I guess one bit of news you don’t want to have hanging over your head one week before an election is the fact that while you were Senate Majority Leader, your state never had a declining month in unemployment. This is what Harry Reid is facing as Nevada maintains record high, nation leading, unemployment rate of 14.4% headed into next Tuesday’s elections.
The 14.4% unemployment rate is not only the highest in the Nation; it’s the highest in the history of the great state of Nevada. The Labor Department released stats that show that since Harry Reid became Senate Majority Leader in 2007, Nevada’s unemployment has steadily moved onward and upward. Not only that, the unemployment rate hasn’t declined in any one single month since his [Reid] assent to power over the Senate.
A CNS news story points out that when George W. Bush took office, Nevada’s unemployment rate was 4.9%. By the time Obama was inaugurated it had climbed to 9.6%. So it’s all Bush’s fault, right? Not so fast. Since Obama, Reid and Pelosi gave us $787 billion in stimulus the rate grew from 9.6% to it’s very impressive, Nation leading 14.4%.
Wouldn’t you hate to be Harry Reid with your political life depending on stats like these? No wonder the man from Searchlight, Nevada is poised to be the face of Democratic defeat on November 2nd.
October 26th, 2010 at 7:05 am
Wow 14.4% is a scary number!
October 26th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Stacy, and that probably doesn’t even include the part-time, under-employed, or those who have given up looking for a job.
If we can at least agree that the primary reason behind these numbers is the spectacular implosion of the housing construction industry in Nevada, I wonder what you propose be done about it.
I think attention needs to be paid to a replacement economic driver, because housing won’t pick up again until jobs and, thus, demand do. The challenge is, what kind of replacement economy could be put in the desert? Solar power generation comes to mind, but then there are long distance transmission issues. Tax incentives for new manufacturing businesses are another consideration, but lots of states are offering similar tax incentives. It’s difficult to envision manufacturers choosing such a hot and arid place, particularly for industrial need, where cheap and abundant water is always needed.
I ask this question not to spur a political argument, either, just curious if anyone’s given thought to the particular challenges Nevada faces here.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:34 am
What an idiot…I heard him the first time tho. 99er’s and the one’s who are going to become 99er’s are in a world of hurt. I am typing this from a library computer. I was evicted earlier this month. I sleep on a floor at a friends house. 500 resume’s and 1 f%$#&^ call in the last 2 and a half years. You would think the state could extend aother 26 weeks. They would rather see you on the street. We wonder why crime is going up. Harry Reid is a moron !