Recessions Compared Historically

One of the blogs that I follow is the Calculated Risk Blog. This graph really tells the story of how this recession compares to prior recessions.

Do you see the problem? Look how quickly historically, we were able to recover from prior recessionary periods. The current jobs recession that we are in is the worst in history.

Policy decisions impact this chart more than anything, or the lack thereof. Since the 2008 election, pretty much nothing has been accomplished to add jobs to this economy by the President or Congress.

I believe what bothers most Americans is this fact that nothing is being done. The Democrats say it is the Republicans fault and the Republicans say it is the President and the Democrats fault. I say they are all guilty. These people are playing chicken with the economy by letting it languish as they have done for the last four years.

This November, it is more important than ever that you go cast your votes for what you believe to be the best candidates for the monumental task at hand. We have to turn this around. It starts by exercising your right to vote. Be smart and make the correct decision in the voting booth for the people you believe will accomplish the task of getting our economy going strongly in the right direction.

Its the Jobs Stupid

One of the Blogs that I follow, http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/, that is fantastic by the way, just published a table of recent Employment Statistics. The table was a comparison from the month when this recession started, December 2007 and the latest month of data, May 2011. These numbers are staggering to say the least.

A few that popped out at me were that on population growth alone, we are down 6.157 million jobs. In December 2007 the unemployment rate was 5.00%. Today it is 9.1%. There are 6.2 million people unemployed for 27 weeks or more as of May 2011. This is in comparison to December 2007 when it was only 1.3 million. That's worth saying again. 6.2 million vs. 1.3 million!

The true unemployment rate is 15.8% today, which includes the Unemployed, the Part-Time for Economic Reasons, the Marginally Attached to the Labor Force and the Discouraged Workers. In December 2007, it was about half that number at 8.8%.

In order to get back to December 2007 levels, we need to add 6.94 million jobs. Not Part-Time for Economic Reasons, not Marginally Attached to the Labor Force, but Full-Time Jobs!

You would think with numbers like these, the Obama Administration and Congress would be burning the midnight oil trying to come up with some solutions. They seem to be squarely focused on kicking the can down the road and going on summer vacations.

The voters really have to clean house in the upcoming 2012 election and also for a long series of elections to come. We need some people who will put America first, rather than those who only care about their own self interests. The only kind of legislation that we are going to see from this group is ideologically correct legislation. In other words, the Democrats will only agree to things that benefit their electability and the same holds true for the Republicans.

No matter what. Get out and Vote!

Why Broker/Dealers Can Never Be Fiduciaries

I suppose with this new law being worked on by the House Financial Services Committee that this will open the flood gates for financial advisers who want to do want is in the best interest of the client. In my prior post, I show the one quote that will kill it for consumers.

Let us assume that I want to go to work for a major broker/dealer. I would name one but who knows what they are calling themselves these days. I cannot keep up with all the name changes and mergers. Back to my premise of wanting to go to work for one of these firms. (Why, I do not know.) I read the Investor Protection Act of 2009 and notice that I can finally do what is in the best interest of the client. So, when that mean old branch manager tells me that I have to produce $300,000 in gross revenue in order to keep my job, all that I have to do is remind him that that is not in the best interest of my clients. The branch manager will not be able to touch me. I can keep my job even if I only produce $30,000 in revenue. After all, a production quota is in the best interest of the firm, not the client. Therefore, Mr. Branch Manger, you can take that production requirement and stick it.

Now, do you really believe that broker/dealers are going to dispense with revenue production requirements? Neither do I.

You cannot have revenue production requirements and do what is in the best interest of the client. Period.

This is why the Investor Protection Act of 2009 is a bunch of bunk and all a show. I can see loophole after loophole in it. The stupid bill conflicts itself, saying one thing and contradicting it later. Obviously, they have not read this bill either.

The broker/dealers have won, yet again. Proof positive that Congress does whatever Wall Street wants them to do. After all, that is where the money is.

I say vote them all out. Let's get someone in Washington who can read!

Vilification is Getting Old

The liberal playbook is getting old. The problem is that they believe most Americans are stupid. What the liberal's do to get their way is now common knowledge. Their playbook has not changed. It is:

1. State that there is a major problem.
2. State that they have a solution to the problem.
3. Vilify opponents publicly.
4. Vilify major corporations publicly.
5. Threaten opponents and major corporations.
6. Bring forth legislation to fix the problem.
7. Vote in favor of the legislation.
8. Ignore constituents.
9. Spread the rewards to their cronies.

The problem with the Health Care Reform Public Option is that it affects most everyone. If Congress is passing legislation to build a bridge in some far off state, then that does not really have much effect on everyday Americans. However, health care affects everybody, so people are more engaged on this topic and they are making it known to their Representatives and Senators.

Keep up the good fight America.

I say VTO in 2010. VTO stands for Vote Them Out in 2010! Maybe it should be VTAO. Vote Them All Out!