On May 8^th the American Prevaricator-in-Chief held one of his infrequent press conferences.  Within that performance Barack Obama made the statement that the private sector is doing fine but state and local governments are not and we, as a nation, need to spend more money (we do not have) to help bail out these entities and thus stimulate the economy.

Beyond the absurdity of this contention, which has been thoroughly discredited by his massive near $1 Trillion stimulus in February of 2009 (an overwhelming percentage of which went to local governments), is the hubris in stating that the private sector is doing fine and he, Barack Obama, has created over 4,000,000 private sector jobs.

There is an old saying that statistics can be tortured into stating virtually anything.   Here the U.S. the Bureau of Labor Statistics (part of the Labor Department) is responsible for issuing the official employment data.   Some of it is convoluted and difficult to fathom, but there are a few basic statistics which can be relied upon as a general barometer of the job market and indirectly the economy as a whole.

Barack Obama assumed office on January 20, 2009.  At the end of that month the civilian  noninstitutional population (all people over 16 not in the military or in institutions such as prisons, nursing homes etc) was 234.7 million.   The total employment was 142.1 million.    (Table A-1 February 2009 Employment Situation Report--Seasonally adjusted).

Fast forward to Table A-1 May 2012 Employment Situation Report.   The civilian noninsitutional population was estimated to have increased to 243.0 million.  The total employment was reported to be 142.3 million. 

In the forty months of the Obama presidency the net employment age population has increased by 8.3 million while those employed has increased by only .2 million (200 thousand).   Historically the employment-to-population ratio has been 62.5%.   Looking at just the population growth since Obama became President versus the employment increase the ratio is just 2%--an unmitigated disaster.

As for the claim that Obama created 4 million jobs private sector jobs, it is difficult to find that detailed in the BLS reports.   In reviewing Table B-1 of the February 2009 Employment Situation Report (Employees on Nonfarm payrolls by industry sector--seasonally adjusted) the January 2009 total private payroll was estimated to be 111.9 million.   In the same table in the May 2012 report the same statistic showed the private payroll to be 111.0 million, a difference of nearly 1 million jobs lost.

In fact the total nonfarm payroll (including government) has decreased by 1.4 million since January of 2009.

But upon further digging we find how the Obama team justifies claiming they "created" 4 million new jobs.  In the January 2010 Employment News Release Table A-1 (Seasonally adjusted) there were just 137.8 million Americans employed in December of 2009.   As compared to the May 2012 employment there has been an increase of over 4.5 million American employed and in the private sector per Table B-1 private payroll has increased from 107.1 million in January 2010 to 111.0 today, a jump of nearly 4 million.

However, Barack Obama was inaugurated on January 20, 2009 not January 20, 2010.  Somehow the American people are expected to forget the first year of the Obama presidency. The reality is only an additional 200,000 Americans are employed and a net1.4 million jobs have been lost since Barack Obama became President.  Further the recession begun in December of 2007 was officially declared over in June 2009, five months into Obama's term yet the job situation has not improved at all and when factoring in the impact of new entrants into the labor force the employment situation is a disaster. 

Barack Obama often compares himself to other presidents, notably Ronald Reagan.  However the far worse recession Ronald Regan walked into ended on November 1982, 22 months after assuming office.  In January of 1981 97.7 million Americans were employed.  By the end of May 1984 (the same point as Obama's term now), 105.3 million American were employed--a dramatic increase of 7.6 million jobs.

Another example of the disaster that has been the Obama presidency is the nation's Gross Domestic Product (adjusted for inflation) as it has only increased by 1.6% since he became President.  One of the worst performances in American history.  By comparison Ronald Reagan who faced an inflation rate of 11.8%  when he was inaugurated (Obama 0.0%) was still able to grow the GDP (adjusted for inflation) by 12% over his first term.

Over the past five years as the American people have gotten to know Barack Obama it has become painfully clear that he will say or do anything to further his political aims and personal ambitions.  Today's press conference was a clear example of this trait -- whether the feigned outrage over leaked national security secrets or inane claims about the state of the American economy.  Barack Obama has no intention of changing course on his stewardship of the economy or foreign affairs as he also believes what he is saying.  His lifelong marination in 1960's radicalism has truly made the man.