Unemployment Numbers: Remember When Republicans Thought the Labor Participation Rate Was Important?

The news about black unemployment reaching an all time low has Republicans crowing, but judging from social media, they seem to have forgotten all about that labor participation rate that was supremely important while Barack Obama was in the White House.

Don’t get me wrong, A low unemployment rate is better than a high unemployment rate. President Trump is entitled to take credit for it as any President takes credit for good economic news. None of that is the issue here.

What bugs me is that only a short while ago, Republican cheerleaders didn’t think a reduction in unemployment was all that. Look at some of the tweets prompted by Barack Obama’s last state of the union speech. A declining unemployment rate wasn’t enough to show economic progress.

The labor participation rate has barely budged in the year since Trump was inaugurated, but you won’t hear anyone on the right pointing it out even though everyone

Politics has almost nothing to do with real ideas or facts, at leas not on a consistent basis. Every claim of accomplishment from the blue team must be countered by a contradictory claim from the red team. It’s understandable when it comes from politicians and their staffs but when it comes from commentators and observers in the general public, it’s disheartening.

Every time you repeat a talking point out of blind partisanship you make it harder to hold leaders accountable. I think holding leaders accountable isn’t really the goal of most political junkies these days though. It’s all about the tribe.

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