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U.S. Job News and Historic Overtime Pay Regulation - Great for Economy but Truth is Ignored By Media
By Kevin Fobbs
May 13, 2004

It has been said that if the nation catches a cold during bad economic downturns, and you live in the industrial midwest then you caught pneumonia. Well, the president's dose of economic medicine is not only working around the country, it is lifting up the economic viability of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Wisconsin.

The Consumer Confidence Index is rocketing up and is giving the economy that much needed shot in the arm. The nation's economic growth is surging with a 4.2 percent spurt in the first quarter of this year. Great news you say. And the news just gets better and better!

First, do you remember those good economic numbers toward the end of last year? The liberals said it was a fluke, a blip, a mistake, and it would never last. The liberal bias was in full swing then, and they were asking Americans to swallow it hook line and sinker.

Well, these negative naysayers and dooms day economic forecasters were wrong, yet again. The nation's economy added 288,000 jobs in April. In addition, the U.S. Labor Department even found that additional jobs had been created in March. Remarkable you might say, but not remarkable enough to prevent the liberal naysayers from continuing to spin their "lackluster jobless recovery" storyline all over the media.

The president's economic policies have added eight straight months of continued job growth. This year alone, over 867,000 jobs have been added, while the country's unemployment rate headed south, falling to 5.6 percent last month.

We live in the industrial midwest and we hear it from our neighbors, from our associates, and in the case of one of the columnists from a spouse whose job and work is directly tied to whether or not the economic upturn will mean more cars will be purchased and therefore more cars and car parts will be made. For the automotive capitol of the world, April's first increase in manufacturing jobs in years means the midwest is finally joining this comeback economy, which is welcomed news for Michigan and our neighboring automotive manufacturing states.

Again, great news but news you've most likely not heard much about. Yes, but you have to dig deep and search for the good news, and ignore the liberal spin. It has not been in the best interest of major network news to engage in sharing the truth about our steadily growing economy. Instead, they underplay good economic news in order to scale back the expectations of the American people for the president's economic successes. It is almost too painful for them to tread in fair and balanced territory. Instead, they are replete with a myriad of falling expectations so thick that you can cut it with a blowtorch.

More jobs created and more manufacturing plants hiring is replaced with media influenced Kerry backers proudly carrying the banner of liberalism into the political battles of the day, spinning down solid economic facts and embracing unsubstantiated out of control fictionalized less truth and more spin.

Well, last week the president took his campaign of good economic news on a bus tour throughout Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin. Even with the constant drone of negativity from the other side of the political aisle, workers and their families, who have endured the full brunt of the hard recessionary impact on their manufacturing jobs, were able to see that the president had a plan that was working. He also shared a bit of additional good news that preceded his historic bus trip.

On April 20th, President Bush strengthened and expanded overtime pay for workers. U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao shared the news that day, saying, "Today, workers win. The department's new rules guarantee and strengthen overtime rights for more American workers than ever before."

Well, did you hear about it on your local news? Odds are, probably not. If you heard about this historic act, you were one of the nation's few. President Bush acted to ensure that more than 6.7 million American workers have stronger overtime pay protections. These protections will reduce the litigation costs that have plagued our workforce and encourage employers to hire additional workers.

So what, if the nation's economy and its workers got a triple whammy of good tidings in April, the naysayers proclaim. Continued strong job growth, reduction in unemployment and new overtime pay increases affecting all branches of the economy - no big deal.

The naysayers who did comment, however, that this overtime pay regulatory effort would only affect a few job categories, but not impact upon the true hard working lower wage earners or even the middle class workers. Ah, they were wrong yet again.

Take a look:

President Bush has tripled the threshold that entitles workers to overtime pay, from $8,060 to $23,660 - the largest increase since FLSA was enacted in 1938, during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Over 5.4 million salaried workers who were unsure if they would receive overtime are now guaranteed to receive benefits. In addition, 1.3 million salaried white-collar workers, who were not eligible for overtime under previous regulations, are now entitled. It sounds to us like this President not only cares about hard working Americans, he has done something about improving their wages.

Well who are the real winners of job overtime pay? The winners under this final regulation are American workers. The 1.3 million white collar workers who will most likely gain overtime:

249,044 managers and administrators

143,856 sales supervisors and proprietors

79,936 teachers, teacher aids, and librarians.

51,848 accountants and auditors

49,387 computer systems analysts, computer programmers, and scientists

45,506 registered nurses

45,404 health care managers

36,422 investigators and adjustors

32,399 designers

31,190 financial managers

If you are one of the 288,000 plus households in America that now have a job then you feel this economy is turning around. If you are one of the 6.7 million American workers who now have stronger overtime pay protections then you feel April was really not a bad month at all. If you are now standing in the 'for hire" line in one of America's manufacturing plant employment offices or sitting at a union hall filling out a new job application, then you feel the President's economic policies make good sense to you and to your family.

It remains true that this economy has to continue it gains and create more jobs. There is every indication that we are on the right track for a long and sustained, prosperous recovery.

There are certain benchmarks, which characterize whether the economy is truly recovering and certainly, the Consumer Confidence Index is a viable measurement of how American consumers feel about purchasing new homes, retail goods, services, and especially cars, which is crucial to the economy of automotive producing states like Michigan and Ohio.

Remember Democrat presidential campaign strategist for former President Bill Clinton James Carville's classic liberal battle cry during the 1992 Presidential Election season, "It's the Economy Stupid"?

Well, we say Mr. Carville, you were absolutely correct. It is the economy stupid, and with growing consumer confidence in the nation's bell weather states, This war time President has created a solid growth economy that will make Carville and his liberal friends wish they had never uttered the phrase - all the way to Election Day.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.