|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How accurate are the Government numbers?  |
| |
 The Government is responsible for a lot of reports and numbers about the state of the Union and the US economy. Usually you’ll hear the numbers parroted by the evening news. You know those news stories, about the GDP, or the CPI or the current unemployment rate. Most of us, including law makers, hear those reports without ever questioning the validity or accuracy of those reports. Perhaps we should rethink that blind acceptance.
It is commonly known, for example, that the unemployment numbers do not reflect those who don’t collect and those who no longer qualify for unemployment. So when the government spits out the unemployment rate we know that it is not entirely accurate, but what if it is purposely being manipulated to make it appear that the unemployment rate is better than it actually is? What if the unemployment rate figures are being contorted to make it seem that the economy is doing better than it really is?
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh loves to quote the GDP relative to the national debt when defending the new crop of big government Republicans. His argument is that although the national debt is huge, it is respectively the same proportional to the GDP, as it has been since the 60s. Which in itself is a weak argument, but it becomes even more so when you open yourself to the idea that the GDP and the national debt figures may be being manipulated to hide the current sate of the US economy and state of the Union.
And this number manipulation game actually goes a long way to explain what has been going on in Washington. Why? because the numbers that the Government hands down are the numbers that our representatives use to make policy. It is government reports that are sited to decide economic policy. It is government reports that are used to create laws and guide economic policy. But what if those reports and numbers are manipulated to create a picture that is inaccurate? How else could folks like John McCain look into the camera and say that the US economy is doing great unless the reports he sees actually supports that belief?
So where does this leave us? Not in a good place unfortunately. As the truth about why we went to war with Iraq comes to light it is become more important than ever to question everything our Government says and does. The nation has never been in need of true conservatism as it is right now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|