horse crap)...to $14hr Temp FT and am expecting a few dollars raise to Permanent FT anytime now after my 90 days are up. I hate the job I am now doing...I hate it but I am soooo very lucky to be one of the lucky ones to actually get employment again.

For you guys and girls that are calling people lazy, or picky for not excepting lessor pay or harder jobs should maybe hold your condemnations because you dont know us all and what we have been threw or are going threw personally.

Good luck to all and try and keep your heads up!

 

[Father of four]

BTW...I never received even one unemployment check. So I guess I never counted? I guess the real unemployment rate to be 20+.

 

[telecat]

Reagan ruined America.

 

[timac]

The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him their president

 

[jimwsea]

Back to the "unemployment rate"...

It was changed some time back to include only those persons collecting a FULL unemployment check for that week.

If you worked some hours, reported it and got less than your normal max weekly amount, you are not counted.
If you were self-employed and did not contribute (a huge number of people), you are not counted.
If your benefits are exhausted and you are still unemployed, you are not counted.
If you gave up looking, you are not counted.
If you recently finished college or high school and cannot find employment, you are not counted.
If you had to come out of retirement because your 401k shrank to a 4.01k, (or if MF Global ran off with your money), you are not counted.
If you are a housewife/househusband who never worked or contributed, and now you have need to work, you are not counted.

Add all those people up, and you get a figure above 20%.

Add in all the people who are underemployed or otherwise making way less than they did a few years ago, or have gone back to college and will later find out there is a "college degree bubble" (along with loan payments), and the picture gets even worse.

 

[Rapid1]

The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him their president

this...

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Inexperienced is not the issue, traitors on the payroll of the international banksters is..

 

[Cougfan2]

9. All political discussion must be directly related to firearms, gun rights, or the second amendment.

There are many different people here with many different viewpoints on various issues. Like religion, discussing these issues here is highly likely to offend and very little good can come of it. We need to be focusing on the things that bring us together (firearms), not the things that have the potential to divide us (politics).