When Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, there were 80,507,000
American civilians age 16 or older who did not have a job or seek one.
In December 2012, there were 88,839,000—thus, the increase of 8,332,000.

Also, in January 2009, there were 32,484,808 retired workers
collecting Social Security benefits, according to the Social Security
Administration. By December 2012 that had risen to 36,719,288, and
increase of 4,234,480.

The increase in the number of Americans not participating in the
labor force during Obama’s presidency outstripped the increase in the
retired workers collecting Social Security by 4,097,520 persons.

Twice the number of people retiring have dropped out of the work force. Wouldn’t that be news if the number of students who drop out of school was double the number who actually graduated? And yet somehow Obama got a second term.

Before President Obama took office, the labor force participation rate
had not been as low as 63.6 percent since 1981, which was the year
President Ronald Reagan took over from President Jimmy Carter.

Well at least he is doing equally as wells as former President Carter.

Obama’s second accomplishment.

Continuing the trend of paying people not to work, Obama has succeeded in adding to the roles of the DISABLED. Not only do the working people have to support those who refuse to work, and have retired from work, now they must also support those who for one reason or another can not work. Could it be possible that one person in every 13 is disabled? Or is it more likely that one person in every baker’s dozen simply learned how to scam the other 12? This is an upward trend that has been steadily increasing over the past decade.

According to this report many of the unemployed are applying for disability benefits under Social Security, as a way to extend their unemployment benefits.

The report states:

Half of the benefit recipients suffer from “mental disorders”
and “musculoskeletal disorders” (such as back pain). “Mood disorders”
alone account for over 10% of this group. And once someone starts
receiving these benefits, it’s almost impossible to take the off the
program. In 2011 only 1% of the recipients lost their benefits
because they were no longer deemed disabled. So how much is this program
costing the US taxpayer? Apparently quite a bit.

Applications are up nearly 50
percent over a decade ago as people with disabilities lose their jobs
and can’t find new ones in an economy that has shed nearly 7 million
jobs.

The stampede for benefits is
adding to a growing backlog of applicants — many wait two years or more
before their cases are resolved — and worsening the financial problems
of a program that’s been running in the red for years.

New congressional estimates say
the trust fund that supports Social Security disability will run out of
money by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits, unless
Congress acts. About two decades later, Social Security’s much larger
retirement fund is projected to run dry, too, leaving it unable to pay
full benefits as well.

Much of the focus in Washington
has been on fixing Social Security’s retirement system. Proposals range
from raising the retirement age to means-testing benefits for wealthy
retirees. But the disability system is in much worse shape and its
problems defy easy solutions.

The trustees who oversee Social
Security are urging Congress to shore up the disability system by
reallocating money from the retirement program, just as lawmakers did in
1994. If Congress does not act, the disability program will collect
only enough payroll taxes to pay about 85 percent of benefits after the
trust fund is exhausted in 2017.

And yet we are continually told year after year that Social Security is sound. The trend is not to LIMIT or reduce it’s use but to continue to expand it to include even more people.

Congress tried to rein in the
disability program in the late 1970s by making it tougher to qualify.
The number of people receiving benefits declined for a few years, even
during a recession in the early 1980s. Congress, however, reversed
course and loosened the criteria, and the rolls were growing again by
1984.

The disability program “got into
trouble first because of liberalization of eligibility standards in the
1980s,” said Charles Blahous, one of the public trustees who oversee
Social Security. “Then it got another shove into bigger trouble during
the recent recession.”

Last year, Social Security detected $1.4 billion in overpayments to
disability beneficiaries, mostly to people who got jobs and no longer
qualified, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability
Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

Read more here:

The combination of a generous welfare system
and a sharp recession is what led to long-term unemployment in Western
Europe starting in the early 1970s.

And what is congress or the President doing about any of this? Absolutely nothing. In fact America does not place too much confidence in their elected leaders since congress currently enjoys a mere 14% approval rating. America believes congress is most likely unable to address the big issues facing our economy.

But do not look to the President to lead us out of this mess either. He enters his new term with the lowest approval rating of all post-WWII Presidents. America does not have much confidence in his ability to lead.

There are two ways to look at this information. One way is to say things are so bad they can only get better from here since at this level there is actually no where to go but up. That would be a very optimistic view. The most likely scenario based upon the previous performance of all the key players, is America has a darker future facing her, and her elected leaders are incapable of dealing with the tough issues we face as a nation.

It would appear the only thing any of these leaders are interested in is their own political careers and their own personal gain.

Where then do we look for solace and help? We must look to the American people. We must put our trust in our fellow man. We must encourage the majority of American people to take matters into their own hands and deal with the fecklessness of their elected leaders. We must acknowledge that those whom we have elected are not capable, nor prepared to address the problems facing America. Each of us must handle our own affairs with decency and honesty. And for that to happen we need to embrace the foundations that have made this country great. Our faith in God and the moral code he left for us.

The future of America rests in strong families and individual responsibility. We need to look out for each other and stop looking toward Washington for fixes. It should be obvious by now that they are not the solution to our problems but the reason for most of them.