I know lots of people doing just fine. Anecdotal evidence isn't a good indicator of the economy. The economy sucks not because EVERYONE is doing badly, but because a larger chunk than should be is doing badly.

A couple of weeks ago, CNBC reported that the US had 129,000 fewer millionaires than a year before. This almost certainly indicates that the country as a whole is getting poorer.

Obama's private friends are doing just fine, after all, he made them all into czars...

We have the opportunity to rectify this mistake in November.

The fact that my hubby is still able to feed and house the 6 of us is a strong, strong testament to his work ethic. We know plenty of others not so lucky. Summer vacation? Not for anyone I know.

The thing here is: If you look at this remark in the context in which Obama made it, it gets even scarier. Obama's point here, which isn't getting mentioned nearly enough, is that he thinks the government sector isn't growing fast enough! What Obama was calling for was more "stimulus" money to bail out spendthrift state and local governments. After all, the poor dears "don't have the flexibility in dealing with revenue shortfalls"; in other words, they can't print their own money like the federal government can. Darn shucks. And that big meanie private sector isn't sharing the wealth enough.

To make it clear: Obama's belief is that the private sector's only legitimate reason for existence is to provide revenue for government.

Government promotes itself as a scientific manager. It sets goals with numeric precision and finds direct ways to meet these goals.

Team Obama economists come into Obama's office each week and discuss how to get the economy going. They discuss the official statistics of GDP (Gross Domestic Production) and jobs held. The government wants a statistical recovery.

Team Obama wants to report hard numbers, however they are accomplished. If you argue with numbers, you are a moron. Who are you to question the non-partisan measurements of a government bureaucracy with huge datasets and giant computers? You are a peasant.

The economists point out a direct plan. When government hires more workers, their pay and benefits are counted as increasing GDP no matter what they do or accomplish. Obviously, they now have a job, so the employment statistics improve immediately. This is a no brainer! It is a two'fer.

Expanding government employment directly and immediately improves the two statistics which government cares about. It is the direct path to statistical prosperity.

Plus, Team Obama believes in the Keynesian Multiplier. They actually believe that they will produce more wealth for us all, if they can pay out more cash to accomplish anything or nothing. So, it is a three'fer.

( If the Multiplier were true, then we could counterfeit our way to wealth. But sorry, it isn't true. )

Here are the facts about government master plans, oversight, and statistics.
( mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/06/unintendend-consequencesperverse.html ) Unintended Consequences and Perverse Incentives
=== ===
[edited]  Managers and employees of glass plants in the former Soviet Union followed master-plan production guidelines.

At one time, they were rewarded according to the tons of sheet glass produced. Not surprisingly, most plants produced sheet glass so thick that one could hardly see through it. (And, this glass did not fix prior applications such as broken windows.)

The rules were changed to reward the total area (square meters) of glass produced. Then, they produced glass so thin that it broke easily.
=== ===

Team Obama wants to manufacture more statistical GDP and jobs numbers in any way it can. Thick or thin doesn't matter.

Read a book on Soviet manufacturing a few years ago. In it were several examples of the results of government mis-management.

Government mismanagement led to...

• ...the factory manager who was given an annual production target that was impossible to meet. So, he divided it into twelve monthly targets. Eleven of those targets were ridiculously easy to meet. As a result, for one month a year the factory did not get a bonus; for the other eleven months, the factory received generous bonuses for wildly exceeding production targets.
• ...the Ukranian rail yard that refused to let its locomotives out of its district territory - having had several newer ones stolen by neighboring districts that needed a new one but couldn't get funding. This necessitated expensive swiching at the district border for all trans-district trains. The neighboring districts would take the newer locomotive and send back an older one ... then get a bonus for keeping their maintenance costs down while the originating district was penalized for high maintenance costs despite having just received newer locomotives.

"I know lots of people doing just fine."

Obama voter.

Dave B,

Not necessarily. Perhaps that person lives near DC where a good chunk of the employment is government.

I'm in that area. Many people are doing okay. I know one person who has 4 part-time jobs, but she was able to get jobs. I know some people who were laid off, most have gotten other work. Foreclosures have pretty much dropped to a much lower rate than a few years ago - most on the market were actually foreclosed a couple years ago. Home prices are pretty steady, albeit not increasing.

That's not to say there aren't lots of "staycations" and serious belt tightening, but many people are doing ok.

That doesn't make us ALL Obama voters...

You doing "just fine"? You know anybody who's doing "just fine" -- who isn't a movie star, an NBA player, or a politician with a hefty taxpayer-funded pension coming to him or her?

Apparently, "just fine" is relative:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-americans-wealth-dropped-40-percent/2012/06/11/gJQAlIsCVV_story.html

Shannon, the interesting thing is that D.C. is currently America's one and only boom town. It is growing at a rate far faster than any other municipal area in the country. Here's a list of the top-10 wealthiest counties in the United States, as of last year (list is from the Washington Post):

10. Prince William County, VA
9. Stafford County, VA
8. Nassau County, NY
7. Montgomery County, MD
6. Somerset County, NJ
5. Arlington County, VA
4. Hunterdon County, NJ
3. Howard County, MD
2. Fairfax County, VA
1. Loudoun County, VA

Nassau County is Long Island, and the two New Jersey counties are suburban New York City. All of the other seven counties are suburban Washington.

This, as some bloggers have pointed out, is a Third World-like trend. In Third World dictatorships, all wealth is sucked towards the government, and the areas away from the capital are essentially colonized. I've written here about how many companies in my field (aerospace) have moved their headquarters and some of their development operations to Washington, not because it's cheaper or logistically convenient. It's because they are closer to their lobbyists, and they get more sympathetic treatment from Congress and the regulatory agencies that way.

Good comment, CD. This deserves much more attention than it's getting.

Dave,

I don't disagree with what you are saying. I was simply pointing out that knowing people who are doing ok does NOT make one (necessarily) an Obama supporter. The logic was faulty, although the sentiment might not be. I prefer hyperbolic statements to be corrected. I know many Obama dislikers/unsupporters, but the area I'm in is okay for the most part.

Generally speaking, I agree with your comments. They're just unrelated to my point.

The darn union "civil servants" here in Sacramento are doing splendidly. Sure must beat having to work for a living.

I know everyone is fed up with the cr*p that passes for work among some government employees (at all levels). However, I ask you to please remember that there ARE some people who go into government to try and fix what is broken.

They work overtime and don't ask for extra pay. They try to eliminate unnecessary redundancy.
They try to smoke out the dead weight on payroll.

I know this is the (vast, perhaps) minority, but over generalizing doesn't make their work any easier. I know people like this. I also know a LOT of dead weight.

So, if you could please vent your frustrations at the dead weight rather than the whole, I would greatly appreciate it.