And neither are 36.5 percent of able-bodied workers in this country.

Today comes news that more people were added to the food stamp roles AND more people were added to disability roles than found jobs earlier this year.

This chart is from the Senate Budget Committee:

This is not how it was supposed to be. Some can (and will) bleat about “obstructionist republicans,” but the Republicans only hold one portion of the government, and that only since January 2011. President Obama got his nearly $1 trillion “stimulus” package passed in March of 2009, partly on the merits of the original version of this graph:

The light blue line is what Obama and his crack team of economists predicted would be the worst case scenario unemployment rate if the Stimulus did not pass. The darker blue line is what they promised us it would be if the Stimulus did pass. And the red dots… well, they’re reality. That’s a mighty wide gap there, and well above even the worst case scenario figure.

Bonus: see the green dot in the corner with “11%” next to it? The note with it says that that’s what the unemployment rate would have been in July 2012 if the number of people in the job market were the same as it was when the Stimulus passed. Just to twist that knife a little: that number has gotten worse since July because thousands more people have given up and left the job market.

People want to work. People want to earn their way and provide for themselves and their families. “Redistribution” as a basis for an economy breeds resentment, greed, apathy, and a great flattening of society. Even those who want to work for their living and hate the idea of becoming dependent on government programs can find themselves becoming comfortable, or at least dependent, on those programs. Then they run the risk of losing government benefits (that are very possibly not as good as what they would get from a regular job, but are at least reliable) if they pursue independence. Not an easy place to be. We owe it to ourselves and our fellow Americans to reject the overbearing regulatory state and redistributionist policies that are throttling private sector job growth and lulling millions into a government-subsidized complacency.

I’ll close with this: I must dispute one more thing Obama said the other day on Univision. He claimed that his greatest failure was not passing comprehensive immigration reform. While technically true that he and Congress did not work out a comprehensive immigration reform package, the President’s economic policies may preclude the problem: with jobs trends like this the flow of immigrants may just dry up on its own.

We are surrounded by the stories of blatant crony capitalism, phony community organizing, and public sector kick backs. Rarely does a week go by without another news story exposing a public sector employee collecting multiple pensions totaling $300,000 a year or more. Seriously. Our last Republican governor is in jail, and our last Democrat governor is about to follow him. It’s simply maddening.

To pay for these political games, the state has run up a massive debt on a per capita basis that is worse than any other state in the union. The cost of this debt is ballooning, businesses are fleeing, and many predict the state is on the verge of a financial collapse.

Sound familiar?

So how else do you finance the millionaire politician re-elections, unsustainable public sector employee entitlements, and crony capitalism? You raise taxes of course. But whose taxes? Earlier this year the state passed the largest income tax increase in history. We were told it would finally put us back on the path to solvency. But surprise! The fiscal crisis is worsening.

Our ABC news affiliate ran the story below last night. Watching it I realized that for all the talk about the 1% needing to pay their fair share, the problems of over spending, government debt, and insider political games inevitably hurt the lower and middle classes the most. Raising taxes on the rich has been done here. Sure, they could raise them more, but doing so risks more citizens and businesses leaving the state. Illinois business icons like Caterpillar and Sears are threatening to leave, while countless smaller business have already left.

I challenge you to watch the news story below and ask yourself who is getting hurting the most by the government system in Illinois. This state of affairs, I’m afraid, is where the entire country is headed unless we change course soon. Sadly the “Chicago way” is all too quickly becoming the American way.

Great news from the Granite State: Pro-abortion Democrat John Lynch, who professes to be Catholic, won’t seek re-election to a fifth two-year term as governor of New Hampshire. His decision opens the race for governor wide open. Pro-life Catholic Ovide Lamontagne, who lost to (now Senator) Kelly Ayotte, is running for the GOP nomination. http://cvote.to/3Q

The Pennsylvania GOP (which controls the Legislature and Governor’s mansion) is considering changing the distribution of electoral college votes in the Keystone state from the current winner-take-all to allocating them by Congressional district. http://cvote.to/3R While considered a swing state, Democrats have won the state every presidential election since 1988. No Democrat has won a presidential election without Pennsylvania in over 60 years. If the proposal becomes law, Obama will have a tougher time reaching 270 votes. But Pennsylvania Republicans might face a backlash from independent voters that put them in control of the Legislature in 2010.

Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are considering a proposal that would ban the research use of cells derived from fetal tissue in Wisconsin. Joel Schmidt, a biochemist and Catholic blogger has more details. http://cvote.to/3S

In Michigan, Republican legislators have submitted six different bills to increase school choice, including lifting the cap on the number of charter schools. http://cvote.to/3T

Other articles of interest:

Bad news for Obama administration: The Treasury Department has joined in the investigation of Solyndra, the now bankrupt company that was a touted as a model of President Obama’s green energy program. http://cvote.to/3U

Your tax dollars at “work”: Almost $19 billion in state unemployment benefits were paid in error over the last three years, according to data from the Labor Department. http://cvote.to/3V

Requests for unemployment benefits last week jumped to the highest level in three months, a sign that layoffs could be increasing. http://cvote.to/3W

It’s been 88 years since a non-Democrat won New York’s 9^th Congressional District, held recently by scandal-tarnished Anthony Weiner. The New York City district covers portions of Queens and Brooklyn. But yesterday, pro-life and pro-family Catholic Bob Turner won the seat by a large margin, 54% to 46%. Mark Amodei, the Republican, also easily won the special election in Nevada’s 2^nd Congressional District 58% to 36% over NARAL-endorsed Kate Marshall. NPR called the two defeats “demoralizing” for Democrats. http://cvote.to/3D

While the number of pro-abortion Republicans has plummeted since the mid-1990s, there are still some that get elected. One is Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who professes to be Catholic. Yesterday Sandoval endorsed Rick Perry’s presidential campaign. Political reporter Jon Ralston says Sandoval and Perry have a “strong friendship.” http://cvote.to/3E Would Rick Perry consider naming the Hispanic governor of a swing state as his running mate? If he did, he would violate his pledge with the Susan B. Anthony List. The Texas governor pledged to “select pro-life appointees for relevant Cabinet and Executive Branch positions.”   http://cvote.to/3F (PDF). But the endorsement will likely help Perry compete in the Nevada caucuses (an early voting state in the presidential primaries). Nevada, with its large Mormon population, was once considered an easy Romney win, but a recent poll in Nevada showed Perry actually leading Romney. http://cvote.to/3G

Yeah, Rick Perry low-balled the amount of money he’s received from Merck by a factor of five. His PAC received $28,000 from the pharmaceutical company which produces the Gardasil vaccination that Perry forced all Texas girls to receive. http://cvote.to/3H Voters will have to determine whether this amount of money proves that Perry’s motivations were not as pure as he claims. Michele Bachmann has relentlessly pushed the issue, even after Perry backed down and admitted his order was a mistake. In fact radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh thinks Bachmann’s decision to cite a mother claiming Gardasil caused her daughter to become mentally handicapped proves that Bachmann may have ‘jumped the shark’ – a pop culture reference that means a once credible force has now become a farce. http://cvote.to/3I

ABC News is uncovered embarrassing details of the Obama administration influence in securing a $535 million loan to a Solyndra, a “green energy” firm that recently went bankrupt and shut its doors two weeks ago. The firm is now the subject of a criminal investigation and their factory was raided by the FBI in a joint investigation with the Energy Department’s inspector general. ABC News noted: “One of the largest private investors in the deal, Oklahoma billionaire George Kaiser, was also a prominent fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.” http://cvote.to/3J

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a pro-life Republican (and Catholic) enjoys sky-high approval ratings from just about every demographic. 61% of Virginians approve of the job he’s doing, including 79% of Republicans and 67% of independents. He’s managed to get even footing among Democratic voters (39% in support and 40% opposed). A plurality of Blacks also approve of McDonnell, with 46% in support and 32% opposed. http://cvote.to/3M Conservative blogger Christian Heinze says this poll will amplify talk of McDonnell as a possible Vice Presidential pick next year — especially since Virginia is a definite swing state next year. http://cvote.to/3N Virginia’s Constitution only allows governors to serve one consecutive term.

Other articles of interest:

Democrats on the Hill pick apart Obama’s jobs plan. http://cvote.to/3P

Just 21% of Americans believe our mission in Afghanistan has been accomplished. http://cvote.to/3K

When we give Congress the power to regulate so much economic activity, then we shouldn’t be surprised that 5,400 former Capitol Hill staffers in just the past decade have cashed out and become lobbyists? http://cvote.to/3L

Dr. Gerard Nadal is the new National Director of Med Students for Life. http://cvote.to/3O

Election 2012

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty endorses Mitt Romney for President. http://cvote.to/2k Political analyst Larry Sabato says that Pawlenty is unlikely to be Mitt’s running mate since they are both northern governors. http://cvote.to/2l Katrina Trinko of National Review Online notes that at the last debate, Pawlenty didn’t just criticize Romney’s health care plan, but also Romney’s record of high state spending and liberal judicial nominees. http://cvote.to/2m

GOP presidential debate in Tampa tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CNN. Politico has six things to watch for in the debate (hint: Social Security). http://cvote.to/2n The L.A. Times interviewed seniors in Tampa about Rick Perry calling Social Security a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ The responses should that the issue is thorny, but not a death knell. http://cvote.to/2n

Political analyst Larry Sabato outlined some Electoral College scenario possibilities for the 2012 presidential election, including the real chance of a nightmare 269-269 tie, which would throw the presidential election into the U.S. House of Representatives. http://cvote.to/2t There’s a simple way to prevent this possibility: Increase the size of the House by one. Yours truly outlined this almost a year ago. http://cvote.to/2u

Special elections happen tomorrow in Nevada’s 2nd and New York 9th and Republicans might win both. The New York race is to fill the seat of Democrat Anthony Weiner, who left office after a sending inappropriate images to women who were not his wife. Republican Bob Turner is a pro-life and pro-marriage Catholic who might just win an upset in this district that covers parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Polling for a Democratic firm show him leading over Democrat David Weprin 47% to 41%. The poll noted that Jewish voters upset over President Obama’s stance on Israel were supporting Republican Bob Turner, who leads with the Jewish vote 56% to 39% http://cvote.to/2p.  The National Organization for Marriage noted that this poll showed another major reason that Bob Turner might win tomorrow. In that PPP poll, a plurality of voters in the 9^th District opposed so-called ‘same-sex’ marriage 45% to 41%. Of those polled, 55% said the issue of SSM was either very or somewhat important in deciding who they will support tomorrow. http://cvote.to/2q

Over in Nevada, the latest polls show Mark Amodei cruising to victory 50% to 37% over Kate Marshall (endorsed by EMILY’s List) in Nevada’s 2^nd. http://cvote.to/2o The race is being held to replace Republican Dean Heller who was appointed to the Senate seat of Republican John Ensign, who resigned several years after ethics complaints surrounding his extramarital affair.

The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party wants Rep. Pat Meehan, Rep. Jim Gerlach, or Rep. Charlie Dent to face off against Democrat Sen. Bob Casey next November. http://cvote.to/2x

Other articles of interest:

The President’s jobs proposal is nothing but a “$447 billion reelection plan” says James Pethokoukis of Reuters. He cites economists at Moody’s and George Mason University who note it will do little to boost the economy. http://cvote.to/2r

Green subsidies are a “breeding ground of corruption” says Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner, noting that companies with ties to the Democratic Party received billions in subsidies from the federal government. http://cvote.to/2s

Catholic schools in Indiana see a surge in enrollment because of a recent voucher bill became law. Amazing what freedom brings. http://cvote.to/2v

Pat Archbold recounts the horror of a young woman who so casually and loudly called a group of mentally handicapped runs ‘retards.’ http://cvote.to/2w