Washington Blames Minor Storm For High Unemployment

Well, today has been an eventful day in the centrally-planned American economy. Helicopter Ben announced QE3, which will take the form of an indefinite monthly purchase of $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Ironically, the Fed's announcement of another round of economically-deleterious liquidity pumping isn't the most interesting econ news of the day. The most interesting news is the BLS's excuse for the rising unemployment found on the latest jobs report: one minor tropical storm. That's right: according to the BLS, Tropical Storm Isaac, with its furious 60 MPH winds (oh my gosh!), was to blame for the increase in initial unemployment claims.

Your humble blogger lived in Charleston during Hurricane Hugo (135 MPH sustained winds with gusts topping 160). 60 MPH hardly qualifies as a storm, much less the cause of increased unemployment on a national scale. Yet the federal government, desperate for any excuse it can make for a labor market that simply won't recover from the recession that "ended" more than 3 years ago, made this asinine claim in its weekly jobs report today:

Several states have reported increases in initial claims for the week ending September 8, 2012 , as a result of Tropical Storm Issac.

Several states? Why, because it rained for a few days?

The sheer idiocy of the BLS's statement didn't stop the economically-ignorant liberal media from running with the excuse, however. Some of the headlines of the day:

Hurricane Isaac Sends US Jobless Claims up to 382K (ABC)

Hurricane Isaac sends jobless claims up (CBS News) 

(Hey, ABC and CBS: Only 1 state briefly saw category 1 hurricane-strength winds.)

Tropical Storm Isaac boosts jobless claims (CNBC)

ABC News's Brad Wheelis Makes Unforgivable Econ Gaffe

Today at 7 PM EST on Cumulus radio affiliates, ABC News's Brad Wheelis made the ridiculous claim that the economy is picking up because the stock market reached a high not seen since 2007. To justify his claim, he played an audio clip from an economist who talked about market fundamentals, but didn't say one word about the direction of economy. Clearly, Wheelis 1) doesn't understand that the market and the economy are not one in the same, and 2) was in a coma when most major news organizations reported in July that the Fed admitted that the S&P would likely be 50% lower if it weren't for liquidity pumping. But what do you expect from a liberal "news journalist" who does little to hide his bias and knows little of economics?

Chart Of The Day: -4.6 Million Jobs, +21 Million On The Dole

This nation has become America the Jobless and America the Dependent. The BLS is reporting a net jobs deficit of 4.6 million during this economic depression, which is actually an underestimation by at least 4 million. But whether the net loss is 4.6 million or 9 million, this country has lost an incredible amount of employment opportunities while gaining 21 million food stamp and disability benefits recipients. It gets worse: the majority of jobs created during this depression have been low-wage, part-time McJobs, and the median household income has fallen steadily over the past 5 years, even after the recession "ended" in 2009. Demand for food stamps and disability benefits, on the other hand, has skyrocketed, and the spread between new Americans on the dole and jobs created has been getting larger. Pssst, there's never been a recovery, and this chart is going to look much worse when we go back into recession sometime around the beginning of the year.

Tepid Reception For McCain Suggests Warhawks No Longer Rule GOP

Hat tip to Jack Hunter for pointing this out. John McCain received a tepid welcome at the Republican convention, which suggests that warmongering neoconservatives aren't at the helm of the GOP any more. As you can clearly hear in the video, few in the crowd were excited by McCain's advocacy of perpetual war and the tremendous costs--literal and figurative--of being the world's police. It's worth noting that even Grover Nordquist has grown tired of neoconservatism, and Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin question why we're still in Afghanistan. I can answer that question: It's because defense contractors want us there.

ECOMINOES Radio Archive: Best Show Yet With Robert Wenzel

Eric and I had an absolute blast speaking with high-profile libertarian and finance guru Robert Wenzel. Especially proud of this show. Give it a listen here! (It's episode 5.)

Listen to Eric and me get into it about illegal immigration during the last 10 minutes. I don't care if supporting a border fence is contrary to libertarian principles. I never claimed to be 100% ideologically pure. I'm rational and pragmatic, and I realize that illegal immigration hurts decent, hardworking people. I had to compete against illegal immigrants when I was fighting for odd jobs during my long unemployment period. Illegal immigration therefore impeded my pursuit of happiness (employment), and Bastiat himself said that government should only exist to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Bernanke Ensuring Loaf Of Bread Will Cost $7

Well, folks, it looks like QE3 is an inevitability. Bernanke strongly hinted on Friday that the Fed is revving up for another round of money printing. How foolish is this? Take a look at the following chart. Notice how commodities prices spiked after QE1 and QE2 despite doing little to stimulate the economy. But Bernanke is so concerned about deflation despite the fact that we're having run away inflation. It's clear that South Carolina's shame doesn't do his own grocery shopping or fill up his own car. Send that jerk packing and end the damn Fed already.