It’s the Economy Stupid
James Carville 1992
On May 8th the day I was laid off from my full time job I wrote that this was an excellent test comparison between the Economy of the Barack Obama years who was president elect when the company I worked for folded & I found myself out of work, and Donald Trump, who was president when the company I worked for laid me and all my co-workers off to move operations from Massachusetts to Arizona and Georgia.
You might recall that I only managed a single interview during my time out of work in the Obama Economy. I ended up diving into journalism two years later with my own radio show & making the blog my job but finally had to beg to get a temp 3rd shift warehouse job in 2015 seven years later at 45% of what I had been making in 2008.
Here is how I closed my VE day piece on my last day of work.
So tomorrow I spend the day with my youngest, Sunday I spend time with DaWife on Mother’s day and starting Monday my focus becomes finding a new job to employ me till retirement at 70.
Despite the gas price spike I find myself confident both in the Trump economy and my prospects within it. We will see if that confidence and my natural optimism is rewarded or if as before it will be crushed until fate throws a curve.
If nothing else it will be an excellent practical measure of the Obama way vs the Trump way.
Wish me luck.
Well there has been luck, some good: Gas prices as of yesterday in my area are down 57 cents, from their peak & still falling (although still $1.20 above before the war) I had a great road trip with my oldest son and a spectacular time with friends at a get together last month, Some bad: My wife has run into thousands of dollars of both medical & auto repair bills & my mechanic tells me 1999 Buick may or may not make it to the end of its 27th year but certainly won’t make it to the end of its 28th.
On the job front there has also been good and bad luck I had multiple interviews with multiple companies and some disappointing rejections, but this past Wednesday I started orientation at a new job.
Now to be fair this job wasn’t my first choice or even my 2nd and there is always the possibility that I might not take to the training I need to master for this position or over time either they or I might decide the position is unsuitable for me.
But the bottom line is starting next week instead of collecting an unemployment check I’ll be collecting a paycheck in a job with pay and benefits comparable what I had before being laid off.
So let’s compare
I had a good paying job with good benefits before Obama was elected
- It took me 2 years to dive into my radio show and start selling ads no benefits or insurance in the Obama Economy
- It took me 7 years to find a full time temp position (no benefits) in the Obama economy
I had a decent paying job with good benefits in the 2nd Trump economy when I was laid off, I was given an 8 week severance package & medical paid for through July.
48 days later I’m at a job with comparable wages and benefits to the one I lost.
48 days, less than 7 weeks, less weeks than my severance package, over a month before my medical benefits lapse.
48 days in a blue state that companies are fleeing, whose economy isn’t anywhere near as good as those in red states that Trump won.
48 days vs 2-7 years
If you want to know the difference between the Trump economy and the Obama Economy this is it.
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