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Stretching past scrubby pines and open fields where tobacco once grew, Highway 70 East guides you to a low-slung, red-roofed building where the scent of smoldering oakwood hangs thickly in the air. You have reached Wilber’s , the High Church of old-school barbecue, where whole hogs are slow-cooked over coals, doused with red-pepper vinegar and served to locals with tar-thick accents. On the wall hangs a shrine to a beloved politician, whose death has erased neither his legacy nor the fond feelings of the octogenarian owner.

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An alleged gunman has been apprehended on the campus of Texas A&M University, in College Station, Texas.

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THE UNITED NATIONS – It was during one of several extended delays on day five of the Arms Trade Treaty talks that the chief of the British delegation, a jovial veteran diplomat named Jo Adamson, turned to me and wanted to know if I’d ever watched The Benny Hill Show . “You know the musical theme when Benny gets chased around by the police and they speed up the film?” she asked. “I want to make a video of that song playing over Tuesday’s scene of musical chairs.” The idea was a happy diplomatic warrior’s response to the comedic low-point of the negotiations’ disastrous first week, in which 193 national delegations, eager to begin a long-planned attempt at regulating the global conventional arms trade, were forced to choreograph a globe-spanning seating shift to accommodate two Palestinian observers, debate over whose status had made a train wreck of the agenda and preempted the speeches of several foreign ministers in town for the opening session

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Conservative media are downplaying the severity of public sector job cuts by trumpeting data showing that the unemployment rate among government workers in May was 4.2 percent. But that statistic doesn’t change the fact that public sector job cuts in this recovery have been more severe compared with previous recoveries and experts contend these cuts not only threaten the recovering economy but also impact private sector job growth. Conservatives Cited Government Worker Unemployment Rate To Downplay Public Sector Crisis Fox’s Special Report Compared Government Worker Unemployment With Other Industries. From Special Report : [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier , 6/11/12] Fox’s The Five Compared Government Worker Unemployment With National Rate. From The Five : [Fox News, The Five , 6/11/12] Fox’s Brit Hume: “Unemployment Rate Among Government Workers In May Was … The Lowest Of Any Sector.” Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume said of President Obama: HUME: On Friday, [President Obama] fretted that the economy was suffering because too many public employees face layoffs. In fact, as you just heard, the unemployment rate among government workers in May was 4.2 percent, roughly half the national average, and the lowest of any sector. [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier , 6/11/12] Wash. Post ‘s Thiessen: “It’s The Public Sector That’s Doing Fine.” Conservative columnist and former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen wrote in his Washington Post column: Obama and Reid have it precisely backward: It’s the public sector that’s doing fine. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for government workers last month was just 4.2 percent (up slightly from 3.9 percent a year ago). Compare that to private-sector industries such as construction (14.2 percent unemployment), leisure and hospitality services (9.7 percent), agriculture (9.5 percent), professional and business services (8.5 percent) and wholesale and retail trade (8.1 percent). As Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute points out, the public-sector unemployment rate “is the lowest of any industry or class of worker, even including the growing energy industry.” If the rest of Americans enjoyed the same unemployment rate as government workers, Obama would be cruising to reelection. [ The Washington Post , 6/11/12 ] But Public Sector Job Losses Have Been Severe And Unusual Public Sector Has Lost Over 550,000 Jobs Since Mid-2009. Business Insider posted a chart compiled from Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) showing that while private sector jobs (blue) have been increasing since the beginning of 2010, public sector jobs (red) – most of which are at the local level but also include federal and state jobs – continue to fall. The spike in the red line reflects the temporary hiring of Census workers in 2010. [Business Insider, 6/8/12 ] Wash. Post : State And Local Governments Continuing To Lose Jobs. The Washington Post  created the following charts with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which show how monthly private-sector job gains compare to monthly job losses in state and local government: [ The Washington Post , 4/29/12 ] Calculated Risk: Public-Sector Job Loss Is A “Significant Drag On Overall Employment.” Financial blog Calculated Risk highlighted how public-sector jobs during Obama’s presidency (blue) compare to Bush’s first term (red). Calculated Risk called these job losses “a significant drag on overall employment”: [Calculated Risk, 3/18/12 ] EPI: Loss Of Government Jobs In Current Recovery Contrasts Sharply With Other Recent Recoveries.  The Economic Policy Institute stated that if public sector employment had increased the way it did in previous recoveries, “there would be 1.2 million more public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy today” and “these extra public-sector jobs would have helped preserve about 500,000 private-sector jobs”: The figure below compares trends in public-sector employment in the last four recoveries. The current recovery is the only one that has seen public-sector losses over its first 31 months. If public-sector employment had  grown  since June 2009 by the average amount it grew in the three previous recoveries (2.8 percent) instead of shrinking by 2.5 percent, there would be 1.2 million more public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy today. In addition, these extra public-sector jobs would have helped preserve about 500,000 private-sector jobs. There is reason to be optimistic, though, as public-sector losses have moderated recently. If the sector begins to actually add jobs in the coming months, the economy would benefit significantly in 2012 and beyond. [Economic Policy Institute,  4/5/12 ] The Economist : “Government Payrolls Typically Swell In Economic Recoveries” But “Not This Time.” A May 12 article in The Economist noted that, although public-sector jobs usually increase following economic downturns, “for much of the past two years the biggest source of job losses has been the public sector.” From The Economist : On May 8 th Mr Obama sent Congress a “to-do list”, asking it for tax incentives and mortgage refinancing in the hope of boosting private job creation. Yet for much of the past two years the biggest source of job losses has been the public sector. Government payrolls typically swell in economic recoveries, by 5.9% on average during the first 34 months after a recession has ended, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Not this time, however: from June of 2009 government employment dropped by 2.7% (see chart). The 2.5m overall rise in employment since the downturn’s end corresponds to 3.1m new private jobs, less 600,000 lost government ones. [ The Economist , 5/12/12 ] Krugman: During Reagan-Era Recovery, “Government Employment Had Risen By 3.1 Percent; This Time Around, It’s Down By 2.7 Percent.” From economist Paul Krugman’s March 4 New York Times column: By this stage in the Reagan recovery, government employment had risen by 3.1 percent; this time around, it’s down by 2.7 percent. If government employment under Mr. Obama had grown at Reagan-era rates, 1.3 million more Americans would be working as schoolteachers, firefighters, police officers, etc., than are currently employed in such jobs. And once you take the effects of public spending on private employment into account, a rough estimate is that the unemployment rate would be 1.5 percentage points lower than it is, or below 7 percent – significantly better than the Reagan economy at this stage. One implication of this comparison is that conservatives who love to compare Reagan’s record with Mr. Obama’s should think twice. Aside from the fact that recoveries from financial crises are almost always slower than ordinary recoveries, in reality Reagan was much more Keynesian than Mr. Obama, faced with an obstructionist G.O.P., has ever managed to be. [ The New York Times , 3/4/12 ] Experts Note That Public Sector Job Losses Damage The Overall Economy Wall Street Journal : Unemployment Rate Would Be Near 7.1 Percent Without Government Job Cuts. Wall Street Journal reporter Justin Lahart stated that, all things equal, “if there were as many people working in government as there were in December 2008, the unemployment rate in April would have been 7.1%, not 8.1%.” The post included the following chart: [ The Wall Street Journal , Real Time Economics, 5/8/12 ] Economist Mark Zandi: “Job Losses At State And Local Governments Is The Most Serious Weight On The Job Market.” From an April 29 Washington Post article: The state and local job losses are significant for several reasons, economists say. For one, these losses have a broad social impact. Laying off teachers means larger class sizes and fewer after-school programs, for example. What’s more, federal aid can go directly to state and local governments to prevent job losses, a relatively effective way to sustain economic growth. (Tax cuts, by contrast, can lead indirectly to job growth if they increase the amount of money consumers spend.) “The job losses at state and local governments is the most serious weight on the job market,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, who has advised both parties. Experts worry that the cuts will have lasting effects. “There’s a big body of research showing that a lot of the things that state and local governments spend their money on have long-term effects on the economy and society as a whole,” said Nicholas Johnson, vice president for state fiscal policy at CBPP. “Cutting school funding now can hurt the education of a future workforce.” [ The Washington Post , 4/29/12 ] Economist Scott Brown: Economy Would Be Growing A Full Percentage Point Faster Without Drag From Government Job Losses. From a June 6 ABC News report: “The government is actually contributing to the slow recovery,” said Scott Brown, the chief economist at the Florida-based financial firm Raymond James & Associates. Brown said that if it were not for the “drag” of this public sector job loss, the economy would likely be growing a full percentage point faster, with GDP growing at 3 percent rather than at 2 percent. “That would help mop up the jobs lost during the downturn,” he said. “Factor in the drag from government and we are growing at a pace that’s roughly enough to absorb the growth in population but not fast enough to make up much of the ground lost.” [ABC News, 6/6/12 ] Economist Joel Naroff: When The Public Sector Cuts Jobs, “The Private Sector Gets Affected.” A September 2, 2011, U.S. News & World Report article quoted economist Joel Naroff who pointed out that “the private sector gets affected” by public-sector job losses. From U.S. News & World Report : Those job losses are taking their toll on the national economic scene, and are in their own way creating more job losses in the private sector. “If we’re losing [20,000 to 25,000] in the public sector, that’s income and spending that doesn’t occur. It’s more like [35,000 to 40,000] jobs as a result of that,” says Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, an economic consulting firm based in Holland, Pennsylvania. “So one job isn’t just one job; it’s more than one job. And so the private sector gets affected,” he says. Behind those government job losses are  budget cuts , particularly from states and local governments, many of which have lost revenues as lower incomes and lower property values lead to lower tax income. Those budget cuts mean fewer government contracts, which also leads to pain in the private sector. The winding down of the stimulus package also contributed to these losses, as federal assistance to state governments for things like extra Medicaid funding has disappeared, leaving many states with substantial budget gaps. Altogether, the strain on the national economy is considerable. “There’s no such thing as a free budget cut.” Says Naroff. “If the public sector trims [20,000 to 25,000] jobs a month, then the private sector has to create those jobs before the economy can add one job. That’s the hole that the public sector puts the economy in at this particular point,” he says. [ U.S. News & World Report , 9/2/11 ] CBPP: Government Job Losses Hurt Those Who Don’t Work In Government. From a February 8 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Here’s how the economic damage from spending cuts happens: when lawmakers cut services they end contracts with private sector businesses and reduce spending on private sector goods, leading to layoffs or lower wages among private sector workers. When lawmakers cut services they also lay off teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public sector workers (over 650,000 state and local government workers have lost their jobs since the recession hit the states). In turn, private AND public sector workers who are laid off, or who see their pay reduced, buy less and further reduce economic activity. Deep cuts to state services also erode the foundations of a strong economy, in both the short and long term.  Spending on education, transportation, and public safety has been shown to stimulate economic growth in the short run and is among the most important determinants of economic growth and job quality in the long run. Research also shows that expanding and improving upon these investments through well-targeted tax increases (in other words, finding new money to pay for better services) stimulates income and job growth. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/8/12 ] Brookings Institution: Government Job Growth Is Associated With Economic Recovery In Many Metro Areas. In June 2011, Howard Wial of the Brookings Institution observed that “government job growth is associated with the economic recovery of America’s metropolitan areas” since 14 out of the 20 large metro areas with the strongest recoveries from the recession “gained government jobs since total employment began to recover in each metro area.” By contrast 12 of the 15 major metro areas with the slowest recoveries “lost government jobs since total employment began to recover.” Wial also noted that increased government employment boosts private-sector jobs and income: I haven’t been able to find anything else besides the growth of employment that’s as closely associated with the strength of metropolitan economic recovery. Increased government employment means increased government spending, which means increased demand for goods and services and the creation of more private sector jobs and more private sector income. [The Brookings Institution, 6/22/11 ] Wash Post .’s Klein: Public-Sector Job Losses Are A Problem That The Federal Government Could Actually Fix. In a June 8 post on The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, Ezra Klein wrote: Speaking of private-sector jobs, at this point the Obama presidency is net positive on private-sector jobs. Since February of 2009 – remember, Obama wasn’t president for most of January – the economy has added, on net, 780,000 private-sector jobs. Hence the president’s comments: The private sector’s job creation machine is basically working, even if it would be nice to see it working faster. The public sector, conversely, has been losing jobs. As a disclaimer, these numbers don’t tell you very much. The bulk of the job losses came in early 2009, when Obama had just entered office and when his policies hadn’t yet taken effect. Blaming him for what happened to the labor market in, say, March of 2009 is like blaming a firefighter for the damage the fire causes as his truck is pulling up. And even at this point in his presidency, the economy is driven by much more than his policy preferences. Europe, for instance. That said, the place where you can most fairly blame the government for the shape of the labor market is in public-sector jobs. The federal government can choose to hire, fire or hold employment steady. It can give states money to keep emmployees on the job, or it can withhold that money. So the fact that the public sector is losing jobs isn’t just a problem, but a problem that the federal government could, with 100 percent certainty, fix. [ The Washington Post , Wonkblog, 6/8/12 ]

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In an August 19 editorial titled, “Obama: Whites need not apply,”  The Washington Times  declared that a recent executive order signed by President Obama to promote diversity in the federal workforce “will intensify programs that discriminate against white Americans.” Indeed,  The Washington Times ‘ opinion pages have a history of vitriolic race-baiting attacks on Obama and his administration. Wash. Times : Obama Workforce Diversity Initiative Means “Whites Need Not Apply” Wash. Times Editorial: “Obama: Whites Need Not Apply.” In an August 19 editorial, The Washington Times claimed that an executive order recently issued by President Obama “will intensify programs that discriminate against white Americans” and also claimed the federal workforce is already “a bit too diverse.” The president’s order was called, “Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce.” From the editorial: The White House issued an executive order on Thursday titled “Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce.” The purpose of the order is “to promote the federal workplace as a model of equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion.” In other words, it would be better for the government if public-spirited white workers sought employment elsewhere.   The executive order says the federal government “must create a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility and fairness to enable individuals to participate to their full potential.” In the name of “fairness,” however, the government will intensify programs that discriminate against white Americans by extending special privileges to everyone else. The order also says that “attaining a diverse, qualified workforce is one of the cornerstones of the merit-based civil service,” though merit and ability are not the metrics of choice when measuring success in diversity-driven career programs. Compared to the general U.S. population, the federal force is a bit too diverse. Blacks are overrepresented by 6.9 percent compared to the civilian work force, Asians and Pacific Islanders by 1.2 percent, and American Indians are more than double their proportion of the population at large. White Americans, who make up about 70 percent of the work force, are underrepresented by around 4 percent. Hispanics are also underrepresented despite the Clinton-era executive order 13171, “Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government.” [ The Washington Times , [ The Washington Times ,  4/26/11 , via   Media Matters ] Wash. Times: Obama Is A “Bigoted Man.” In a March 1 editorial about gun control, which called “restrictions on things like the size of handgun machines” “pointless,” the Times wrote that Obama is “a bigoted man who derisively describes small-town America as a place where people ‘cling to guns.’ ” [ The Washington Times , 3/1/11 , via Media Matters ] Pruden: Obama Lacks “Blood Impulse” For What America “Is About” Due To “Kenyan Father,” “Mother Attracted To Men Of The Third World.” In a November 17, 2009, Times column, Washington Times editor emeritus Wesley Pruden wrote that Obama “has no natural instinct or blood impulse” for what America “is about” because “[h]e was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii.” From Pruden’s column (emphasis added): Now we know why Mr. Obama stunned everyone with an earlier similar bow to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, only the bow to the Japanese emperor was far more flamboyant, a sign of a really deep sense of inferiority. He was only practicing his bow in Riyadh. Sometimes rituals are learned with difficulty. It took Bill Clinton months to learn how to return a military salute worthy of a commander in chief; like any draft dodger, he kept poking a thumb in his eye until he finally got it. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, seems right at home now giving a wow of a bow. This is not the way an American president impresses evildoers that he’s strong, tough and decisive, that America is not to be trifled with. But Mr. Obama, unlike his predecessors, likely knows no better, and many of those around him, true children of the grungy ’60s, are contemptuous of custom. Cutting America down to size is what attracts them to “hope” for “change.” It’s no fault of the president that he has no natural instinct or blood impulse for what the America of “the 57 states” is about. He was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii, a paradise far from the American mainstream. [ The Washington Times , 11/17/09 , via Media Matters ] Obama And Administration Officials Wash. Times’ Nugent Used New Black Panthers Case As An Excuse For Race-Baiting. In a July 7, 2010, Washington Times column — subtitled, “Obama protects the racists who back him” — Times columnist Ted Nugent used the manufactured scandal surrounding the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case as an opportunity for race-baiting. Nugent accused Attorney General Eric Holder of “fanning the flames of racism” based on his comments during Black History Month. He also wrote: President Obama then waded into the racial rapids in another matter by jumping to conclusions and siding with his black professor buddy who rightfully had been arrested by a white Cambridge, Mass., cop for resisting arrest. Turns out the facts did not support Mr. Obama’s initial statements. The uproar over this racially charged situation caused the president to invite the white arresting officer and his black professor buddy to the White House for beers. So very presidential. Moreover, before he was elected president, for more than 20 years, Mr. Obama and his family attended a church run by a maniacally racist minister who preached black racist theology. Mr. Obama quit the church when an ungodly, damning video of his racist minister came to light, unbelievably claiming he had missed the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s viciousness all those years. Yeah, right, and “Wango Tango” is a love song. Are there racist flames here? That’s for you to decide. [ The Washington Times , 7/7/10 , via Media Matters ] For more on the right-wing media’s manufactured scandal on the New Black Panthers case, SEE HERE . Nugent Called Holder A “Racist Punk.” In a March 14 Washington Times column, Nugent repeatedly called Holder “racist,” highlighting a request by the Department of Justice that the city of Dayton, Ohio, lower the passing scores for its police exams because they reportedly did “not meet terms of a lawsuit settlement that require the city to hire more black police and firefighters.” Nugent further wrote that Obama should “fire the racist punk Mr. Holder for a pattern of ugly racist statements and behavior.” From Nugent’s column: Flunking is the new norm at racist Eric H. Holder Jr.’s Department of Injustice. In yet another ugly, blatant and defining racist move, Mr. Holder is forcing the city of Dayton, Ohio, to lower the passing threshhold on the test for those wanting to be police officers because not enough black recruits passed the exam. Instead of attracting the best and brightest to serve the public, racist Mr. Holder will now ensure that the good residents of Dayton will be protected by dunce cops who score the equivalent of a D or F on the entrance exam. Entrance exam scores may also be lowered for firefighters so that more black applicants can be accepted. What Mr. Holder clearly wants by forcing his racist substandards on the good citizens of Dayton is to ensure people he favors get a fair shake at becoming cops by lowering the standards to such a degree that there might as well not be any entrance exams. Leaving aside that Mr. Holder’s Department of Injustice should stay the heck out of Dayton’s entrance exam standards (which were already pathetically low), the issue that should boil the blood of Dayton residents is that their tax dollars will pay the salaries of public employees who are functionally illiterate — the very bottom of the barrel. So much for excellence, right, Eric the racist? Maybe President Obama will come to Dayton and have a beer with angry citizens and try and assuage their concerns. What the president should do is fire the racist punk Mr. Holder for a pattern of ugly racist statements and behavior. Unfortunately, Mr. Holder passed Mr. Obama’s low, low standards. Racism lives, and it lives in the Obama crony administration. How sad. [ The Washington Times , 3/14/11 , via Media Matters ] For more on the Dayton police exams, SEE HERE . Other Race-Baiting Attacks Wash. Times Editorial Attacked Navy For Focusing On Diversity In The Officer Corps. In an August 2, 2010, editorial, The Washington Times attacked the Navy for focusing on diversity in the officer corps, writing that “we’d prefer that the Navy’s top priority be fighting and winning our nation’s wars rather than engaging in social experimentation.” [ The Washington Times, 8/2/10 , via Media Matters ] Wash. Times Claimed Dodd-Frank Bill Was “A Backdoor Way Of Instituting A Racial Quota System.” A July 14, 2010, Washington Times editorial headlined, “Quotas by proxy in Dodd-Frank bill,” claimed the bill would allow “federal hacks [to] pressure a vast array of private companies to make hiring decisions based on race,” adding, “It is a backdoor way of instituting a racial quota system.” [ The Washington Times, 7/14/10 , via Media Matters ] For more on the false claim that Dodd-Frank created racial quotas, SEE HERE . Wash. Times Promoted Self-Described White Nationalist Website. In an August 15, 2005, column, The Washington Times quoted from a column that originally appeared on the website VDARE.com, an anti-immigration site that describes itself as “white nationalist.” The excerpt from the VDARE column argued in favor of social Darwinism, misleadingly claiming: “[S]omebody should ask liberal pundits if they believe in the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. I bet not many would agree. Yet that’s the subtitle to Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species.’” [ The Washington Times , 8/15/05 , via Media Matters ] For more on the misuse of Darwin’s theories, SEE HERE .

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