Part-Time Jobs Were 185% of the New Jobs Created in June

By Rich Miner

That’s right.  Of the 195,000 new jobs created in June, 360,000 were part-time.  Full-time jobs actually shrank by 240,000.  These numbers were abysmal.  However, the White House, the media and Wall Street pundits extolled the jobs numbers as being solid, a very good report and a sign that the economy was improving to the point that the Federal Reserve would be able to begin to taper its monthly purchase of $85 billion in bonds and treasuries.   But a more careful look at the jobs numbers would show that the total payroll number was 135.9 million jobs, or still 1.6% below where they were 5-1/2 years ago before the recession started.  To make matters worse, the labor force has been increasing by about 120,000 a month during all those years.  So far in 2013 only 130,000 new full-time jobs have been added.  The remaining 557,000 of the alleged ‘solid’ jobs increase have been part time.  “Great Jobs News For Part-Timers,” Investor’s Business Daily, 7/8/13, p. A18.

According to Ray Stone, Managing Director of Stone & McCarthy Research, in the first quarter many of the new jobs were in manufacturing and construction, but in the second quarter most of the new jobs have been in retail, leisure and entertainment and have been largely part time.  He said the composition of the jobs growth was very disappointing.

There are many reasons for the number of full-time jobs being replaced by part-time jobs, such as uncertainty about the economy, new Government regulations, bureaucratic overreaching, Obama’s endless Executive Orders, but the biggest reason is ObamaCare.   Employers can avoid the penalty of not providing ObamaCare to part-time workers if they keep their hours at less than 30 a week.  In addition, many employers, who may very well be providing health insurance under current law, may not want to incur the higher cost of providing ObamaCare and can avoid doing so by cutting their employees to part time.   Providing shifts of part-time workers is less difficult for low-skill jobs, such as in the fast food industry.

For example, Charles Payne reported on “Fox and Friends” on 7/5/13, that Clarence Otis, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants, which operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden and other restaurants, said that ObamaCare would cause him to redefine work and move people from 40 hours to 29 hours.  These are people with minimum skills, who are trying to work their way into the work force and gain skills as they go, and ObamaCare will force them to take a big hit.

Furthermore, according to “Fox and Friends Saturday,” 7/6/13, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the real unemployment rate known as U6 actually increased from 13.8% in May to 14.3% in June.  U6 takes into consideration part-timers who want full-time work, employees who are overqualified for the job and discouraged workers who have quit looking for work.  In addition, according to Tucker Carlson only 47% of Americans have full-time jobs.  Id.  That means that approximately 12% of the civilian population is working part time.  See, BLS Employment Summary Table A., 7/5/13.

McKinsey & Co. reported that 45% of college graduates today have jobs that don’t require college degrees.  “Great Job News For Part-Timers,” Id.  Often the first full-time job can set the pace for the person’s entire career, and now their educations are being wasted waiting tables.  Young people are being hit very hard with an unemployment rate of 16.1% among 18- to 29-year-olds, plus 1.7 million who have dropped out of the work force.  Id.

It is clear that Obama’s policies of trillions of dollars in pork-laden spending and the Fed’s policies of endless “Quantitative Easing” have not been much help to the employment picture and the economy.  Besides, these policies have had negative effects, such as unsustainable debt and a Fed balance sheet that has ballooned out of control.  That balance sheet must be unwound and may burst in the process.  In addition, Obama’s higher taxes, his constant demands for more taxes on job creators, his excessive regulations, his unconstitutional executive orders, his class warfare and his attacks on the free market system have all made employers afraid to hire new employees.  But the greatest cause of this horrible jobs report is ObamaCare.  This 2,700 page incomprehensible legislation, with countless pages of regulation that are constantly growing at the dictates of Kathleen Sebelius, encouraged employers to hire primarily part-time workers and to cut full-time workers back to 29 hours a week.

Facts About The Common Core

·        The Common Core is a set of education standards and tests prepared by the Obama Administration currently for mathematics and English language arts; however, the  Obama Administration has plans to add science and technical subjects, social studies and history.  The science standards being developed are called the Next Generation Science Standards.

·         Common Core is part of Obama’s “Race to the Top.”

·         Common Core was funded by a $5 billion provision in Obama’s 2009 $787 billion stimulus package, of which $4.6 billion is intended to help the States implement Common Core.  However, it has been estimated that it will cost the States approximately $16.4 billion to fully implement the program.

·         Common Core was designed by Achieve Inc. with funding from the Gates Foundation and with the help of the George Soros funded Apollo Alliance and Tides Foundation.

·         The Gates Foundation has funded some $100 million to promote various portions of Common Core.  See, “Stop the Common Core,” video by NoToCommonCore, together with Concerned Women for America of Georgia and the American Principles Project, narrated by Jane Robins, www.stopcommoncore.com  (the “CWA Video”).

·         The General Electric Foundation has contributed $18 million to Student Achievement Partners to assist States nationwide in implementing Common Core.  Robert L. Corcoran, the President and Chairman of GE Foundation, said they were supporting the program to obtain real and lasting change.

·          David Coleman, a co-founder of Student Achievement Partners, is an architect of the Common Core.  Mr. Coleman has been described by The New York Times as barnstorming the nation to promote the Common Core Standards.  Coleman became President and CEO of the College Board on October 15, 2012 and announced that the College Board will use Common Core to write the SAT’s, which may disadvantage those States that do not adopt it.  See, Tamar Lewin, “Backer of Common Core School Curriculum Is Chosen to Lead College Board,” The New York Times, 5/16/12.

·         Despite evidence to the contrary, the Obama Administration claims Common Core was developed by the States.  The $4.6 billion of taxpayers’ money and Federally-paid-for facilitators have gotten 45 States, including New Jersey, to accept it and to pretend that it was generated by the States.  However, five States, led by Texas, have stayed out or opted out of the Common Core and opposition to it is growing rapidly.

·         Two consortia were created that give the appearance Common Core was developed by the States.  The State of Washington led one consortium called Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium or SBAC and Florida lead the other consortium called Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or PARCC.

·         On June 16, 2010, the New Jersey Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution that made New Jersey the ninth State to adopt Common Core.  The adoption of Common Core was met with considerable debate over different aspects of the program. Rutgers math professor Joseph Rosenstein criticized the math portions of Common Core.  Professor Rosenstein was concerned that the national standards were weaker than New Jersey’s standards, and he said, “Simply, this will come down to dumbing down our math instruction.”  See, John Mooney, “NJ Board of Education Adopts Common Core Standards,” NJ Spotlight, 6/17/10.

·         The then NJ Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler tried to defend the BOE vote, but it appeared that he was rushing the vote through to gain points toward the pending application for $400 million of Obama’s Race to the Top money.  Id.  However, New Jersey wound up finishing in 11^th place, just 3 points behind 10^th place Ohio.  New Jersey had lost 4.8 points because it submitted financial information for the wrong years and just missed out on the RTTT money, which went to the top ten States in Obama’s RTTT scoring system.  Schundler also lost his job over the mishap.  See, Barbara Martinez, “After Christie Firing, Schundler Fires Back,” WSJ.com, 8/28/10.  Ultimately, the New Jersey education system and NJ school children will be the real losers with Common Core forced on them.

·         Because of Race to the Top’s short timetable, New Jersey and most other States that adopted Common Core did so without legislative approval.  The New Jersey State Constitution in Article VIII, Section IV, paragraph 1 provides that “The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years.”  Some people have questioned whether this NJ Constitutional provision means that State legislative approval was necessary to adopt Common Core and to commit all of the State’s school districts to its requirements and expense.

·         The Common Core is the basis for a national curriculum and national tests, even though Federal law prohibits the US Department of Education from exercising control over the States’ academic curricula, their programs of instruction or their selection of instructional materials.  Obama violated (“circumvented”) that Federal law, by making “Race to the Top” Federal funds and “No Child Left Behind” waivers contingent upon accepting the Common Core.  This threat to withhold Federal funds might very well be considered  unconstitutional coercion of the States under the test laid down by Chief Justice Roberts in Florida v. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 567 U.S._____; 1325 S. Ct. 2566 (2012).

·         On September 2, 2010, U. S. Secretary of Education Duncan announced SBAC and PARCC were the winners of the DOE’S competition to develop tests to align with the Common Core standard.  SBAC and PARCC were awarded, respectively, $160 million and $170 million of Federal Race to the Top money.  See, “U. S. Secretary of Education Duncan Announces Winners of Competition to Improve Student Assessments,” U.S. Department of Education, ED.gov. 9/2/10.

·         Some say whoever controls the tests will control what must be taught in the classroom.  The Common Core appears to be a nationwide initiative designed to force the States into national K-12 standards and national tests.  Critics say that prodding the cash-strapped States into the program ultimately will lead to a national curriculum and prevent curriculum input from local educators, parents, and taxpayers.

·         Proponents insist that the Common Core initiative is “state-led” and “voluntary,” and that the national standards are “rigorous,” “internationally benchmarked,” and designed to make our students “college and career ready.” They insist that the States are not surrendering control over their standards and curriculum by adopting the Common Core, and that the Federal government is not behind this effort. In fact, NONE of these statements is TRUE. See, e.g. the CWA Video.

·      The Federally controlled, one-size-fits-all Common Core freezes in place an unacceptable status quo and prevents innovation to meet the challenges of the future.  It amounts to education without REPRESENTATION, in violation of the principles laid down by our founders in the Constitution.  These principles provide for individual freedom, personal responsibility, limited government, and for the powers, not specifically granted to the Federal government or prohibited to the States, to be left the States.  The founders intended that education be left to the States and local governments, and three federal laws confirm this principle. Id.

·      The Common Core Standards are insufficient to properly prepare students for four year colleges.  They do not meet the standards recommended by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel or those of our international competitors.  In particular, certain portions of the Algebra and Geometry required by four year colleges are omitted.  Algebra I is moved from 8^th grade to 9^th grade, making it very difficult and unlikely that the school will be able to move a student through Calculus by 12^th grade, as is required by selective colleges.  As a few other examples, the Common Core eliminates decimals, percents, conversions between fractions and least common denominators and de-emphasizes division and algebraic manipulations.  See, Jonathan Butcher, Emmett McGroarty and Liv Finne, “Why the Common Core is Bad for America,” May 2012.  Dr. James Milgram of Stanford University, who was the only mathematician on the Common Core Validation Committee referred to the math program “as almost a joke to think students [who took common core] would be ready for math at a university.”  See, “Quick Facts Sheet” www.StopCommonCore.com; see also, the CWA Video.  

·       The Common Core’s English Language Arts has been described as skill sets, not a coherent and demanding English curriculum that will prepare a student for a four year college.  Rather, the Common Core has been described as preparing a student for a non-selective community college.  Common Core has a requirement of 70% informational text to 30% literature, which English teachers say will not allow them to develop a proper college preparatory literature course.  Dr. Sandra Stotsky of the University of Arkansas, served on the Validation Committee, but refused to sign off on the ELA portion citing “poor quality, empty skill sets, the de-emphasis on literature, and low reading levels, such as 8^th grade levels for 12^th grade students.” Id.

·      The Common Core has been described by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce as raising the bar.  The Common Core has more accurately been described as raising the bar for the bottom students and lowering the bar for the top students.  Thus, none of the students will be prepared to meet the rigors of a four year college curriculum, nor to compete in today’s competitive world.  The Common Core does not meet the standards of today’s leading States.  They will be required to dumb down their curricula.

·         The Common Core provides for a massive database on all school children.  This part of the project is being partially funded by the Gates Foundation, and is considered by many outraged parents to be the most insidious part of Common Core.  The program calls for collecting 400 data points on children from pre-school to age 20.  The data will go beyond names, addresses, bus stops, grades, attendance and include hobbies, attitude toward school, eye color, hair color, skin color, blood tests, birth marks, premature birth and their family’s income, voting status, religion and politics.  See, The CWA Video.

·         The program also calls for FMRI’s which measure blood flow and heat in different parts of the brain, as well as digital wrist bands and eye movement sensors to monitor the children at all times.  Psychiatrist Harry Thompson, MD, felt that it would be very dangerous to have a data bank with information on students including the 400 data points and their brain waves.

·         The Obama Administration’s US Department of Education established a seven member board to oversee how SBAC and PARCC were implementing the Common Core.  This is just the latest move of the Obama Administration to assert Federal control over the alleged State standards of Common Core.  See, Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute, “Feds Assert More Control Over Common Core,” Choice Media. TV, 4/413.

·         When Governor Rick Perry found out about some of the details of Common Core he took Texas out of it.  Four other States including Virginia, Nebraska and Alaska have stayed out or have followed Texas out of Common Core.  However, there is a fear that they may adopt C-Scope, which is far worse.  South Carolina has a bill introduced to take that State out of the program, and Governor Nikki Haley has strongly endorsed the bill.  Minnesota refused to sign on to the math portion.  Utah is holding hearings to consider withdrawing.  Senator William Ligon (R, GA) introduced S. B. 167 to withdraw Georgia from Common Core.  The Indiana Senate passed an anti-Common Core Bill 38-11.

·         Concerned citizens groups across the country include:  Concerned Woman for America of Georgia (www.stopcommoncore.com),  Pennsylvanians Against Common Core (www.nopacommoncore.com) , Hoosiers Against Common Core (www.hoosiersagainstcommoncore.com) , Ohioans Against Common Core (www.ohioansagainstcommoncore.com ), and Utahns Against Common Core (www.uthansagainstcommoncore.com) and the list goes on for some 44 groups in at least 42 States now fighting The Common Core.  For more information go to www.stopcommoncore.com.

·         While the fight against the math and ELA are heating up, a consortium is already developing the Next Generation Science Standards.  This consortium involves 26 States and groups claiming to represent scientists and teachers.  The NGSS will include climate change being taught in the middle school.  And, “In high school, students would learn in more detail about the human role in generating emissions that are altering the planetary climate.”  See, Justin Gillis, “New Guidelines Call for Broad Changes in Science Education,” The New York Times, 4/9/13.  In some cases, traditional subjects such as “biology and chemistry may disappear entirely from high school, replaced by courses that use a case-study method to teach science in a more holistic way.”  Id.  Naturally, controversy has already developed over NGSS.