A friend recently referred to me as her ‘politically well-informed friend.’  Truth – I keep up with not just the mainstream news, but also those sources that challenge conventional wisdom and politically correct punditry.  The MSM is drinking Kool-Aid.  The things they peg as news and the conclusions they come to, in my humble view, defy reason.  They begin with the presupposition that the average American citizen is of below average intelligence.  Wrong.  Given the facts, we are more than capable of coming to our own conclusions.  Problem is, the conclusions we come to are often not the ones we’re being spoon fed.

Some examples:

Anthropogenic Global Warming – Al Gore has made millions from pseudo-science that has reached the point of religious fervor.  Anyone who does not buy into catastrophic man-caused global warming is not debated in an intelligent, civil manner – after all, science is about the search for truth through debate and study, is it not?  No.  If you disagree with the ‘consensus’ (according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Consensus is 1a: general agreement : unanimity , b: the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned), you are rejected, vilified, your intelligence is called into question.  This is not science; it is zealous religion!  There is no consensus on anthropogenic climate change.  If the purpose of science is to follow Truth to its unbiased opinion, the debate is still active.  If in doubt, here are 1,000 references to Global Cooling.

Unemployment is Down - Really?  If the Obama administration says it, the MSM regurgitates it as gospel.  According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment numbers are reported as 8.5% of the working age population.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “The unemployment rate is calculated based on people who are without jobs, who are available to work and who have actively sought work in the prior four weeks. The “actively looking for work” definition is fairly broad, including people who contacted an employer, employment agency, job center or friends; sent out resumes or filled out applications; or answered or placed ads, among other things. The rate is calculated by dividing that number by the total number of people in the labor force.” [emphasis added]

Put more clearly (and honestly), also from the Wall Street Journal, “the unemployment rate is not “how many people don’t  have jobs?”, but “how many people don’t have jobs and are actively  looking for them?” Let’s say you’ve been looking fruitlessly for five  months and realize you’ve exhausted every job listing in your area.  Discouraged, you stop looking, at least for the moment. According to the  government, you’re no longer unemployed. Congratulations?”

Considering people who are a) able to work, b) want to work, c) are working part-time but want to work full-time, or d) are working in low-skill or low-pay jobs simply because that’s all they could get, and using apples-to-apples comparison of the number of eligible workers, the real unemployment rate is more like 20%   22.4%, 22.7%.

Economic Recovery – Again, really?  Fourth quarter 2011 GDP numbers were up (3.2%) for one very specific reason – Christmas.  The administration touts these numbers as a sign of great gains.  Clearly November/December are not the norm of consumer purchasing compared with the rest of the year (I feel a ‘duh’ coming on).  So looking at third quarter 2011 and estimations for Q1 2012, we get a slightly different picture.  According to the Philadelphia Fed’s own forecasters, real GDP grew only 1.7% (1.8%) in 2011.  At the same time, personal income has been essentially stagnant while inflation continues to rise.  Again, the administration is reporting inflation according to one formula at 3.4%.  Real inflation includes food, energy and a few other items -  you know, everyday things that we average Americans purchase month in and month out, that the government’s numbers no longer include. Inflation rates for food and energy (4.6% and 12.4%, respectively) are substantially higher than the official rate.

Of greater concern are the forecasts for 2012.  Greg Hunter, quoting from ShadowStats, says “The sharp increases in December energy and food prices were not due to normal price volatility in those areas, instead, they were created directly by Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke’s ongoing push to debase the U.S. dollar — to destroy the purchasing value of the U.S. currency” [emphasis added].  This is the big concern going into 2012: Hyperinflation and worldwide recession and/or economic depression.  USDA estimates of CPI for food prices shows inflation as high as 10%.

Goldman Sach’s October 2011 White Paper, “Outlook for the US Economy” is conservative in spouting the party line, yet it seems to state and simultaneously discount the very factors that are potential sources of concern.  It mentions the EU crisis, yet discounts its potential impact.  It counts the potential of additional Fed intervention as a positive while predicting no such additional stimulus: “Given the fiscal outlook remains difficult, we believe we’re unlikely to get further stimulus, and that government will continue to be a modest drag on growth.”  Great line, “a modest drag on growth.”  If our beloved government would get out of the way of business, there would be no drag on growth.

Reality Check - Here are some things for the average – quite competently intelligent – American citizen to consider:  What is the source of information and what is their agenda?  Think for yourselves, and then get ready.  There may be food on the shelves, but if you are under- or un-employed, or if food and commodity prices are inflating, or if the value of the dollar has been diminished because of Fed ‘Quantitative Easing’, what good will it do if you can’t afford to buy it?  And if energy prices are rising at a higher rate of inflation than anything else, and the globe is in fact cooling, it’s going to cost even more to heat your home.

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