Misery Index

No, it was not Obama, although he has pushed “change” and “sharing the wealth”.  It was Rev. Wright, the pastor of the church that Obama went to for 20 years, as noted on an archived version of the Trinity United Church’s website from 2004 via the Internet Archive.

On Obama’s website “Fight The Smears” under “The Truth About Barack’s Faith” it states, “Barack Obama is a committed Christian.  He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible.  He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years.”  I have to show you a cached copy, because the website “Fight The Smears” seems to have disappeared now, from yesterday to today, with a message of “Database unavailable.”  I’m curious to see why this has happened, especially in light of the entire Obama/Biden agenda “disappearing” within four days of the site going live with the explanation that it was being “revised” and then appearing missing a few things.

But for about 20 years, Obama and his family attended Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.  This is the same church that Obama states he “found” his Christianity, where he was married, where his daughters were baptized, and whose pastor, the Rev. Wright, gave him the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope.  In a 1995 Obama interview, Obama states that Rev Wright represents “best” black church has to offer. 

At the church’s website, at one time which has now been removed, but brought back to light via the Internet Archive from Jan 2007 (and archived as far back as 2003), contained the “Black Value System” written in 1981.

“We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent.  We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.  God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism.  It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation.”

“We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements.  These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Black are gathered.  They must reflect on the following concepts:

1.  Commitment to God
2.  Commitment to the Black Community
3.  Commitment to the Black Family
4.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6.  Adherence to the Black Worth Ethic
7.  Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8.  Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
9.  Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community.
10.  Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions.
11.  Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12.  Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System

Also on the church’s website at one time, was their “mission” page, which again has come back to light thanks to the Internet Archive, from 2004.

Trinity United Church of Christ has been called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots! […]

We are called out to be “a chosen people” that pays no attention to socio-economic or educational backgrounds. 

The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!

W.E.B DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going to be the problem of the color line.  He was absolutely correct.  Our job as servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ.

But when certain sermons that were given by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright came to light, such as one in from 2003, when Obama was regularly attending the church, when Wright made statements [VIDEO] such as “God Damn America” and “…and they will not only attack you, if you try to point out what’s going on in white America, US of KKK-A”, has referred to Condoleezza Rice as “Condemnesia” and stated that 9/11 was America’s fault with their chickens coming home to roost.  Rev. Wright retired in April of 2008.

Obama at first defended the church saying “I don’t think my church is particularly controversial” and “Rev Wright was like an old Uncle, who sometimes says things I don’t agree with.”  Then due to the negative media, also in April of 2008, Obama’s family resigned their membership with the church.

It has been reported that Obama was an infrequently churchgoer on the campaign trail, though he did make a series of appearances in the pews and pulpits of South Carolina churches ahead of that heavily religious state’s primary.  And during the campaign, on Father’s Day, Obama chose to attend the South Side’s Apostolic Church of God to give a speech aimed at the black community on the importance of fatherhood and family.

Now, since Obama’s election he has opted for Sunday morning workouts three weeks in a row over attending church, much unlike his predecessors. 

According to Politico, when a transition aide was asked about this, the person “noted that the Obama’s value their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.”

“Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw,” said the aide.

Politico notes that “Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected.”

“In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson,”.

“In the weeks after the contested 2000 election, Bush regularly attended services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Al Gore was frequently photographed arriving at and leaving church in Virginia.”

For some reason, the word hypocrite is suddenly coming to mind.  And now I know where Obama gets his “change” from.  The “wonderful” Rev. Wright, who was Obama’s pastor for 20 years, as it is stated on the church’s old Mission page from 2004, “The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!”  Hmm.. change and “share the wealth” suddenly come to mind.

And is not a church racist if it only caters to blacks?  And is it not racist if it reinforces that there are differences between whites and blacks using God’s house, scripture and name?  And if it is a church for all as with the statement of “who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ, “ would a white person be welcome in that church?  Because I thought God didn’t care what color your skin was, last time I checked.  Sounds to me more like a suicide mission than a pilmigrage.

So below I have a rather detailed chart which took me nearly 4 hours to compile for all 50 states.  Each state is color coded to how they voted in the Nov 08 election.  Underneath each state is the difference between the national unemployment rate, and the state unemployment rate.  Below are the Aug, Sep and Oct unemployment rates.  I figured the 1 month percent change from Sep to Oct.

Next is the unemployment rate from 1 year ago, Oct 07.  Next to that I figured the 1 year percent change between Oct 07 and Oct 08.

After that is the unemployment rate from 2 years ago, Oct 06. After that I figured the 2 year percent change between Oct 06 and Oct 08.

And finally, because I have no life, I figured the 10 year unemployment average, from Oct 1989 to Sep 2008.  Again after that, I figured the percent change between the 10 year average and Oct 2008. Now the reason I do this is because historically some states do normally have a higher unemployment rate than others.  What is important to look at are the percent changes.

For example, looking at Arkansas their current unemployment rate is 5.4% with a 10 year change of +0.3%.  Now 5.4% isn’t bad since it’s below the current national average.  But looking at Alabama, with a unemployment rate of 5.6%, their 10 year change is +1.2%, a more drastic change.  This is why I believe you have to look at the big picture, and not just selected numbers.

And this is why I don’t agree with what Congress did with the extensions on the unemployment.  They set a number, 7% and any state at that number or above, gets that extra 13 week extension above the 7 week extension.  So it’s not really fair to those states who have a historically lower unemployment rate than the average rate but a higher change versus those states who historically have a higher rate of unemployment but a lower change.  And this goes back to my original belief that sometimes, you have to look at the bigger picture, than just a few months.  And this is where Congress has made their mistake and should have used percentage increases over a flat number.

But all in all, I don’t think it really matters, as by the end of the 1st Q 2009, all states will be over the 7% unemployment rate, with some as high as 12%, namely Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois?  Why?  Because of the auto industry.  Even if they do get bailed out, there will still be an increase in layoffs in those areas.

Also, I believe that the three states that are the highest in foreclosure rates, which are California, Florida and Nevada, their unemployment levels will reach around 10% by the end of the 1st Q 2009 as their largest industries are construction and tourism.

And expect these numbers to get higher since Obama has stated that he does plan on creating 2.5 million new jobs however, that will not happen until 2011.  Two years is a long time for millions of people to be out of work.

The final interesting thing to note are the Midwest states.  In the Great Depression these states suffered the most, with the highest unemployment and had the most people leave for other states, mostly to California.  It’s an interesting comparison.  The states that had jobs during the Great D now have the highest unemployment in the country, and the states that had the lowest unemployment rates during the Great D now have the highest.  Many who lived in the “Dust Bowl” of the Midwest, most coming from Oklahoma, went to California for jobs working in the fields. 

California (D) currently has a 8.2% unemployment rate with a +2.4% over the 10 year average.  Currently Oklahoma (R) has an extremely low unemployment rate of 4.3% with NO CHANGE over the 10 year average.

Other Midwest states from which many migrated west during the Great D were Kansas (R) at 4.9% with a +0.6% change over the 10 year average.  Arkansas (R) currently at 5.4% with only a +0.3% change over the 10 year average.  Iowa (D) currently sits at 4.4%, with a +0.7% change over the 10 year average. Nebraska (R) currently sits at 3.6% with a +0.5% change over the 10 year average. It’s interesting how history is reversing itself.

The state with an unemployment rate that is actually LOWER than the 10 year average is New Mexico.  Currently their unemployment rate is 4.4%, with a reduction in unemployment over the 10 year average of –0.4% and they are running pretty consistent with the 1 month, 1 year and two year change of +0.4%, virtually unchanged in 2 years.  Why do I believe that there is a 10 year reduction when the rest of the United States are increased?  Illegal immigrants.  They are leaving in record numbers heading back to Mexico or leaving the state, thus there are more jobs for legal Americans.  Arizona however, does not show this trend with increased unemployment numbers across the board.  This is a “project” I plan on working on for the future, focusing on border areas in South Texas, South New Mexico, South Arizona and South California to see if the unemployment increases or decreases over time in relation with state and national average.

One other state that is doing quite well is Wyoming (R) at a 3.3% rate, with an increase over the 2 year unemployment of only +0.2%, and the 10 year average an actual reduction in unemployment of –0.6%.  South Dakota (R) and North Dakota (R) also well off for unemployment at only 3.3% (+0.2/10 year) and 3.4% (+0.1/10 year).

And another state with the least amount of change over all, with the best unemployment rate is West Virginia (R).  Their unemployment rate is 4.7%, with a 1 year change of +0.3%, a 2 year change of nothing, and a change that is actually a lowered unemployment on the 10 year average of –0.1%.  This however, will change if Obama decides to shut down the coal industry with stricter standards for the environment.  If this does happen, expect that number to rapidly increase to at least 15%,if not higher, within a very short time.

The worst states?  Rhode Island (D) leads them all at 9.3%, +0.5% for 1 month, +4.2% for 1 year, +4.3% for 2 year and 10 year.  And Michigan (D), of course.  Historically, over a 10 year period, their unemployment rate averaged 6.1%, much higher than the rest of the country.  They currently do have a 9.3% unemployment rate however, over a 1 year period, their unemployment rate has risen –1.8%, very similar to many other states.  Over a 2 year period, +2.2%.  And over 10 year, +3.2%.  So yes on average they are higher than other states however, they are not quite as drastic of a change as Florida and Rhode Island.  But they are bad, yes, in the top 5.

States that depend on tourism as their main industry are suffering horribly.  California (D) is at 8.2% with a +2.4%/10 year change.  Nevada (D) is at 7.6% with a +2.7%/10 year change.  And Florida (D) at 7.0% with a +3.5%/10 year change.  South Carolina (R) is at 8.0% with a +2.3%/10 year average.  Hawaii (D) however is sitting at 4.5% with only a +0.9%/10 year avg.

And it would seem that New York (D) would have the worst unemployment rates with large increases due to Wall Street.  This doesn’t seem to be the case.  Their rate is 5.7%, below the national average, with a 1 month change of –0.1%, which is a decrease in unemployment from 5.6%.  1 year change sits at +1.1%, 2 year at +1.4% and only +0.5% over the 10 year average.  So why is the governor talking about raising sales tax 7-15%?

Remember in all of this, the National unemployment rate for October 2008 was 6.5%.  As a comparison, after the 1929 Stock Market Crash in October 1929, the national unemployment rate went from 3.2% (1929) to 8.7%(1930) a +5.5% increase.  Rhode Island  at 9.3% is past this rate however, they are a bit of a ways from that drastic of an increase currently sitting at a +4.2% for one year.  In the following year, 1931 the national unemployment rate went to 15.9%.  And in 1932, the national unemployment rate went to 23.6%.

Anyone care to comment?  *tap, tap*  Is there anybody out there?  [Sorry, I’ve been listening to entirely too much Pink Floyd and Queensrÿche today.]  BTW, what you see below you will not find anywhere else in this format so if you decide to borrow, link back okie?  Four hours of my time is quite a bit of time.  Thanks.

The unemployment numbers come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics with the Oct numbers being preliminary.  As for the election results, I used Electoral-vote.com.  And remember, I am not a Democrat and I am not Republican.  I am Independent.

FAITH

Although the “faith” page has disappeared from the Change.gov website, the topic still appears on the Change.gov forums and it still appears on the Obama/Biden Election site.  So what did the “Faith” part of Obama’s old Change agenda page say?

RECONCILING FAITHS AND POLITICS

“(Obama’s speech on faith) may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy’s Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican…Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief.”

--E.J. Dionne, Op-Ed, Washington Post, June 30, 2006

In June of 2006, Senator Obama delivered what was called the most important speech on religion and politics in 40 years.  Speaking before an evangelical audience, Senator Obama candidly discussed his own religious conversion and doubts, and the need for a deeper, more substantive discussion about the role of faith in American life.

Senator Obama also laid down principles for how to discuss faith in a pluralistic society, including the need for religious people to translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values during public debate.  In December, 2006, Senator Obama discussed the importance of faith in the global battle against AIDS.

The speech that is noted is Obama’s “Call to Renewal” speech at the Call to Renewal’s Building a Covenant for New America.  During this speech Obama talks about his own personal faith.   His speech borderlines ending the separation of church and state and basically implies that the “reason a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd” is because there “a hole in that young man’s heart – a hole that the government alone cannot fix.”  That religion will fix everything.  And that we as a nation of different religions and nonbelievers have to come to a “compromise” on what is ethical and moral across the board on a political level.  The speech borderlines on the “S” word……What is good in one religion that is good in another religion, is good for all religions. 

And there is man’s law and God’s law, if man’s law goes against God’s law, it is our duty to follow God’s law and not man’s. 

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” – Romans 13:1

“We must obey God rather than men.” – Acts 5:29

All I have to say on the matter is this.  If I want or need more God in my life, I have the option of going to a church.  I don’t need government telling me that I need more God in my life.  And I don’t need a government telling me that there is only one book that can be followed and all other are trash?  That is a Constitutional right that I have, via the First Amendment.  Personal responsibility for personal  morality and personal ethics are the responsibility of each individual, not the government.  If all religions have a “compromise” then what separates those religions anymore?  And that we need to think in terms of “thou” and not just”I”, when it comes to religion.  And does all that not brush on State or National Religion?:

“Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

So unless Obama decides to change our Constitution, he’s out of luck.  Additionally Obama keeps calling Abraham Lincoln a genius, which he may have been when it came to many things, however obviously he is not completely knowledgeable about Lincoln since Lincoln stated the following:

“The Bible is not my book and Christianity is not my religion.  I could never give assent to the long complicated statements of Christian dogma.”

Excerpts are below with the entire video so that the Obamabots can not say that I am taking things out of context,which admittedly I am however, I am ‘highlighting’ certain statements to prove a point.  You are a human with a mind, and can watch the entire video for yourself, to determine whether you think I am correct, or form your own conclusion.

“At best, we may try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that – regardless of our personal beliefs – constitutional principles tie our hands.”

“But in the long haul, I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people’s lives – in the lives of the American people – and I think it’s time that we join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy.”

“You need to come to church in the first place precisely because you are first of this world, not apart from it.  You need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away – because you are human and need an ally in this difficult journey.”

“More fundamentally, the discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms.  Some of the problem here is rhetorical – if we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice.”

“I believe in keeping guns out of inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manufacturers’ lobby – but I also believe that when a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd because he feels somebody disrespected him, we’ve got a moral problem.  There’s a hole in that young man’s heart – a hole that the government alone cannot fix.”

“But what I am suggesting is this – secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.”

“Moreover, if we progressives shed some of these biases, we might recognize some overlapping values that both religious and secular people share when it comes to the moral and material direction of our country.  We might recognize that the call to sacrifice on behalf of the next generation, the need to think in terms lf “thou” and not just ”I, resonates in religious congregations all across the country.  And we might realize that we have the ability to reach out to the evangelical community and engage millions of religious Americans in the larger project of American renewal.”

“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values.”

“And if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? … Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy?  Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination?  How about Deuteronomy, which suggest stoning your child if he strays from the faith?  Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful our own Defense Department would survive its application?”

“Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do.  But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice.  Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality.  It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible.  At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise.  It’s the art of the impossible.”

“Finally, any reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism requires some sense of proportion.”

“But a sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state.  Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation – context matters.  It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as consequence of muttering the phrase “under God.”  I didn’t.  Having voluntary student prayer groups use school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats.  And one can envision certain faith-based programs – targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers – that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems.”

“A hope that we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all.  It’s a prayer worth praying, and a conversation worth having in this country in the months and years to come.”