Who are you going to believe?

The Commerce Department or your lying eyes?

//So what does Commerce now think about the economy? It says growth has averaged just 2 percent annually over the last six years, and not the 2.3 percent it previously reported.

But you know what? Both those levels of growth are lousy by historical standards. But with the correction, the worst economic recovery in 70 years is now officially even weaker.

The revision made to the GDP in the third quarter of 2012 is worth special attention that nobody else has given it. Remember, 2012 was the year of the last presidential election. And the third quarter — July, August and September, with the GDP number announced in October — was smack in the middle of all the action.

Commerce said in that October, just weeks before the election, that the economy was growing at an annualized rate of 2.5 percent.

Now Commerce has corrected the third quarter of 2012 to just 0.5 percent. So Commerce overstated growth in this very important period, as Americans were about to go vote — by a magnitude of five. Commerce said the mistake was caused by changes in “methodology,” especially in the way it deals with defense spending. Seasonal adjustment changes also had an impact.

Growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 was just 0.1 percent. So when you put the third and fourth quarters together, the country was alarmingly close to officially being in a recession — a point that no president would want to brush up against when trying to get reelected.

I’m not saying that anyone was screwing around with the numbers just to help President Obama. I’m just saying this is pretty bizarre and, well, funny.

You might also recall that the unemployment rate was enjoying a suspiciously sharp drop in the third quarter of 2012, which also helped out the president.

And as I’ve already documented in a number of columns, at the Census Bureau’s Philadelphia region, a bunch of data-collecting computers — laptops that collect data used to calculate the unemployment rate — suddenly went missing in September of 2012.//

America - Now with even more Hope and Change.

"Our peevish, petulant, and impetuous President has struck again"

//Never have such two sold out so many for so little.

What must our other allies — I’m assuming for the sake of argument we still have some left — be thinking? “Obama revealed nuclear secrets over a speech?” This is not the action of a reliable ally, or even of a grownup. The man-child behind the Resolute desk is like Anthony Fremont in the classic Twilight Zone episode, “It’s a Good Life.” (2.5 minute capsule version above.) Like little Anthony, Obama has near-omnipotent powers at his disposal, but little use for them other than his own ego gratification, and for meting out harsh punishments to any who dare challenge his narrow worldview. Only instead of holding hostage a small town in Ohio, Obama plays his deadly games across a global stage.//

He started office by backstabbing the Poles, he ends it with backstabbing the Israelis.

Put on your surprised face!

Gallup catches on to something that has been true for the last 6 years...

//Here's something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we're hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.

None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed. That's right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news -- currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren't throwing parties to toast "falling" unemployment.

There's another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you're an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 -- maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn -- you're not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.

Yet another figure of importance that doesn't get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find -- in other words, you are severely underemployed -- the government doesn't count you in the 5.6%. Few Americans know this.

There's no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie.//

Still waiting for the Big Reveal on inflation numbers.