A MESSAGE FROM MITT and a message from me, too…

on September 7, 2012 at 6:04 pm

June Smith

In a request for donations to “help the Republican team and me put Americans back to work” today, Mr. Romney said, “At the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton told America that his solution to joblessness and budget deficits was one word — arithmetic. I couldn’t agree more. Let’s take a look at Barack Obama’s record these last four years — I think you’ll agree the numbers just don’t add up:

• 23 million Americans are out of work, have stopped looking for work, or are underemployed
• $16 trillion national debt (that’s $50,000 for every American)
• 43 straight months of 8% or higher unemployment
• 4 straight trillion dollar budget deficits in a row — more than any other president combined.”

“Ultimately, it’s simple arithmetic — the policies of Barack Obama just don’t add up to the kind of future America deserves.”

With your support, we can put Americans back to work. It’s simple arithmetic.” www.mittforpresident.com/donate

Mitt’s message is even more meaningful given today’s dismal unemployment report.

My message is about the number of the “long-term unemployed”, those “jobless for 27 weeks or more” not included in the U.S. Labor Department’s report. The Department only counts the people who are actively searching for work, not those who have given up the search or lost their unemployment benefits.

According to the News Release issued by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Statistics titled “Employment Situation Summary” (“embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (EDT) this morning”) at www.bls.gov/newsrelease/empsit.nrO.htm, “In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.0 million. These individuals accounted for 40.0 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)”

Here’s the bottom line—literally—from “Table A-12, Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment”:

August 2011	July 2012	Aug. 2012

Average (mean) duration, in weeks*	39.7	37.4	38.7
27 weeks and over	43.1	39.2	39.6

“*Beginning in January 2011, this series reflects a change to the collection of data on unemployment duration. For more information, see www.bls.gov/cps/duration.htm.”

After reviewing the “Employment “Situation Summary” and Tables A, B, A-1 to A16, B1 to B9, and the “historical data” for the “A” tables and the “B” tables, I don’t know whether it’s my reading, writing, or arithmetic, but the job report numbers released today just don’t add up to the truth.

Hope my donation today helps make a difference in the outcome of the Election…

June Smith is the widow of Ron Smith, WBAL Talk Show Host, Emmy® Award winner, and Baltimore Sun columnist, who was a media titan in Maryland area and beyond for almost forty years. Her tribute website, founded in his memory, is www.friendsofronsmith.com. She is working diligently to raise one million dollars for the Ron Smith Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund at Johns Hopkins. Her email i