Yesterday's jobs numbers revealed a shocking truth, at least for those who believe that President Obama is a socialist/communist/Marxist/Alinskyite.
As Floyd Norris at the New York Times points out, government now employs 15.9 percent of all Americans who have jobs. That is the lowest proportion since 2001, and almost a million less people than five years ago. Hardly what you'd expect from a pinko determined to turn the U.S. into a European-style socialist republic.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Fortunately, as Norris points out, the layoffs may finally be coming to an end:
The good news (if you want people to be working) or bad news (if you hate the government) is that this string may finally be nearing an end. The number of government workers rose 13,000 in February. The current figure is only 9,000 under the number for March 2013, so a comparable increase this month would produce a year-over-year increase. [New York Times]
-
Critics’ choice: Watering holes for gourmandsFeature An endless selection of Mexican spirits, a Dublin-inspired bar, and an upscale Baltimore pub
-
Argentinian beef is at the center of American farmers’ woesThe Explainer ‘It feels like a slap in the face to rural America,’ said one farmer
-
‘Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
