Free Republic

In June, a diffident and self-deluded President Obama claimed that “the private sector is doing fine.” Last week, the private sector responded: Speak for yourself, buster. Who needs an “October Surprise” when the business headlines are broadcasting the imminent layoff bomb in neon lights?The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Tuesday that employers issued 1,316 “mass layoff actions” (affecting 50 workers or more) in September; more than 122,000 workers were affected. USA Today financial reporter Matt Krantz wrote that “much of the recent layoff activity is connected to what’s been the slowest period of earnings growth since the third quarter...

President’s agenda will kill 7,000 mining jobs nationwideGov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign today is calling upon President Obama to freeze proposed mining regulations that will kill good jobs in West Virginia, increase dependence on foreign energy sources and raise electricity prices for consumers nationwide. Today Gov. Perry is visiting West Virginia, where he will continue to share his record and vision of fiscal conservatism and job creation. “President Obama claims to be a ‘warrior for the middle class,’ but his job-killing regulatory policies are hammering middle class families already struggling to make ends meet,” said Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “The...