From Robyn's site:
Please note before reading: I'm entitled to my opinion - and whoa, I do not have to justify it with an essay-reply to your comment just because you'd like me to do so.
![[job graph 1]](http://www.sassyblonde.net/blog/images/jobgraph1.jpg)
Since this is already being debated around here anyway, I thought I'd pass along this link from our local paper. People can blame this recession on an economy that President Bush inherited from his Democratic predecessor all they want -- but the fact remains, we live in a "I know he used to do nice things for you, but what has he done for you late-ly" world. And the stats don't lie:
![[job graph 2]](http://www.sassyblonde.net/blog/images/jobgraph2.jpg)
At 6.4 percent, the unemployment rate is up 0.3 percentage points from May, the biggest month-to-month increase since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.....Nearly 9.4-million Americans are officially unemployed, and that only counts those who are actively seeking work. More than 2-million Americans have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. Employers eliminated 30,000 jobs last month. Equally important, May job losses, which had initially been reported at 17,000, were sharply revised, to 70,000.....June's jobless rate was 2.3 percentage points higher than when President Bush took office in January 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are 2-million fewer jobs than when Bush was inaugurated. The elimination of jobs has led to a rise in long-term joblessness from 11 percent of the unemployed in January 2001 to more than 21 percent today. This is the highest level of long-term joblessness since 1983, the Economic Policy Institute reports.....Separately, the Labor Department said that initial unemployment claims, weekly figures analysts consider a related indicator, rose to 430,000 last week, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week. [link]
So go ahead and try to blow elephant-clouded sunshine up my ass all you want. The fact remains, we're now one of those millions of Americans standing in the unemployment line at present. And I, for one, can't wait 'til the 2004 election when more than just my voice can be heard. If you aren't registered to vote, do it now. I can give you 9.4 million reasons - and counting - not to put it off.
