RUSH: Ron in Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, hi and welcome to the EIB Network.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Well, I was calling basically for two things. One: People want to know what they can do to defeat Obama. Well, if unemployment, if U-3, were to reach 12% to 14%, he’s unelectable. And guess what? The people listening right now in your audience, they can change it. They can make the U-6 number go down and the U-3 number go up by simply going down to the unemployment office and reporting that they’re looking for work. This can be applied to people who are retired, people who are partially employed —
RUSH: Are you suggesting —
CALLER: — people who are underemployed, all of them. It’s legal.
RUSH: Ron? Ron, I know it’s legal. I know it’s legal. I want to make sure I understand. Are you suggesting that the members of this audience involve themselves in trickery?
CALLER: No trickery at all. No trickery! This is… In fact, they have been manipulating the numbers so that they do not reflect accurately what the actual unemployment rate is. All this will do is bring those people back in who have fallen off at the tail end.
RUSH: Well, but the problem is — and I’m serious — that’s not how they calculate this. They don’t do this on the basis of who comes into their offices. What happens is the BLS calls people and they simply ask them, “Have you applied for work in the last month?”
CALLER: That’s U-6, not U-3. U-3 is when you go to the unemployment office and say that you’re looking for work. That’s the number. It’s not statistically based. It is not one that’s based on a survey. It’s based on actual people who go to the unemployment office.
RUSH: Okay, so you are suggesting that the members of this audience, even those who are working, nevertheless say they’re not?
CALLER: No, I didn’t say that. I didn’t say those who are working. I’m saying retired people can legitimately go. All those Tea Party people can go down to the unemployment office and say, “I’m looking for work.” That is totally within the realms and would be accurately reflective of the unemployed population of the country.
RUSH: Well —
CALLER: It might not be what they normally do —
RUSH: But wait. The problem is you’re talking about the new claims number. The whole reported number is determined by that phone survey.
CALLER: That’s U-6.
RUSH: You can’t apply for new jobless benefits if you don’t qualify for them, and that’s what you’re doing —
CALLER: If you’re unemployed, you qualify! Unemployed people qualify. Being retired is not employed.
RUSH: Well, okay. Folks, if you want to give it a shot, go for it. If you want to go down the unemployment office and tell ’em you’re looking for work and see what happens to the number in a couple of weeks, go for it. What have we got to lose?
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