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  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] Let's keep our own stats, was Let's begin -- same rules apply
  • Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 22:25:32 -0800

Well, if we're going to bookmark *here,* we get to make our own rules. Let's use the *real* numbers for unemployment and inflation.

What is the gas price in everyone's neck of the woods, right now today. Plus the price of heating oil, propane, electricity and natural gas.

So, for me:

Regular gas is $2.95 (credit/debit card), $2.85 (cash) and diesel is $3.43 (credit/debit) and $3.33 (cash).

Electricity is $0.08 kwh.

Natural gas: don't know, don't use it up here.

Propane: haven't bought it in a year. Was $3.49/gallon delivered or $2.95 if you bought it by the gallon at the local gas station.

Heating oil: don't use it out here.

Using the 2007 Benchmarks, unemployment in the U.S. for September (last month with complete data) 2008 was 6.0%. For California, 7.5% and for my little corner of the world, 10.0%.

Now, speaking of the unemployment rate, anyone want to know how they get those figures? I'll bet you thought they actually use real concrete numbers. Oh, say like those that each states Employment Development Department keep on people filing unemployment claims or how many people companies say they have let go. You know, *real* numbers??? You would be wrong. You see, what they do is "Each month, 1,500 highly trained and experienced Census Bureau employees interview persons in the 60,000 sample households for information on the labor force activities."

Now, the two numbers I gave you on California are taken from the EDD records. *real* numbers. The last one I gave you, for the U.S. is from those "1500 highly trained" blah, blah, blahs who "entered [the information from questionaires] into laptop computers."

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- From: <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com>

Lynn, I'd normally agree with this but this time I say it's different. If
ever there was a dead-on-its-feet administration, this one is it. Bush might as
well pack up and go back to Crawford today for all the difference his
presence in the White House makes. Everything that happens beginning now is in
anticipation of Obama's administration.

So let's put a book mark here. Gas is $2.25 or so and unemployment is 5% or
so and inflation is a (fake) 4% or so on the day before Obama was elected.
Let's see what happens now.

Remember my saw, "Same rules apply" We heard for 8 years that Clinton left a
budget surplus and Bush leaves a huge deficit. The surplus was due to the
fake stock bubble of the late 1990's and much of the deficit after that was due
to that same bubble collapsing. But those facts and logic are left out of
"when he came into office and when he left" criterion.





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