I am co-hosting a reception at my office (2850 SW Mission Woods Drive) for US Senate Candidate Todd Tiahrt tomorrow morning at 10 am. The commercials between him and Jerry Moran are really overwhelming in terms of their slinging of mud-coated facts. It's good to meet the candidate and ask him in person because it's way too confusing to sort it out based on ads alone. I've met Todd and, while I think we'll be represented by a conservative either way, Todd will champion conservative causes while Moran will more often than not vote the right way. That's fine in the House, but in the Senate you are only 1 of 100 members and we need a champion. Todd Tiahrt seems to be the guy who will not just vote right, but will fight right.
I hope you'll come out to meet him and ask him your questions.
Friday, July 30, 2010
These Numbers Don't Lie -- The Carnage of Democrat Rule
Here's a report from my friend Ken Daniel:
Unemployment vs. Employment
By Kenneth Daniel, TIBA Governmental Affairs Director
Unemployment statistics, to me, are confusing and usually misleading. They don't count people who have quit looking for work or have exhausted their benefits, they ignore population growth for the most part, and have other shortcomings. I'm interested in unemployment statistics only when I'm trying to figure out how much the State of Kansas is paying out in unemployment benefits and how it might affect my business in the future.
Usually, I concentrate only on employment statistics. This is true whether it is city, county, state, or national employment. Specifically, I concentrate on the seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment statistics tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I also track total Government employment, which is included in the total nonfarm employment, but published in a subset so one can separate it out when desired.
Soon I will publish some employment information about Topeka and ShawneeCounty, which may contain some surprises for locals. Today I will concentrate on federal statistics.
EMPLOYMENT UNDER BUSH AND OBAMA
When George W. Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, total U.S. employment was at 132.469 million. The highest it had ever been was the previous month, when it was 16,000 higher.
When Bush was sworn in, the country was in a mild recession. Then on September 11, 2001 the WorldTradeCenter bombing occurred. In the 23 months between then and August 2003, the number of jobs shrank by 1.696 million.
Then jobs began to grow again and grew for 40 straight months, increasing by 7.245 million by January 2007 to 137.067 million or 4.6 million more than existed when Bush took office, notwithstanding Sept. 11.
In January 2007, the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives 233-202, and of the Senate 51-49. Note that many Senate issues require 55 votes to pass, so the 51-49 split is not a blank check.
With the Democrats in control, job growth continued slowly for five months, then leveled out for ten months, then began to plummet in April 2008, losing 4.16 million by the time Obama took office in January 2009, nine months later.
In summary, during the first 6 years of the Bush administration, 4.6 million jobs were gained in spite of 9/11. During those 6 years both the House and Senate were in Republican control.
During the first 3.5 years of the Pelosi-Reed Congress, 6.9 million jobs have been lost.
During the first 15 months Obama has been in office, 3.4 million jobs were lost. (There are not yet any final counts for any months after April 2010.)
Unemployment vs. Employment
By Kenneth Daniel, TIBA Governmental Affairs Director
Unemployment statistics, to me, are confusing and usually misleading. They don't count people who have quit looking for work or have exhausted their benefits, they ignore population growth for the most part, and have other shortcomings. I'm interested in unemployment statistics only when I'm trying to figure out how much the State of Kansas is paying out in unemployment benefits and how it might affect my business in the future.
Usually, I concentrate only on employment statistics. This is true whether it is city, county, state, or national employment. Specifically, I concentrate on the seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment statistics tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I also track total Government employment, which is included in the total nonfarm employment, but published in a subset so one can separate it out when desired.
Soon I will publish some employment information about Topeka and ShawneeCounty, which may contain some surprises for locals. Today I will concentrate on federal statistics.
EMPLOYMENT UNDER BUSH AND OBAMA
When George W. Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, total U.S. employment was at 132.469 million. The highest it had ever been was the previous month, when it was 16,000 higher.
When Bush was sworn in, the country was in a mild recession. Then on September 11, 2001 the WorldTradeCenter bombing occurred. In the 23 months between then and August 2003, the number of jobs shrank by 1.696 million.
Then jobs began to grow again and grew for 40 straight months, increasing by 7.245 million by January 2007 to 137.067 million or 4.6 million more than existed when Bush took office, notwithstanding Sept. 11.
In January 2007, the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives 233-202, and of the Senate 51-49. Note that many Senate issues require 55 votes to pass, so the 51-49 split is not a blank check.
With the Democrats in control, job growth continued slowly for five months, then leveled out for ten months, then began to plummet in April 2008, losing 4.16 million by the time Obama took office in January 2009, nine months later.
In summary, during the first 6 years of the Bush administration, 4.6 million jobs were gained in spite of 9/11. During those 6 years both the House and Senate were in Republican control.
During the first 3.5 years of the Pelosi-Reed Congress, 6.9 million jobs have been lost.
During the first 15 months Obama has been in office, 3.4 million jobs were lost. (There are not yet any final counts for any months after April 2010.)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Topeka Earns More Kiplinger Accolades
I was interviewed for this article on Topeka. Our city was the winner of Kiplinger's Readers' Choice designation as "Best City for Your Future" through a competition on Facebook.
The interesting thing is I just posted a comment on the Facebook page about an experience in Boston when a neighbor of some friends came over for a cookout and mentioned he'd read about Topeka in Kiplinger and began asking me some questions about the city. That post resulted in a call from the Kiplinger writer.
Anyway, great job Topeka! You pulled together once again and showed your positive attitude. Not long ago, this was a pretty negative town and this kind of thing wouldn't be possible. It's very refreshing to see an infectious positive spirit in the city!
The interesting thing is I just posted a comment on the Facebook page about an experience in Boston when a neighbor of some friends came over for a cookout and mentioned he'd read about Topeka in Kiplinger and began asking me some questions about the city. That post resulted in a call from the Kiplinger writer.
Anyway, great job Topeka! You pulled together once again and showed your positive attitude. Not long ago, this was a pretty negative town and this kind of thing wouldn't be possible. It's very refreshing to see an infectious positive spirit in the city!
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