Can You Pass This Test on Trump and His Job Numbers?

TODAY, TRUMP FANS and Trump mockers, since we can’t agree on Judge Kavanaugh’s fitness for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, let’s see if we can agree on something concrete.

I mean: math.

According to the website that has this for sale it's a pro-Kavanaugh shirt.
I'm not sure I agree.

Let’s imagine that sometime back, a president claimed that 94,000,000 Americans were desperate for jobs. And, now that he had taken office, he was going to fix that problem and quick. 

Question #1: Which of the following was it?

A)   Franklin D. Roosevelt

B)    Millard Fillmore

C)   Barrack Obama

D)   Donald J. Trump

(Admit it: You probably didn’t even know Fillmore was President of the United States back in 1850.)

In any case, the correct answer is: “D.”

Yes, in March 2017, Trump claimed that 94 million Americans were out of work, a figure he also cited while running for office. If you believed that figure then, or believe it now, you are probably a hopeless nincompoop and should stop taking this test and seek immediate medical assistance.

Sean Hannity did believe it, which makes you wonder if some Russian agent might have sneaked into his studio and left behind radioactive hair gel—and no one noticed even though it is increasingly clear something has damaged Sean’s brain.

*

MOVING ON, as I said, I like math. So, for the numbers that follow, I consult the Bureau of Labor Statistics, where I like to go for what we liberals call “facts.”

Now, back to the test!

 Question 2: If Donald J. Trump and Fox News claim in March 2017 that 94 million Americans are looking for work and Bureau of Labor Statistics show that roughly 4 million jobs have been added to the U.S. economy since, then at least 90 million Americans must still be looking for work?

A)   True

B)    False

I don’t make up the math, Trump fans, I just do the math. “A” is correct!

Question #3 requires background. When monthly job numbers under Obama kept coming in good, Candidate Trump said the numbers were “phony” and “rigged.” Even sensbible conservatives agreed and liked to point out that the labor participation rate had plunged under Mr. Obama. 

According to right-wing nuts, a different category of conservatives, it was all Obama’s commie-Kenyan-terrorist-paling-around-with-fault.

Naturally, now that the numbers are no longer rigged and Trump is adding jobs at what he insists is a feverish pace, which number, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, represents the lower labor participation rate?

A)   January 2014: 62.9 percent

B)    January 2015: 62.9 percent

C)   January 2016: 62.8 percent

D)   January 2017: 62.9 percent

E)    January 2018: 62.7 percent

F)    September 2018: 62.7 percent

Yes, “E” and “F” are correct! 

This does not mean President Trump is doing a terrible job on employment. He is not. In fact, he and his aides are hiring up lawyers at a fearful pace!

It does mean that Trump and an alarming number of conservatives and all the right-wing nuts were full of crap when they faulted Obama for the decline in the rate.

(In fact, most of the decline from 66.2 percent in January 2009 had to do with roughly 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day.)

OKAY, HERE IS AN EASY ONE. Sharpen your pencils and write down the proper letter on your paper.

Question Four: If the Bureau of Labor Statistics cites job losses (in red) and gains for the thirteen months up to and including the month they took office, which president inherited the real mess?

A)   +103,000, +257,000, +235,000, +174,000, +34,000, +285,000, +325,000,  +175,000, +264,000, +140,000, +172,000, +180,000, +259,000 (Trump). 

B)    +8,000, -81,000, -55,000, -229,000, -184,000, -154,000, -213,000, -277,000, -443,000, -475,000, -759,000, -707,000 and -787,000 (Obama).

Clearly, even the numbest numbskull can see that the numbers for “B” are worse. If you are just taking office, you would prefer to “inherit” “A.”

So, if you marked “B,” good job Trump fans or Trump mockers. 

Now, a harder one—and you may mark as many as you like. 

Question 5: Which statements are true?

A)   President Obama inherited “B;” therefore he inherited a mess.

B)    President Trump inherited “A;” therefore he did not inherit a mess.

C)   President Trump likes to claim he inherited a mess; therefore all the jobs created from the moment he won election he gets the credit for; meaning he believes he possesses magical powers.

The math clearly shows: A and B are correct. If you marked only those two, you may count your answer right. 

President Trump and his fans have also claimed that he deserves credit for all job gains from the moment election results were final in November 2016, Hillary’s tears started to flow, and Vladimir began to party.

If you marked “C” give you get a bonus point. If you believed “C,” however, you are a Trump-loving, reality-challenged fan. 

Therefore, no extra point for you.

Last, but not least, here are graphs showing job gains for four periods of twenty months each. Together they cover the period from December 2011 to September 2018. (Two are slightly different in scale because at least one month of gains tops or touches 350,000 during two spans measured, which throws off the scale). 

GRAPH A.

GRAPH B.

GRAPH C.

GRAPH D.

Now a series of questions:

Question #6: Which of these choices is correct?

A)   Graph A shows job gains under Obama in his last twenty months in office and Graph B show job gains under Trump in the twenty months since he took over.

B)    Graph B shows job gains under Obama in his last twenty months in officeand Graph A shows job numbers under Trump in the twenty months since he took over.

C)   Graph C shows job gains under Obama, Graph D under Trump.

D)   Graph B shows job gains under Obama, Graph C under Trump.

Choice B is correct. 

Question #7: If you total the jobs added on graphs A and B which president added move jobs total during the periods (leaving out January 2017 figures, which were split for the two men) above?

A)   President Trump

B)    President Obama

Yes, Obama  did! B.

Question Eight (True or False): All four graphs show that job gains during the 20-month periods highlighted were solid and good and roughly equal.

Answer: “True.

Question Nine: President Trump promised, if elected, to reduce the deficit and, if reelected, in eight years to eliminate the national debt entirely. (This sounded like magic; but still his fans believed him.)

The federal deficit for Fiscal Year 2016, under President Obama, was $585 billion. The deficit for Fiscal Year 2017 rose to $665 billion. (That fiscal year falls mostly under Obama.) The Congressional Budget Office now reports that the deficit for FY 2018, just ended, was $782 billion.

A)   The deficit is decreasing since Trump took over.

B)    The deficit is not changing.

C)   The deficit is increasing since Trump took over.

Yes, with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress and the President of the United States with veto pen in hand, if necessary, to bring down the deficit, “C” is correct. The deficit is increasing!

Bonus Question: What do you think the projected budget deficits for FY 2019 and 2020 are expected to be?

Answer: If you said anything close to “one trillion in added debt for each year,” give yourself a bonus point!

Question #10: If you believed Trump/GOP claims that President Obama was killing the U.S. economy, that Trump inherited a mess and that a giant tax cut for the wealthiest Americans was necessary to goose job growth, which of these statements are true?

A)   Monthly job gains have decreased slightly since Trump took office.

B)    The budget deficit has actually increased since the tax cuts were passed.

C)   Our children and grandchildren will be stuck paying the bills and all they will get is a lousy t-shirt bearing Brett Kavanaugh’s face.

Yes, A, B and C are all correct!

Score yourself honestly and if you have higher than a 7, consider yourself as having passed the reality check.