The Unemployment Myth: Discover What Politicians, Corporations and the Government Don't Want You to...

1 | T h e U n e m p l o y m e n t M y t h


Table of Contents:

Chapter One: Don’t Believe the L

My Personal Introduction……………………………………………………………….

Change Happens, it’s Inevitable

My People are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge

Chapter Two: The Problem.

Chapter Three: From Whence We Came

The Numbers Behind the Story..............................

The Players.…………………………………………………………………………………...4

The Politicians………………………………………………………………………………4

The Corporations…………………………………………………………………………

The Government.....................................................

Chapter Four: The Paradigm Has Shifted........................................................

Chapter Five: The New Wealth Phenomenon................

The Impact of Social Media...........................................................

In Conclusion................................................................................................................

Endnotes.....................................................................................................................

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The Unemployment Myth by Donnye D Collins SrNonCommercial

T h e U n e m p l o y m e n t M y t h

Don’t Believe the Lie..............………………………………………5

My Personal Introduction……………………………………………………………….6

Inevitable...…………………………………………………...10

Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge....…………………………22

.………………………………………………………….24

: From Whence We Came..……………………………………...29

The Numbers Behind the Story........................................................33

…………………………………………………………………………………...42

The Politicians………………………………………………………………………………41

The Corporations………………………………………………………………………….47

The Government..............................................................................55

gm Has Shifted........................................................60

: The New Wealth Phenomenon................................................66

The Impact of Social Media..............................................................78

In Conclusion..................................................................................................................80

Endnotes...........................................................................................................................81

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The Unemployment Myth

Discover What Politicians, Corporations, and the

Government Don’t Want You To Know!

The Startling Truth about Unemployment in America and how you can

POSITION YOURSELF for success by participating in the New Wealth

Phenomenon coming in 2012!

Are you unemployed or know someone who is? Perhaps, you’re a victim of downsizing, layoffs,

or a corporate bankruptcy? Millions of people are facing tough times due to the loss of a job or

career. They are struggling to understand why they haven’t been able to find a job after a year

or two–maybe even three, of searching.

Perhaps you currently have a job or career but aren’t happy with the progress you’ve made

towards the fulfillment of your heartfelt desire to make a difference with your life. You too will

benefit tremendously from the life changing message in The Unemployment Myth!

Most people are unaware of the forces working against them that are prohibiting job creation

in America. These job killing offenses are revealed in this COMPLIMENTARY eBook–The

Unemployment Myth.

Hello, my name is Donnye D. Collins, to many I’m known as–The Bible Millionaire!

My wife, Dr. Christine Handy-Collins and I are the founders of Above Only Living, LLC; where we

are dedicated to educating, uplifting, and helping to guide you towards achieving your greatest

aspirations and God given purpose.

Over the past three years, we have witnessed how the current economic climate has wreaked

havoc in the lives of many hardworking, caring and loving people.

Persistent unemployment has disrupted the lives of millions of Americans yet; politicians,

corporations and the government still isn’t leveling with us about why the United States

continues to languish in the mire of unrelenting joblessness.

The Unemployment Myth exposes the truth behind this scourge that’s plaguing our society and

stealing our joy, peace and tranquility.


The well stated axiom, “To be forewarned is to be forearmed” applies here. The Unemployment

Myth will arm you with a keen knowledge and understanding of why we may not see the

unemployment picture in America change anytime soon.

More importantly, it will show you what you can do to not only survive in this environment, but

to thrive in it.

Discover how the employment landscape has significantly changed forever, and the strategies

you need to employ to successfully navigate its new terrain.

Outstanding opportunities abound today; learn how to spot them so you too can capitalize on

the New Wealth Phenomenon coming in 2012!

Never in our lifetime have we seen conditions as ripe as they are today for a seismic shift in the

way we live, work, and interact! Old, outdated, preconceived notions of what we thought

wasn’t possible before are being shattered!

Discover the secrets to living your life on PURPOSE, and rekindle your fire and passion for living

the American Dream!

“God uses the EXTREME to show He is SUPREME!”

God has opened the doors to a magnificent awakening. The unemployment challenge we face

today is simply the catalyst that will usher in a new generation of leaders, innovators,

collaborators, creators and thinkers who will blaze a remarkable trail in the 21st

century!

This COMPLIMENTARY download is yours FREE of charge. Download a copy for yourself and

pass one along to someone you believe will benefit from this empowering message of hope.


Chapter One

DON’T BELIEVE THE LIE! Myth –noun \’mith\

1. a widely held but false belief

2. an imaginary person or thing

The preceding is how the Oxford English Dictionary defines a myth. Recently, the myth that has

dominated the twenty-four hour news cycles and is the major cause for the fear and anxiety in

the mind of millions of people is the myth of unemployment!

I realize there are millions of people who have lost what has traditionally been called a job and

they consider themselves to be unemployed; however, not having a job and being unemployed

are two totally different circumstances.

Being jobless verses being unemployed is a matter of perception, there is a distinct dichotomy

between these two situations. While not having a job may be a reality for many; being

unemployed is a myth.

For anyone who desires to live a rich, full and rewarding life; even in the current environment

of uncertainty that exist in the job market, The Unemployment Myth will dispel the notion of

unemployment and set you on the path to freedom and fulfillment.

As the Apostle Paul encouraged the people of Philippi:

Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are

just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if

there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

(Philippians 4:8 NKJV)

I encourage you to not only read this book, but meditate on it, digest it; and employ the

principles of this message to transform your life.

Every day we witness the paralyzing effect that this myth has on the psyche of the middle and

working class in our society. They live in fear, stressed, and worried about their future.

Many seem to believe there is little they can do to change the circumstances in which they find

themselves.


It can be discouraging and demoralizing to have everything you’ve worked so hard to build

appear as though it’s crashing down around you because of an employment situation gone

awry; I know because I’ve been there.

While it certainly isn’t a good feeling to not know where the mortgage, rent, car loan, tuition, or

credit card payment is going to come from, you can get through it.

If you feel in your heart that this is not the life God intends for you to live, you’re right–it’s not!

But there is hope!

My Personal Introduction

Hello,

My name is Donnye D. Collins Sr. – “The Bible Millionaire.”

Why, you might ask?

To begin with, I am an avid student of what I believe is the greatest personal living and business

success book ever written for mankind–the Bible!

It contains the most profound, tried and true principles for living a wonderfully successful and

prosperous life; even in the most difficult of times.

King Solomon––a man to whom God granted exceptional wisdom––observed in his life a

profound truth:

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;…That which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of

which it may be said, “See, this is new?” It has already been in ancient times before us.

(Ecclesiastes 1:4, 9-10 NKJV)

King Solomon was right; “There is nothing new under the sun,” including the ‘unemployment’

dilemma our country is in today.

In Solomon’s day it was called a famine or drought; regardless of the time or the title, it

challenged the people to consider alternative ways of surviving.

We can learn a lot from observing great biblical leaders of the past and the lessons they teach.

These men and women took on challenges far greater than those we face today, and

triumphed.

Their strategies for business success and great human achievement have helped me and others

survive through some very difficult times.


The empowering principles, philosophies, and practices they taught can be incorporated into

your life too, to fundamentally rewrite the narrative of your human story.

By utilizing these powerful, time-tested principles, and strategies, you too can survive the

challenges of the day and bring monumental change into your life.

I know firsthand, because I have also been fortunate to build and own several dynamic

businesses using them.

In the past ten years these businesses have produced over $12 million

dollars in revenue.

They have ranged from mortgage brokerage and real estate investment companies, to

corporate finance and acquisition firms.

Along with establishing traditional brick and mortar businesses, I have actively been involved

with Internet, affiliate, and network marketing enterprises as well.

I have also written several books on Christian leadership and business success principles

utilizing the lessons and practices of biblical leaders.

I am on a crusade!

My mission with The Unemployment Myth is to expose the fallacy of unemployment that is

wreaking havoc in the lives of so many caring, innocent, and hardworking people.

This myth is being perpetuated by Satan to undermine the peace, tranquility, and functionality

of mankind.

My journey to this place of enlightenment has not been without its trials and tribulations.

However; in retrospect, I realize that many of the failures and setbacks I suffered along the way

were because of my ignorance and bad decisions.

My journey

My journey began early in life when I dropped out of college in my sophomore year, got

married, and set out to pursue a career in the music industry.

Like many of you I had a dream early in life and was willing to do whatever it took to pursue it.

After a year of marriage I found myself with a new baby, which meant a larger family to

support, so I got a job working with a medical products distribution company while waiting for

my music career to take off.


Times were challenging, as a young father and husband struggling to make a dream happen

with no money or direction, but I continued to chase what I thought was going to be my ticket

to riches, fame, and glory.

After countless auditions, I finally got a gig (musicians vernacular for job) playing drums for a

terrific local band that had some popularity in the area.

Soon, we were recording and touring the country with some of the biggest artist in the industry

at the time. I thought I was on my way!

Unfortunately, dreams don’t always turn out the way we had hoped or planned.

During a show at a naval base in the area a representative for the USO–an organization which

provides services for our troops around the world–heard us perform. He liked our show and

asked if we would be interested in performing at other bases around the world for them.

Of course we said yes. After a meeting with his superiors, we were hired to provide

entertainment for the servicemen and women at the bases located in the Mediterranean.

I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to earn a steady paycheck, make some

connections around the world, and entertain the outstanding men and women in our armed

forces, all on the USO’s dime and time.

In preparation for the band to embark on this potentially career changing endeavor; we were

assigned a representative from the USO to oversee our readiness for the trip.

One evening following an exhaustingly long rehearsal some of the band members got into a

heated discussion over a minute issue concerning a song arrangement, however, the timing of

this argument was not the best.

The officer for the USO who was assigned to us visited our rehearsals before and witnessed this

behavior but this episode troubled him more than the others.

The tour would be starting in a couple of months, and he was responsible for our preparation

and held the final approval on our readiness for deployment.

His final assessment was that if the band could not get along in rehearsals at home in the U.S.,

there was no way he could take a chance on us not getting along for the four to six month tour

abroad for which we were hired.

Needless to say, we were not assigned to do the tour.

This devastated me!


Since I had dropped out of college to pursue this dream; I felt I had failed my family and saw my

hopes of making it in my music career being dashed.

I quit the band shortly thereafter and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. Since I still had my

job at the medical distribution company, I resumed a full-time schedule there while I weighed

my options.

As fate would have it, one day while on the job, a truck driver came in with a load of small

boxes that had overturned in his trailer.

He needed someone to help him restack and unload them, fortunately, I stepped in to help. As

we restacked the boxes, we talked about our families, business, and politics.

During our conversation he mentioned something about making extra income by working part

time.

Initially I wasn’t interested, but I did need the extra money since I hadn’t played in any shows

after leaving the band.

Being polite and a little curious, I agreed to attend his company’s business meeting that

evening.

What I heard at that meeting forever changed my thinking about

money! It was an eye opening revelation.

The meeting was about selling insurance and investments. Even though selling insurance and

investments were not on my radar of career choices, I thought it might offer me the

opportunity to get involved in business; which is what I had gone to college for.

Then the speaker began talking about making the kind of money that was only a dream to me

at the time. Although the money excited me, what made the biggest impact on me was

realizing I had developed the wrong philosophy about making money.

I began to see that my thoughts and perceptions about

making money were very limited.

I joined the company and in doing so, I began a journey of discovery about making money that

contributed immensely to the financial success I enjoyed early in life.

I was introduced to a concept of making money that, if applied, would ensure I

would never have a problem earning money again!

During my early months with the company I was fortunate to meet some of the most powerful

business leaders in the industry.


More importantly, I was introduced to one leader in particular who became my mentor. His

philosophies about life and business had a profound effect on me!

Through this individual I learned the philosophy of priority living! I can’t say I grasped this

concept at first, or that I even wanted to at the time, but there it was before me; a way to

successfully live financially, emotionally, and spiritually!

He showed me that if I applied this philosophy for living to my life, I could truly have it all and

enjoy it; but, I was in too big of a hurry to succeed my way to give it any real consideration!

I experienced tremendous financial success early, so much so that after eight months I quit my

job at the medical distribution company to pursue my dream of becoming financially

independent!

Soon, I began to earn the income I had only dreamed about, but little did I know my life was

about to take a major turn!

“Change is inevitable!”

At the height of my success, I started having some excruciating pains in my stomach. I had no

idea what was causing them, but I had never experienced anything like it before.

I scheduled a visit to see my doctor to find out what was going causing the pain. After the

examination, he diagnosed me with having an ulcer.

I thought, ulcer, isn’t that something “old” people get? I am too young to have an ulcer.

Regardless, my doctor prescribed medication for me to take and sent me on my way.

Unfortunately, the medication did not work, and the pain persisted, but I continued taking the

regiment of pills he prescribed.

After working nonstop for about six months, I decided to reward myself and take a much

needed break. I went to New Orleans for a music festival held there every year.

During my getaway, I felt a pain in my stomach like I hadn’t felt before.

I felt something was terribly wrong, so I decided to cut my trip short and return to Tennessee.

I schedule an emergency visit to see my doctor the following day.

My regular doctor was unavailable, but his partner was treating the emergency patients who

called or came into the office that particular weekend.

During my visit I showed him where I was having the pain and that his partner had diagnosed

me with an ulcer. He stated that the area in which I was hurting was not common for ulcers and

suggested I undergo a series of x-rays to determine what was causing the pain.


He scheduled the x-rays for the following day, and they revealed I didn’t have an ulcer; but

something more serious.

The diagnosis was an illness called Crohn’s Disease––a degenerative disease that affects the

digestive system! I had no idea what this was; nor did I know anyone who had it. All I knew was

that the pain was unlike anything I could have imagined.

The worst part was that there was no cure for it.

The only medication that could keep the disease from flaring up and causing pain was

prednisone steroids, which; considering its side effects, seemed to cause more harm than good.

Those painful episodes continued for over a year. During this time my marriage had become

strained because of the constant traveling my business required when I wasn’t in the hospital.

Needless to say, being in and out of hospitals, making doctor visits, and missing days from my

kids and business, all while dealing with a troubled marriage was extremely frustrating.

My priorities were all messed up and there was little I seemed to be able to do about it!

Fortunately, after one of my doctor visits, my doctor revealed that the infected area that was

causing the pain was isolated in a section of my small intestines.

I asked him if there was a surgical procedure that could remove the diseased part of my

intestines, he said there was, however; he did not recommend it.

His reasoning was that the procedure was not a cure for the disease, it just entailed removing

the infected area, and that it could resurface later somewhere else in my digestive system.

Finally, I couldn’t take the pain and agony any longer, so I urged him to have the procedure

done.

I reasoned that even though the surgery was not a cure, I felt I could get some relief when the

infected section of my intestines was removed.

The surgery was a success, but unfortunately with all that had taken place with the demands of

the business, the illness, and time spent away from my family; my marriage didn’t survive.

I found myself divorced with two children to try and explain why mommy and daddy don’t live

together anymore to; while at the same time make sense of it all myself. Change happening

again!

Following the divorce I became extremely depressed. Going forward, I wasn’t sure what I was

going to do.


I felt God was trying to tell me something about how I was living my life, but I wasn’t sure what

it was or that I was ready to hear Him at the time.

I just felt sorry for myself and the situation I was in.

After a few months I decided to end my pity party and pursue a career as a real estate investor.

This was when real estate was starting to become a popular investment opportunity for the

masses.

Remember the infamous infomercials running at 3:00 AM with the grand promises of buying

real estate with “no money down?” Well, I fell for it!

Fortunately, because of the team I had built with the insurance and investment company I still

had some income coming in which sustained me during my transition.

I began a new journey as a real estate investor and set off on my quest of becoming the next

real estate mogul!

Real estate investing went well for a while. I was able to learn the business and purchased some

properties to rent.

The only problem was:

I was now a landlord who had to collect rent every month!

This was not in my DNA makeup!

I didn’t care for the property management and maintenance duties of being a landlord.

Getting those maintenance calls in the middle of the night, coupled with the other headaches

of being a landlord didn’t sit too well with me.

After four years of being a landlord I was ready to exit the real estate investment business and

pursue a field where I had the potential to make a lot more money–without the property

management hassles.

Since I had always had a fascination with investing in the stock market, and my major in college

was corporate and business finance, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to

pursue that field.

Luckily, my rental income gave me the resources I needed to get started so I jumped in with

both feet.

I started investing in little known undervalued companies whose stock was traded on the penny

stock exchange, and whose products were yet to be discovered by the masses.


My plan was to eventually takeover some of these companies by purchasing a controlling

interest in them.

As I delved into the business I was introduced to a gentleman whom I would later designate as

the lead investment banker for my corporate acquisitions venture.

He was an ambitious man who left a major Wall Street firm to start his own investment banking

operation a few years earlier.

Soon after opening his firm, he began acquiring a substantial number of large municipal bond

underwritings from counties in California and the surrounding states and started making a

name for himself and his firm in the investment banking industry.

In my first deal with him, I sought to acquire and little known technology company in Colorado

that manufactured wireless credit card readers using cell technology. This was before cell

phones were as popular and widespread as they are today.

My intention was to acquire the company, build the market for the technology, and distribute it

worldwide. After a couple of years, I planned to sell the company for a profit to finance my next

acquisition.

I thought if this worked according to plan, I would be on my way!

I would soon become rich beyond my wildest imagination!

So, I partnered with my investment banking friend, and we set out to acquire the company.

We devised a plan that would entail me buying one million shares of stock in the company

while we valued and structured the deal.

I bought the million shares at $0.035 cents per share or roughly $35,000 plus fees.

Then, subsequently I would buy more shares over time to prove to other investors that I had an

interest in partnering with that I was serious player in the corporate acquisition game.

I also wanted to acquire a sizable amount of stock in the company in the event another

company came along and bought out the company while we were conducting our due-

diligence.

If that happened, I could sell my shares to them and still make a handsome profit.

Little did I know that a few weeks after making this purchase, my investment banker would be

hit with a securities investigation alleging that he had bribed some city and county officials with

cash and other incentives in return for them awarding municipal bond projects to his firm.


During the investigation, his firm was issued a “cease and desist” order.

This action froze all of his firm’s assets, thereby, prohibiting him from trading any securities;

including MY stock! I was floored!

My $35,000 was gone!

To make matters worse, while the investigation ensued, another investment company began

buying large blocks of stock in an effort to take over the company I was trying to acquire.

They had deeper pockets than I did, so they could buy up all the outstanding stock in the

company and take it over with no problem.

In their initial move they bought 30% of the company’s outstanding stock. It appeared their

intention was to buy the rest shortly thereafter and take control of the company.

Since this was a reputable investment firm; that move drove the company’s stock price from

$0.035 cents per share to $1.23 per share almost overnight!

This meant my investment of $35,000 was now worth $1,230,000!

But, ‘I COULDN’T TOUCH A DIME OF IT!’

I WAS SICK!

I was a MILLIONAIRE–at least on paper–but couldn’t touch a dime of the money because of the

investigation looming over my investment banker’s firm!

My money was tied up in his firm and there was nothing I could do about it. The investigation

dragged on for months. Eventually, the charges made against his firm were dropped, but the

damage had already been done.

Towards the end of the investigation, the firm that had considered taking over the technology

company decided not to complete the buyout, and backed out of the deal.

This caused the stock to plummet! By the time I was able to sell the shares I had accumulated

they were worth less $700. I was so discouraged by the whole debacle that I sold what I had

and moved on.

After this turn of events, I was faced with the decision of what I wanted to do with my life and

career, again.

With a failed marriage, a failed business, and the dissipation of over a million dollars; I didn’t

know where to start towards rebuilding.


Then one day, a former business associate from the insurance and investment marketing

company called me and offered me the opportunity to work with him in his mortgage company

that he and a mutual friend of ours had started months earlier.

This was when the mortgage industry was just starting to heat up and become hugely popular. I

needed to get out of the depressed state I was in, so I accepted his offer.

I began developing strong relationships with real estate agents, developers, and investors; as a

result my business quickly took off.

After two and a half years of working for my friend’s company it became obvious that they

were comfortable with the money they were making and neither he nor his partner wanted to

take the company to the next level.

At the time I was bringing in over 30% of the revenue, and they seemed content with the

arrangement, yet I felt I was entitled to a bigger piece of the pie I had created.

I scheduled a meeting with them to discuss our relationship going forward. At the meeting I

requested a larger percentage of the business I was generating, only to be rebuffed and

dismissed as being ungrateful and unappreciative of the opportunity they had given me!

Following our meeting, and after much deliberation and reflection, I decided to leave and start

my own mortgage company.

My plan entailed bringing on two partners for this venture. One was for the financial backing

needed in the state licensing process, and the other was to bring someone with experience on

board to assist with the hiring and training of the loan officers and staff.

My role was to put up the money to rent and furnish the office space, hire loan officers, and

establish an operating reserve until we became profitable.

The investor’s role was to invest the $40,000 it would take to get the license to operate a

mortgage brokerage company in the state of Tennessee.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

After I found the office space, signed a three year lease agreement, and sank monies into

furnishing it; my financial backer reneged on our agreement at the last minute and backed out

of the project.

Now, here I was with an office full of furniture and a lease committing me for the next three

years, a receptionist on the payroll, and no license to operate! Talk about stress!


The rest of the plan called for my other partner to leave his position as the manager of a

finance company and come on board to help me with the hiring and training of our loan

officers.

He would also be responsible for generating revenue by working with the realtors and their

agents that I had lined up to send their business to our company.

That didn’t happen either! After he discovered his wife was pregnant with their first child, he

decided to stay with the finance company for the health benefits.

At this point, I wanted to quit the whole thing, but; I was in it too deep.

I was in a terrible situation with no clue how to resolve it!

My girlfriend at the time had planned to work in the office to help me process the business we

would be generating; however, there was no business being generated because I had no

license.

As a result, I had to outsource my loans to other brokers and take a small fee for the business.

After weeks of agonizing over my situation; I had no choice but to come up with the $40,000 for

the mortgage broker license and set out to make this venture work.

Out of desperation and poor judgment, I decided to make my girlfriend my business

partner…bad decision!

My girlfriend was my girlfriend; not my “defacto” business partner. I should have kept the two

separate and not put her in that situation.

She was perfectly willing to help me make a go of the business, but she was not prepared to

deal with the emotional, financial, and physical toll it took on a relationship being a business

partner.

After a year, we dissolved the business partnership and our relationship; it simply became too

much for the two us to try and deal with day after day.

Now here I was, out of pocket over $100,000 getting the company started, thousands of dollars

in debt, with loans ready to close but no one to handle them!

I had customers, real estate agents, home builders, and mortgage lenders constantly calling me

demanding to know what was going on with their loans!


This was not the “good” life I had imagined living!

This was not at all how I had envisioned this venture turning out, but what could I do at this

point? Where do I turn?

Just as I was at my lowest point I got a call from the brother of the partner whose wife was

pregnant. He was also the manager of a finance company. I had closed some loans for him that

his company could not do, so we had already established a relationship.

I started talking to him about my situation. He mentioned he was getting tired of managing the

finance company, so we set a time to meet for lunch and talk.

When we met, it was like a force had brought us together. He asked questions about the

business and said he would get back with me. He called me the next day and expressed an

interest in joining me in the mortgage business.

Long story short, we brought in another business partner who was looking for a business to

invest in. We started our new mortgage company in the office I had set up earlier, and we went

on to have some amazing success.

Our first eighteen months in business, we

generated almost $2 million dollars in fees

and commissions!

Over the six years we were in business the company generated over $10 million in revenue,

fees, and commissions.

We could have done a lot more, but unfortunately, I prematurely took my eyes off of the

mortgage brokerage company and started investing in real estate again.

This time, however; I simply bought houses to “flip”–– sell for an instant profit. Real estate was

starting to heat up at a feverish pace and was fast becoming the hottest investment vehicle

around.

Many of my friends and I were making millions in the real estate business. I knew all the major

players who made the industry work; from the investors to the lenders, real estate agents,

account executives…etc.

Making money in real estate seemed so easy. It was as if we were

“printing” it!


I later started a real estate investment company to take advantage of the deals that were

coming my way, but as I focused more of my time and attention on my real estate investment

company our mortgage brokerage company began to suffer.

Our company was closing loans and making money, but I wasn’t actively involved in growing it

like I was in the beginning.

As I made money from buying and selling houses, I invested some of the profits into stocks

again in my effort to start and run a hedge fund–the investment vehicle of the super wealthy.

As the money rolled in, I acquired more properties, unfortunately, more than I could prudently

handle at one time.

The properties started to backlog because I wasn’t getting them fixed up and sold as fast as I

should have; even with two crews working for me at the time, including my father, brother, and

brother-in-law.

I was shelling out thousands of dollars paying cash for houses, payroll, building materials, labor

costs, legal fees and insurance.

When a house was completed and I sold it, instead of taking some of the profits from the sale

and reinvesting it into refurbishing the other houses I owned and properly overseeing my

expenses; I took the money and spent it on funding my lavish lifestyle.

I thought the money would just continue to roll in.

By mid-2006, my partners and I started to seriously discuss what we wanted to do with the

mortgage brokerage company. Our lease was ending soon and the company was debt free.

A couple of years earlier, I met the woman who would later become my wife. She lived in

Maryland and I lived in Tennessee.

During those two years we maintained a long distance courtship; talk about running up

frequent flyer miles!

My business partners were financially independent, and wanted to spend more time with their

families, and I was ready to relocate to Maryland to be with my new wife.

We decided this would be the best time for us to cash out and move on. Neither of them

wanted to run the business without me, and I didn’t want to be involved with it long distance.

Shortly thereafter, we sold the mortgage brokerage company and went our separate ways.

Little did I know the bottom would fall out of the industry the following year!


After we sold the company, I didn’t immediately relocate to Maryland.

By this point I was heavily involved in investing in the real estate and stocks. Due to monies

going out faster than it was coming in; I found myself depleting my savings and investment

accounts just to keep up with the expenses of maintaining the properties and stock trading.

In the fall of 2007 the real estate and financial markets plummeted! The value of my real estate

and stock started drying up, and I found myself deeply in debt, again.

I had spent a great deal of money purchasing stocks and real estate to rehab and sell for future

profits but that train quickly derailed!

I couldn’t imagine losing everything again, especially after having worked so hard to recover

from my past failures.

I asked myself how I could have allowed this situation to happen to me again!

My lowest point came when I lost the houses (including my personal residence), cars,

furnishings––Everything!

It was at my lowest point that I had my greatest moment of clarity!

As I reflected on the events that had taken place in my life, I realized that up to that point, all I

thought about was “ME” and what “I” had done.

I thought about how much money “I” had made, what “I” could buy, what “I” had achieved

through “MY” abilities, “MY” efforts, “MY” skills, and “MY” talent!

I ,I ,I Me, Me, Me, My, My, My!

I hadn’t given much thought to the role God played in all of this. The more I thought about it,

the more I realized I didn’t give Him much credit for any of my successes.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know God, I attended church, prayed, and donated to charities and

Christian organizations like many people I knew, but, none of that mattered, something was

missing.

In the days and weeks that passed following my fourth failure in business and losing everything

again, I began to read my Bible more intently seeking some direction for my life and possibly an

explanation for all I had gone through.

This is when I discovered the scripture that put all of what had happened in my life into

perspective. It explained some of what I had suffered and why there were many ups and downs

and challenges in my quest for success.


The verse that turned everything around for me is:

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for

it is He who gives you the power to get

wealth…

(Deut 8:18 NKJV)

POW! Like a bolt of lightning it hit me. Everything I had done up to that point was useless. All

that I had earned was just temporary.

This was why I kept making money only to lose it later. My problem wasn’t if I was going to be a

success; my problem was how I went about achieving it.

Although God was speaking to the children of Israel at the time; I felt as though He was talking

to me. He was telling them how they were going to be blessed magnificently but not to forget

the source of their blessing, like I had done! True “wealth” comes from God!

I’ve personally witnessed people who changed for the worse once they achieved a certain level

of success. I especially saw this with the “instant” millionaires the hot real estate market

created.

I saw how my attitude changed as I began to increase, I thought I did it all myself. I thought I

had created the opportunities that made me money.

I actually thought I was that good. In reality, I wasn’t!

God showed me it wasn’t because of me that I was able to achieve anything in my life. It was

because of His grace, favor, mercy and provisions, yet I gave Him little credit, acknowledgement

or praise for any of my success.

As He led me on a journey of discovery throughout the Bible studying the lives of leaders He

called upon to lead at certain times in history, I began to see that there was a higher purpose

for my life; given all I had experienced.

The more I studied His Word and the lives of Biblical leaders, the more I saw a pattern emerge.

It became clear why it was necessary for me to experience all that I went through.

The good, the bad, and the ugly were all a part of a process of preparation!

I began to see that the events of my life had been orchestrated by God. They were designed to

bring me to a place of faith, preparation, trust, and obedience.

From the chance meeting with the truck driver; to joining the insurance and investment

company, the corporate finance venture, the mortgage and real estate businesses, it all began

to make sense.


The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall

not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

(Psalm 37:23-24 NKJV)

All that I had gone through were simply a result of my steps being ordered by the Lord.

My knowledge about business and experiences in the financial industry, coupled with an

understanding about spiritual leadership, was for me to help navigate His people through these

turbulent times.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

(Hosea 4: 6 NKJV)

This is what compelled me to write this book and place it in your hands at this time.

People are being destroyed because of a lack of knowledge!

Marriages, families, relationships, businesses, and communities are being destroyed because of

the lack of knowledge about this myth.

It has caused people to lose hope, lack confidence, and suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem and

low self-worth. It is destroying their peace of mind and outlook for a better tomorrow.

We are witnessing a myriad of psychological conditions on the rise because of its influence in

people’s lives, conditions such as depression, anxiety, fear anger, isolation, and frustration.

The enemy has persistently kept this lie going and there are many who don’t know where to

turn for help.

But, don’t lose hope! Satan does not have the final say in the matter!

God promises us a way out of the circumstance we may find ourselves in as it relates to the

current employment picture in America.

However, to win this fight we must come to grips with an undeniable and unrelenting truth,

and that is:

Change is the only thing that is certain in life.

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

John F. Kennedy

Not only is change certain in life, but it is also inevitable! Change is inevitable and necessary in

order to succeed in the changing world we live in.


Change creates Opportunity!

While we can’t stop change from happening to us, we can chose how we respond to the change

that happens.

When a seemingly devastating setback occurs such as the loss of a job, income, or business, we

have two choices. We can choose to react to it or we can choose to respond to it!

When we react, we choose to allow our emotions and feelings to dictate our actions! When we

respond, we choose to allow God’s promises to dictate our actions.

To react is fear based but to respond is faith based!

In climbing our way back to the top, it is imperative that we adopt a new perspective about

success and its responsibilities.

We must believe that God is restoring, renewing, and rejuvenating our lives and relationship

with Him.

Now, let’s get started demolishing this myth once and for all.

A wise man said once:

“To be forewarned is to be forearmed!”

Not only do I want to forewarn you concerning the destructive forces behind the myth, but

more importantly, I want to forearm you with time-tested biblical strategies and practices you

can use to address this growing misconception and win in all areas of your life.

Get ready for a new way to live and experience all God has in store for you!

“Let nobody fool you, all the loud noises we hear today are

nothing but the death groans of the dying system. The old world

order is passing away; the new order is coming into being. But

whenever there is anything new there are new responsibilities. As

we think of this coming new world we must think of the challenge

that we confront and the new responsibilities that stand before us.

We must prepare to live in a new world.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.


Chapter Two

The Problem–

The relentless bombardment by the twenty four hour news channel’s reporting about

unemployment, job loss, cutbacks, layoffs, downsizing, and bailouts is extremely deafening at

times.

This is designed by our enemy––Satan––to instill fear and hopelessness in the hearts and minds

of the people.

Unconsciously, many of them have bought into this unemployment myth and have accepted it

as true.

There is no denying the fact that the current economic climate is real and has affected the

livelihood of millions, however; their story doesn’t have to end there.

You may know of someone who has been laid off or displaced in the current economic

conditions that exist in the marketplace today, or you may be experiencing it personally.

Several of those who were seeking a job have simply given up on their search, and many of

those who have a job are living in fear of losing it.

The term “unemployment” is the biggest myth affecting our society today!

Unfortunately, not a day goes by that we don’t hear something about the “unemployment

rate” or the “jobless figure,” or whatever the government or the news media is calling it these

days. Regardless of what they are calling it; it is all still a myth!

There is no such thing as “unemployment!”

I know this statement contradicts everything you’ve been hearing recently, or have been led to

believe, but it’s true and I will prove it to you!

I have to admit, I didn’t understand this at first. Like many of you, I was accustomed to buying

into much of what was being presented in the news media about the unemployment situation

in the U.S. without giving it much thought.

Then one day, as I was studying my Bible doing research for another book I am writing, I was

struck by a scripture that stood out. The scripture I’m making reference to is:

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female

He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth

and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living

thing that moves on the earth.”

(Genesis 1: 27-28 NKJV)


Ironically, while I was writing, the radio was playing and during the news segment I heard the

news reporter say:

“Today’s unemployment rate topped 9.2 percent!”

I wasn’t paying much attention to the specifics of what was being said, but as he continued

explaining what made up those numbers, I heard the Holy Spirit say:

“THAT’S A LIE”

I thought what’s a lie? I heard the Holy Spirit say it again:

“THAT’S A LIE, IT’S A MYTH!”

I stopped writing and pondered what I was hearing.

I heard the Holy Spirit go on to say:

“It’s a MYTH! “Unemployment” is a trick of the enemy!

“This lie has infiltrated man’s thinking as if it is the truth, it’s not the truth, there’s no such thing

as mankind being unemployed!”

The Holy Spirit went on to say;

“It is God who employs man, not man!”

“If God created man in His image, how can he be unemployed?”

God created and charged us with a duty and that is, “To be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth

and subdue it.” In other words, ‘He charged us to make our mark on the earth’ while we are

here.

If man was truly unemployed as the news broadcast proclaims, then that would mean:

Man’s duty and charge on earth would have been fulfilled!

If that was so; none of us would be here! Life as we know it would be over! The Holy Spirit went

on to say:

“Man is not unemployed, he’s UNINFORMED!”

The Holy Spirit explained that when you employ something, it means to use it for its intended

purpose, when its purpose has ended and there is no longer a need for it, it is then disposed of.


Man was created in the image of God, and charged––by God––with a duty, ‘to be fruitful and

multiply.’ This also means to; ‘increase and prosper’ on the earth while we are here. When

man’s time on the earth has ended, God will dispose of man’s role here.

Has all of that happened yet? NO! Therefore, man is STILL EMPLOYED–by God–not by man!

Take Adam–the first “Man” created by God! After God created him, did He expect Adam to sit

around and wait on someone else to tell him what to do? No! God put him to work!

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

(Genesis 2: 15 NKJV)

God employed Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend to and keep it. Not only that, when God

created the animals, He employed Adam to name them!

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought

them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that

was its name.

(Genesis 2:19 NKJV)

God had a purpose for Adam. Can you imagine naming all of the creatures we see every day

and those we don’t? This was a full-time job for Adam!

God has a purpose for you and me as well. He created us in His image and equipped us with the

necessary skills, tools, temperament, and insight to do His will like He did with Adam.

So, where did “unemployment” come from? Stay with me, we’ll cover that later.

After that I heard the Holy Spirit say to me:

“You have to tell them.”

Again, I thought, what? He said it again, “You have to tell them.” I thought; tell who what? He

replied, “About the myth, you have to tell them and explain to them that it is a lie and not to

buy into it.”

I was taken aback for a moment. I wasn’t sure I heard Him correctly. What does He mean I have

to tell them?

He said, “You have to tell them it is a lie. I am going to reveal it to you and expose this myth,

and you have to tell the people. Not only will you tell them, but you have to show them a better

way to live!”

As time passed, more was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit as promised, and it became clear

that what He said was true.


Unemployment is a lie!

This term “un-employment” is an oxymoron! It resides in the mind and vocabulary of man, not

in the kingdom of God!

This term has to be eradicated from man’s language and thinking. It is poisonous propaganda.

There is a better way to live!

Over the days and weeks that followed, the Holy Spirit began giving me the details of writing

The Unemployment Myth.

Get ready! Only now is this myth being exposed!

The Unemployment Myth will cover a myriad of facts and information that will help you clearly

see how politicians, corporations, the government, and the media have been wrong and

unwittingly misleading God’s people.

The story you have been led to believe that is widely reported about unemployment will be

challenged, questioned, and exposed!

What you thought you knew about earning an income and what is really happening are worlds

apart. The Unemployment Myth will show you how to navigate this new paradigm and

encourage you to:

“Think Anew!”

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove

what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

(Romans 12:2 NKJV)

The Unemployment Myth will challenge you to go beyond your usual thinking about traditional

jobs, employment, work, and making a living and rethink past, outdated concepts and traditions.

It was the noted physicist Albert Einstein who stated:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind

of thinking we used when we created them.”

This is so true. The problems we face can’t be solved using the same level of thinking that

created them. For circumstances to change; our thinking must change.


The concept of unemployment resides in the mind of the individual. It’s not based in reality,

certainly not God’s reality anyway.

If you are presently consider yourself unemployed, under-employed, or don’t like the job you

have, The Unemployment Myth will provide you with the framework you need to begin taking

your life to another dimension.

Barriers will be broken, habits shattered, and paradigms will shift as you internalize this new

and dynamic way of thinking! You will not be intimidated by unemployment any longer!

“Nothing can be more tragic than for

man to live in these revolutionary times

and fail to achieve the new attitudes

and the new mental outlooks that the

new situation demands.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Are you ready! These are extraordinary and pivotal times we live in! Make the shift! Position

yourself and your family for wealth and success like never before. Start making the change

necessary to fulfill your God given purpose today!


Chapter Three

From Whence We Came!

As we begin this new journey of discovery, I believe it is imperative that we start by examining

how we arrived at this state of mind and what is perpetuating it.

A while ago, I was on a cruise to the Caribbean. In the middle of the cruise a hurricane began

forming in the area, therefore; our ship was diverted, and we docked at a port city in Mexico.

During the lay over, we took a taxi inland to a beautiful city called Merida.

While there, I experienced a basic human exchange that had a very profound effect on me and

changed my perception about living in a free society.

Many times when I travel to a city or country I hadn’t visited before, I tend to venture out into

the non-tourist areas and neighborhoods to get a feel for the authenticity of the city, the

people, and its culture.

I am always fascinated by why people do what they do for a living and what compels them to

choose a particular vocation.

As I walked the cobbled streets of this magnificent city and observed the people, I was struck by

the culture and attitude of the few I met who spoke English. As I talked with them, what stood

out most to me was the attitude and comments they had about what they did to earn money.

They were all busy doing something, either selling goods they created themselves, or providing

some type of service to the tourist who visited their city.

It seemed many of them simply wanted to find work; they weren’t as concerned about finding a

job! This contrast in perspectives stayed with me.

Coincidently, later that evening back on the ship as we sat for dinner, we were joined at our

table by the Secretary of Labor for the government of Mexico. My conversation with him,

confirmed what I was told by the people I met earlier.

He stated that many people in his country look for work, not a job. Since regular jobs were not

as plentiful there, people found work which allows them to maintain their household; and from

what I saw, there was a lot of “work” going on in the country.

In the United States however, we tend to look at employment differently. Americans tend to

have a one dimensional perspective when it comes to earning an income.

It is common for the majority of Americans to think having a job is the only way to earn an

income.


Unfortunately, over the years we have been conditioned to think this way. It is what we were

taught by our parents, teachers, colleges, and society since early childhood.

Therefore, we consider having a job to be our primary means of making money.

And, if we lost that job for one reason or another, we considered ourselves unemployed until

we found the next one.

Over the past sixty years or so, most Americans’ idea of

earning an income is to go out and find a job, work 40+

hours per week and receive a slip of paper called a

“paycheck” that when we exchanged it for cash, it gave

us X number of dollars to spend on the things we

wanted or needed to survive.

It was easy to get a job then because basically all we

had to do was apply for it. Usually we got it because the

need for labor was great. If we didn’t like that job,

getting another one was often as simple as applying for

it as well.

Thirty five or forty years ago, it was easy for Americans to find a job.

It used to be if our dad, uncle, brother, aunt, or friend worked at a company that regularly hired

for unskilled positions, they could put in a good word for us with the boss or supervisor, and we

would get a job sometimes on the spot!

Not anymore!

That was possible then because America manufactured goods like: cars, trucks, building

materials, air conditioners, and industrial machinery….etc. America was a nation of producers.

We made and manufactured just about everything here in America and exported those

products around the world.

In the Industrial Age, Jobs were plentiful!

A job gave workers a piece of the industrial pie. Companies like Ford, General Motors, Chrysler,

GE, Caterpillar, Proctor and Gamble, International Harvester, Firestone, and others made and

sold a medley of goods and services at the height of the industrial era.

Millions of workers were gainfully employed as a result of their existence, however; that

dynamic has changed dramatically today!


Those days are gone!

Regardless of what era you started working in; let me ask you something. When you were

working that job, were you doing so for the sake of having something to do to fill your time

with menial tasks, or, were you working to produce an income?

Chances are you wanted the income more than you wanted the job, right?

That income paid the mortgage or rent, the water, gas, and electric utilities, bought food and

clothing for the family, as well as educated your children.

For many, having an “income” was really the objective!

Since having an income was your primary objective, does it matter what source that income

comes from now?

Perhaps it could come from having a job, then again it could come from having a business, or

providing a service, or maybe it could be in the form of a gift, inheritance or lottery winnings.

As long as its legal, ethical, moral and continuous, it shouldn’t matter, should it?

Exactly, income is income!

Income can come from a job, a business, or revenue YOU create!

Even though traditional jobs are disappearing, work, business, and income is being created

every day from a variety of sources.

If we want to succeed in this new economy, we can; but we must adopt a new attitude about

earning income, and rethink our perception about employment in America.

Events of the past ten years have demanded that we do so.

The economy started shifting in early 2001–then came September 11th

! After the September

11th

tragedy, everything changed overnight!

After September 11, the U. S. job market was changed forever!

The magnitude of that tragedy shook the very pillars of American business. Its impact on the

U. S. job market has caused a steady rise in unemployment practically every year since.

Companies in many sectors of business, trade and industry stopped hiring, wages froze and that

trend has continued until this day.


However, we did see a slight dip in the unemployment rate during the real estate boom that by

most estimates began early 2005 and lasted until December 2007, during which time home

sales and prices exploded!

Mortgage related activities such as home refinancing, home equity and commercial lending

increased exponentially as well.

This period of unbridled greed gave Americans a false sense of prosperity.

The euphoria in the marketplace was driven by highly inflated real estate prices in an

unregulated banking and mortgage backed securities environment.

When coupled with the lack of oversight given to self-governing, self-serving financial

institutions, inept Wall Street tycoons and securities traders; this was nothing but a recipe for

disaster!

When the bubble burst, we saw the fortunes of millions of hard working Americans evaporate

overnight.

ThisThisThisThis was a recipe for disasterwas a recipe for disasterwas a recipe for disasterwas a recipe for disaster!!!!

Millions of innocent people were devastated as this world-wide debacle unraveled. Many saw

their pensions, (401) k plans, and retirement accounts lose a substantial amount of its value.

My background in corporate finance and investing compels me by habit to analyze the data and

information that drives the numbers behind a business’ success or failure.

There are always reasons for why major change occurs in business and I was led to investigate

the story behind this change to see how current and past events have contributed to the state

of unemployment we are experiencing today.

The NUMBERS behind the STORY!

While it is not my intention to make the following chapter a data dump, where I pour a bunch

of numbers and data on you to analyze; I feel it is important that we look at what is being

reported by the government and news media and why.

These numbers are not just facts and figures on a page; they represent people in real life

circumstances.

Given a choice, I’m sure these people would rather be among the ranks of those citizens who

are contributing to our society instead of being deemed a “statistic,” don’t you agree?


You are probably like me, in that, whenever I am presented with statistics, polls, or surveys to

consider, I would like to know where the information came from in order to judge the validity

of the source that produced it.

In the United States Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the agency that

keeps track of the labor activity in the United States. The following is how they determine who

to count as unemployed.

i Who is counted as unemployed? Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior

4 weeks, and are currently available for work. Actively looking for work may consist of any of the

following activities:

• Contacting:

An employer directly or having a job interview

A public or private employment agency

Friends or relatives

A school or university employment center

• Sending out resumes or filling out applications

• Placing or answering advertisements

• Checking union or professional registers

• Some other means of active job search

If someone currently doesn’t have a job, and they’ve looked for one in the past four weeks,

they are classified as unemployed! But, what about the people who have been out of work

longer than four weeks and are still looking for a job, don’t they count too? Hmmm…later on

this one!


Just how does the government come up with those statistics anyway?

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

How the Government Measures Unemployment

Where do the statistics come from?ii Early each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor announces the

total number of employed and unemployed persons in the United States for the previous month, along

with many characteristics of such persons. These figures, particularly the unemployment rate—which

tells you the percent of the labor force that is unemployed—receive wide coverage in the media.

Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment, the Government uses the number of

persons filing claims for unemployment insurance benefits under State or Federal Government programs.

But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or

delay or never apply for benefits.

Other people think that the Government counts every unemployed person each month. To do this, every

home in the country would have to be contacted—just as in the population census every 10 years. This

procedure would cost way too much and take far too long.

Because unemployment insurance records relate only to persons who have applied for such benefits, and

since it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts

a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of

unemployment in the country.

There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey. This translates into

approximately 110,000 individuals. The CPS sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire

population of the United States. In order to select the sample, all of the counties and county-equivalent

cities in the country first are grouped into 2,025 geographic areas (sampling units). The Census Bureau

then designs and selects a sample consisting of 824 of these geographic areas to represent each State

and the District of Columbia.

Every month, one-fourth of the households in the sample are changed, so that no household is

interviewed more than 4 consecutive months. After a household is interviewed for 4 consecutive months,

it leaves the sample for 8 months, and then is again interviewed for the same 4 calendar months a year


later, before leaving the sample for good. This procedure results in approximately 75 percent of the

sample remaining the same from month to month and 50 percent from year to year.

Each person is classified according to the activities he or she engaged in during the reference week.

Then, the total numbers are "weighted," or adjusted to independent population estimates (based on

updated decennial census results). The weighting takes into account the age, sex, race, Hispanic

ethnicity, and State of residence of the person, so that these characteristics are reflected in the proper

proportions in the final estimates.

A sample is not a total count, and the survey may not produce the same results that would be obtained

from interviewing the entire population. But the chances are 90 out of 100 that the monthly estimate of

unemployment from the sample is within about 290,000 of the figure obtainable from a total census.

Since monthly unemployment totals have ranged between about 7 and 11 million in recent years, the

possible error resulting from sampling is not large enough to distort the total unemployment picture.

There you have it. They don’t count every person who doesn’t have a job, regardless of

whether they have been looking or not! It is just a representation or a sampling of the

population.

Although we wouldn’t expect them to count everybody in the country who doesn’t have a job,

it does point out the fact that there are several thousands, if not millions of people who are not

being counted using this method.

Even given the potential to possibly overlook millions of people using this method, once this

sampling is compiled, it is then reported as the “Official Unemployment Rate,” which is the

figure that’s widely referenced in the news.


Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Surveyiii

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual

2001 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.5 4.6 4.9 5.0 5.3 5.5 5.7

2002 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.9 6.0

2003 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.0 5.8 5.7

2004 5.7 5.6 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.4 5.4

2005 5.3 5.4 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.9

2006 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4

2007 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.7 5.0

2008 5.0 4.8 5.1 4.9 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.1 6.2 6.6 6.8 7.3

2009 7.8 8.2 8.6 8.9 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.7 9.8 10.1 9.9 9.9

2010 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.8 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.6 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.4

2011 9.0 8.9 8.8 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.1

Because of who is categorized as unemployed and the fact that only four weeks of looking for a

job is considered in the criteria; many have questioned whether the method used is an accurate

representation of the actual unemployment situation in the U.S. given the extended period of

joblessness that has persisted.

After pressure from economists and others who are knowledgeable about the true

unemployment picture that exist in the U. S. and how many people were being misrepresented


by the narrow definition being used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a new more true and

accurate system of reporting those numbers was introduced.

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

How the Government Measures Unemployment

Is there only one official definition of unemployment?iv Yes, there is only one official definition of unemployment, and that was discussed above. However, some

have argued that this measure is too restricted, and that it does not adequately capture the breadth of

labor market problems. For this reason, economists at BLS developed a set of alternative measures of

labor underutilization. These measures are published every month in the Employment Situation news

release. They range from a very limited measure that includes only those who have been unemployed (as

officially defined) for 15 weeks or more to a very broad one that includes total unemployed (as officially

defined), all persons marginally attached to the labor force, and all individuals employed part time for

economic reasons.

The following chart–Table A-15; is a more accurate measure of the true unemployment

numbers, taking into account all of the factors and categories that real people are facing.

Note the name–Alternative Measure of Labor “Underutilization.” This measure takes into

account the many areas that were previously not counted in the original criteria used by the

Bureau of Labor Statistics, yet they exist in the marketplace.

These measures range from–U-1 thru U-6, with U-1 being those unemployed for 15 weeks or

longer, while U-4 takes into consideration those who have become “discouraged” and have

stopped looking for employment.

U-6 takes into account all of the factors measured in U-1 thru U-5 and adding to it ‘those who

were forced to take a part-time job for economic reasons’ since no full-time employment was

available.

When you take into account ALL of the factors that are present in today’s unemployment

dilemma, we see that the TRUE unemployment rate, according to their figures as of September,

2011, the “Seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate is actually 16.5%!


U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilizationv

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Sept. 2010

Aug. 2011

Sept. 2011

Sept. 2010

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

Aug. 2011

Sept. 2011

U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of

the civilian labor force

5.3 5.2 5.2 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.4

U-2 Job losers and persons who

completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force

5.6 5.1 5.0 6.0 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.3

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)

9.2 9.1 8.8 9.6 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.1

U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers

9.9 9.6 9.4 10.3 9.5 9.8 9.8 9.7 9.7

U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally

attached to the labor force

10.7 10.6 10.2 11.0 10.3 10.7 10.7 10.6 10.5

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total

employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the

civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force

16.2 16.1 15.7 17.1 15.8 16.2 16.1 16.2 16.5

NOTE: Persons marginally attached to the labor force are those who currently are neither working nor

looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.


Another alarming statistic affecting many of those who are unemployed is the “Duration” of

unemployment!

The following chart–Table A-12 shows the percentage of all workers who are unemployed,

broken down by how long they’ve been out of work according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemploymentvi

Duration

Not seasonally

adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Sept.

2010

Aug.

2011

Sept.

2011

Sept.

2010

May

2011

June

2011

July

2011

Aug.

2011

Sept.

2011

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Less than 5 weeks 2,830 2,635 2,760 2,872 2,664 3,076 2,689 2,755 2,772

5 to 14 weeks 3,127 3,377 2,726 3,329 2,892 2,972 3,088 3,050 2,904

15 weeks and over 8,183 7,997 8,034 8,517 8,184 8,125 8,150 8,273 8,328

15 to 26 weeks 2,075 1,958 1,816 2,364 1,984 1,836 1,965 2,239 2,086

27 weeks and over 6,108 6,038 6,217 6,153 6,200 6,289 6,185 6,034 6,242

Average (mean) duration, in weeks(1)

34.1 39.7 41.0 33.4 39.7 39.9 40.4 40.3 40.5

Median duration, in weeks 20.5 20.6 22.2 20.5 22.0 22.5 21.2 21.8 22.2

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Less than 5 weeks 20.0 18.8 20.4 19.5 19.4 21.7 19.3 19.6 19.8

5 to 14 weeks 22.1 24.1 20.2 22.6 21.0 21.0 22.2 21.7 20.7

15 weeks and over 57.9 57.1 59.4 57.9 59.6 57.3 58.5 58.8 59.5

15 to 26 weeks 14.7 14.0 13.4 16.1 14.4 13.0 14.1 15.9 14.9

27 weeks and over 43.2 43.1 46.0 41.8 45.1 44.4 44.4 42.9 44.6


When you total the “Seasonally adjusted” numbers for September, 2011 starting with those

unemployed 5 weeks or less to 27 weeks or more, this figure comes to 22,332,000 Americans

unemployed or underemployed!

That’s almost 22222222.5.5.5.5 MILLION PEOPLE!MILLION PEOPLE!MILLION PEOPLE!MILLION PEOPLE!

THESE ARE REAL NUMBERS AND REAL PEOPLE!

The average period for these people being unemployed or underemployed is a whopping 40.5

weeks! (Using the average (mean) duration number of weeks)

Wow, 40.5 weeks, that’s over 10 months!

And those are just the people who are being counted! I am not trying to be a gloom-and-

doomer here, I am simply pointing out the severity of the problem that many in our nation face,

and it may not be going away any time soon.

More importantly, I want to point out where we as creations of God have allowed the enemy to

lead us!

It’s going to take making some drastic changes in how we think about employment in the future

if we are to ever get back on track.


THE PLAYERS

Now let’s take a look at who the players are, and the role each of them play in perpetuating the

milieu of unemployment.

The POLITICIANSPOLITICIANSPOLITICIANSPOLITICIANS–

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Rhetoric /ret-uh-rik/ as:

1. effective of persuasive public

speaking

2. persuasive but insincere language

The fiasco we’ve seen coming from politicians recently reminds me of the lyrics to a song

written and recorded by the legendary Stevie Wonder:

"You Haven't Done Nothing"

We are amazed but not amused

By all the things you say that you'll do

Though much concerned but not involved

With decisions that are made by you

But we are sick and tired of hearing your song

Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong

'Cause if you really want to hear our views

"You haven't done nothing!"

It's not too cool to be ridiculed

But you brought this upon yourself

The world is tired of pacifiers

We want the truth and nothing else


And we are sick and tired of hearing your song

Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong

'Cause if you really want to hear our views

"You haven't done nothing!"

How true! With all of their talk about jobs, jobs, jobs, none of them have delivered on any of

their rhetoric? Why?

The answer is simple…they can’t!

The truth is small businesses, private industry, and entrepreneurs create jobs, NOT

POLITICIANS; like many of them would like to have you believe.

It also makes for good campaign propaganda to have each side blame the other for why there

are no jobs being created in the U. S., while promising that if they are elected, then somehow

all of those new jobs will suddenly appear!

The fact is there’s nothing they are doing now, have done in the past, or will do in the

immediate future to create new jobs or even save existing jobs from being eliminated!

According to the Labor Department the jobs that have already been lost is going to take up to

ten years to be replaced, if ever, at the current rate of expansion.vii

–See chart below–

Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute states:

“The recession killed off 7.9 million jobs. It’s increasingly likely that many will never come back. The job losses during the Great Recession were so off the chart, that even though we’ve gained about 600,000 private sector jobs back, we’ve got nearly 8 million jobs to go.”


“Employment bottomed in December

2009 at 129.588 million — two

years after peaking at 137.951

million. At this year’s pace, the U.S.

won’t recoup all those 8.36 million

lost jobs* until March 2020 — 147

months after the December 2007

high.”

*Sources: Labor Dept, DataStream, IBD


While we hear all of their rhetoric, let’s take a look at what they

ACTUALLY did during the period when we

jobs–on their watch!

Let’s begin with Congressional hearings. How many

the matter of lost jobs in this country? NONE

Ok, well what about corporate CEO’s and bankers

them were called to Washington DC and

egregious oversight could have occurred and who would be

accountable for it? NONE!

Hmmm, so how many Senate hearings were

tackling this crisis? NONE!

Surely there was a Congressional task force

into how this could have happened and what can be done to

prevent it from happening in the future wasn’t there

So, just what exactly did politicians DO

constituents to address the cause and look for

crisis? Drum roll please!

ake a look at what they

we lost over eight million

. How many were held on

ONE!

and bankers; how many of

and grilled about how this

could have occurred and who would be held

were held in response to

task force established to look

and what can be done to

prevent it from happening in the future wasn’t there? NO!

DO on behalf of their

look for a cure for this


NOTHING!NOTHING!NOTHING!NOTHING!

Why not?

Because many politicians are nothing but LAWYERS WHO ARE OWNED BY BIG

BUSINESS!

It was Thomas Jefferson who said, "If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?"

38% of the 112th

Congress is made up of LAWYERS–52% of the Senators and 32% of the House

of Representatives! viii

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with someone being a lawyer–although there are

some who might disagree with me on that statement. However, there is something wrong with

having too many lawyers owned by big businesses RUN governmental affairs!

HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED

The fundamental problem with politicians who are in cahoots with big business is that many of

them are prone to look out for their own interest and the interest of their cronies first!

Therefore, they are hard pressed to address the real issues concerning the job situation in the

U. S. Politicians know that employing people cost money!

This is why all we hear coming out of Washington these days is about; cutting corporate and

capital gains taxes as well as doing away with regulations and corporate fiscal accountability!

These programs benefit those with power, money, and influence because they’re the ones who

have corporate and capital gains taxes to pay on the profits from their investments. The

average employee have seen the value of their 401(k) diminish considerably in recent years.

Promises that jobs will be created as a result of cutting these taxes and doing away with

corporate accountability makes good campaign fodder, but it rarely happens!

When a politician is trying to get elected the last thing they are willing to do is level with the

people about the promises they can, or more importantly; the promises they can’t deliver on.

They would consider it campaign suicide if they told the truth about what’s really going on with

the unemployment situation in the U. S.

This doesn’t bode well for someone who’s earnestly seeking a job and is counting on their local

politician to honestly address why there aren’t any.


Politicians are also too dependent upon the very corporations and their CEOs that fund their

campaigns to honestly tackle the issue of why there are no jobs being created.

The lines are often blurred when it comes to where their allegiance lies.

The founding fathers of this country could not have envisioned we would end up in this

situation.

I am sure when they conceptualized the role of civil servant; they had in mind someone who is

elected from all walks of life to serve as a representative for “The People” in the Congress.

Once their service ended, those individuals would return to their occupations as farmers,

blacksmiths, grocers, doctors and so forth.

During their time of service, it was an honor for them to serve their fellow countrymen, and

they were happy to return to their respective roles as productive citizens, but not today!

Today we have “career” politicians who simply serve themselves and big businesses!

In the Academy Award-winning film All the President’s Men, there was a line delivered by actor

Hal Holbrook who portrayed Deep Throat–the secret informant–who supplied reporters with

key information that eventually brought down the Nixon administration–in which he told them

to:

“Follow the money“Follow the money“Follow the money“Follow the money!!!!””””

It seems politicians today have taken that advice quite literally! According to the Nonpartisan

Center for Responsive Politics:

“The money paying for the elections is coming largely from the same industries and interests that have funded past elections. Topping the Center's 2008 list of big donors are contributors who list their occupation as "retired" (accounting for at least $204.3 million), lawyers and law firms ($180.9 million), the securities/investment industry ($122.8 million), real estate ($105.5 million) and health professionals ($69.6 million). Business interests accounts for 72 percent of all contributions, with ideological, labor and other interests making up the rest.”ix

These certainly aren’t your average Americans: laborers, small merchants, carpenters, and

factory workers! They are career politicians following billions in campaign funds!

“Wall Street and other industries in the financial sector don't seem to have tightened their belts -- no signs of recession in their political giving. Of course, their contributions may be part of a strategy to continue securing government assistance for their businesses as the economy heads further south," Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics said.x

She also went on to say, "We've marveled for years at the cost of elections, especially during presidential cycles, but this one is the first to cross the $5 billion mark”–the 2008 election.xi

"You can't win a seat in Congress without being personally wealthy or knowing a lot of wealthy people who are willing to back you with their money," Krumholz said.xii


With so many politicians raising and spending outrageous amounts of corporate money to get

elected, do you honestly believe they work on behalf of the average worker who contributed

less than $50 to their campaign?

Or, do you believe they are more inclined to side with the special interest groups who

collectively contributed millions to get them elected?

“WE’RE IN THE MONEY”–Words made famous in the hit musical “42nd

Street,” and

exemplified by members of Congress.

They’re in the money all right! Not only are politicians following the money, many of them are

millionaires personally!

Despite a stubbornly sour national economy congressional members’ personal wealth collectively increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of federal financial disclosures released earlier this year.xiii

And while some members’ financial portfolios lost value, no need to bemoan most lawmakers’ financial lot: Nearly half of them -- 261 -- are millionaires, a slight increase from the previous year, the Center’s study finds. That compares to about 1 percent of Americans who lay claim to the same lofty fiscal status.xiv

“Few federal lawmakers must grapple with the financial ills -- unemployment, loss of housing, wiped out savings --

that have befallen millions of Americans,” said Ms. Krumholz.xv

How can they claim to represent the average worker when they can’t relate to the average

worker?


The CCCCORPORATIONSORPORATIONSORPORATIONSORPORATIONS–

Corporations hire for several reasons. One is so they can produce more of their products or

services when the demand for them increases beyond their current work force’s capacity to

keep up with that increased demand.

Unfortunately, this is not the case today, whereas; the demand for many of the goods and

services sold in the U. S. is down in most major industries.

When demand is down, labor cost rises. This contributes to companies’ not hiring, or cutting

back their current work force through layoffs or downsizing.

Economic News Release

Employment Cost Index news release text

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - SEPTEMBER 2011 Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending September 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.3 percent, and benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) were virtually unchanged at 0.1 percent.xvi

Labor, more importantly, compensation makes up approximately 70% of the average

company’s costs, and providing benefits to their employees makes up the other 30%.

On average, labor costs usually accounts for more of a company’s expenses than does the cost

of materials, facilities space, and all other operating expenses combined.

Given their rising costs and the uncertainty that exist in the economy, many companies seem to

be in a holding pattern when it comes to hiring additional labor, even if it is needed.

They are trying to get more production from their existing labor force, which continues to lag

prior levels:


Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2011, Revised PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS Second Quarter 2011, Revised Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 0.7 percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, with output and hours worked rising 1.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.)xvii

Productivity in the second quarter of 2011 decreased 0.7, however Labor Costs rose by 0.3

percent. If the cost of labor is currently outpacing the productivity received from what that

labor produces, why would a company add to its payroll under those circumstances? They

won’t!

The TAX MAN COMETH….OR DOES HE?

Another startling fact that has adversely impacted jobs in the U.S. is for years corporations have

sought to lessen their financial exposure and expenses by taking advantage of the archaic tax

laws that exist in our federal tax code.

MILLIONS OF WELL-PAYING JOBS HAVE BEEN SENT OUT OF THE U. S.!

"The U.S. tax system does provide an incentive to locate production offshore," says Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor to Tax Notes, a non-profit publication that tracks tax issues.xviii

“At issue is the U.S. tax code's treatment of profits earned by foreign subsidiaries of American corporations. Profits earned in the United States are subject to the 35% corporate tax. But multinational corporations can defer paying U.S. taxes on their overseas profits until they return them to the USA — transfers that often don't happen for years. General Electric, for example, has $62 billion in "undistributed earnings" parked offshore, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Drug giant Pfizer boasts $60 billion. ExxonMobil has $56 billion.”

"If you had two companies in Pittsburgh that both were going to expand capacity and create 100 jobs, our tax code puts the company who chooses to put the plant in Pittsburgh at a competitive disadvantage over the company that chooses to move to a tax haven," says former White House economist Gene Sperling, a Clinton adviser.

Does that make sense? It does for corporations wanting to cut labor costs and make as much as

they can for as long as they can without having to pay taxes on their profits!


The results of such actions ha

“U.S. corporations employed almost 9 million people outside the United States.”

“From 2000 through 2005, U.S. multinationals payrolls abroad, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. At the end of 2005, the most recent statistics available, U.S. corporations employed almost

“The U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and its corporate tax code has a wellreputation for complexity. But despite the high rate, the U.S. takes in less annual revenue from corporate taxes, measured as a percentage of economic output, than almost all other major economies. Part of the explanation for that shortfall is the allowance for corporations to postpone taxes on foreign income.

"The problem is the company gets to deduct the cost of doing business right away, but tthe profits until they bring them back,"Washington, D.C.”

Alarmingly, not much is being done in Congress to address this obvious killer of American jobs!

Unfortunately, jobs have long

hierarchy of valued assets.

The unvarnished truth is many

their employees! They do what is in the best interest of their owners

CEOs who ruin; I mean run them


have had a devastating effect on jobs in the U. S.

“U.S. corporations employed almost 9 million people outside the United States.”

From 2000 through 2005, U.S. multinationals eliminated 2.1 million jobs at home while adding 784,000 to their payrolls abroad, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. At the end of 2005, the most recent statistics available, U.S. corporations employed almost 9 million people outside the United States.

The U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and its corporate tax code has a wellreputation for complexity. But despite the high rate, the U.S. takes in less annual revenue from corporate taxes,

onomic output, than almost all other major economies. Part of the explanation for that shortfall is the allowance for corporations to postpone taxes on foreign income.”

the company gets to deduct the cost of doing business right away, but they don't have to pay tax on the profits until they bring them back," says economist Jason Furman, director of The Hamilton Project in

not much is being done in Congress to address this obvious killer of American jobs!

long been considered the most dispensable element

many corporations operate for the good of their

employees! They do what is in the best interest of their owners–the

them!

in the U. S.!

“U.S. corporations employed almost 9 million people outside the United States.”xix

2.1 million jobs at home while adding 784,000 to their payrolls abroad, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. At the end of 2005, the most recent statistics

outside the United States.”

The U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and its corporate tax code has a well-earned reputation for complexity. But despite the high rate, the U.S. takes in less annual revenue from corporate taxes,

onomic output, than almost all other major economies. Part of the explanation for

hey don't have to pay tax on says economist Jason Furman, director of The Hamilton Project in

not much is being done in Congress to address this obvious killer of American jobs!

element in the corporate

their owners first, NOT

the shareholders–and the


”Since the end of the recession, profits have increased across a number of industries, and in many of these industries, profits now stand higher than their pre-recession levels. The chart shows how profits are distributed across the economy and where they stand as of the fourth quarter of 2010 (the profit by industry-level detail won’t be released until next month) relative to 2007 (before the recession). The size of the boxes represent distribution across America’s corporate landscape, and the color of the boxes indicate where profits stand relative to 2007, the year before the recession hit (we don’t look at where profits stand relative to the peak because different industries peaked at different times). The darker the blue color, the greater the profits relative to their pre-recession levels. The darker the red color, the lower the profits compared to pre-recession levels.”

“Overall, domestic corporate profits totaled $1.39 trillion in the first quarter of 2011 at an annual rate, compared to $1.34 trillion in 2007.”

Mark Doms, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commercexx–May 26, 2011

Companies are in business to make a profit, which is understandable. Unfortunately, as many of

them make a profit; they are not pouring any of those profits into hiring new labor!

In a glaring headline that recently made the Wall Street Journal it read:

Companies Cling to Cashxxi

Coffers Swell to 51-year high as Cautious Firms Put Off

Investing in Growth

In this article by Justin Lahart; reporter for The Wall

Street Journal, he states the courses of action that

some companies take with their profits:

“Corporate America's cash pile has hit its highest level in half a century.”

“Rather than pouring their money into building plants or hiring workers, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.93 trillion in cash and other liquid assets at the end of September, up from $1.8 trillion at the end of June, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Cash accounted for 7.4% of the companies' total assets—the largest share since 1959.”

That’s almost $2 TRILLION in CASH sitting in their coffers!

He went on to say many companies chose to save their profits rather than pour them into hiring

new workers:

“But the propensity to save rather than spend shows up across the corporate landscape.”

“With sales slumping, Avery Dennison Corp., a Pasadena, Calif. maker of labels and packaging materials, laid off workers and cut its dividend last year in an effort to preserve cash.”

“As sales began to come back, the company's cash hoard swelled. In the quarter ended Oct. 2, Avery Dennison held $157.8 million in cash and cash equivalents—up from $91.9 million a year earlier.”

As you can see, with this company as well as others, they chose not to hire more workers but

rather get more production out of their current work force and take the profits and bank them!


But wait, there’s more! Another disturbing reality in this unemployment catastrophe we’re in is

that some of the very CEOs who were partially responsible for creating this mess in the first

place have been rewarded for their destructive behavior!

According to an analysis by The Associated Press using data provided by Equilar, an executive

compensation research firm, The Huffington Postxxii

posted a sampling of their findings:

CEO Pay Now Exceed Pre-Recession Levels!

“CEOs the nation’s largest companies were paid better last year (2010)–during a recession–than they were paid in 2007–when the economy was booming…”

“The typical pay package for the head of a company in the Standard & Poor's 500 was $9 million in 2010…

That was 24 percent higher than a year earlier, reversing two years of declines.”

“Executives were showered with more pay of all types – salaries, bonuses, stock, options and perks. The biggest gains came in cash bonuses: Two-thirds of executives got a bigger one than they had in 2009, some more than three times as big.”

Most of their astonishing compensation came in the form of cash bonuses! These bonuses were

paid while the CEO cut cost and lowered the expenses of the company.

The quickest and most effective way for them to accomplish this was to–you guessed it–

ELIMINATE JOBS!

Eliminating jobs has an immediate effect on the bottom line of a company, which is why many

CEOs employ it first and often!

Some CEOs are better off today, financially, than before the recession started primarily because

of the jobs they’ve eliminated.

With that being the case, why would they want to cut into their enormous bonuses by

unnecessarily adding to their corporation’s work force anytime soon?

Another astonishing fact that will have you stunned and in utter disbelief is contained in a study

released by the Institute for Policy Studies-(IPS) entitled: Executive Excess 2011–The Massive

CEO Rewards for Tax Dodgingxxiii

in which it found that:

25 Corporations Paid More To Their CEO Last Year Than They Paid In Taxes in 2010! As many Americans across the country struggled with the widespread turmoil of the Great

Recession last year, tax dodging by corporations compared to what they paid their CEOs, made

for some jaw dropping statistics; even as their corporate profits continued to skyrocket!


Key Findings of the report stated that:

– Of last year’s 100 highest-paid corporate chief executives in the United States, 25 took home more in

CEO pay than their company paid in 2010 federal income taxes.

– These 25 CEOs averaged $16.7 million, well above last year’s $10.8 million average for S&P 500

CEOs. Most of the companies they ran actually came out ahead at tax time, collecting tax refunds from

the IRS that averaged $304 million.

– CEOs in 22 of these 25 firms enjoyed pay increases in 2010. In 13 of these companies, CEO

paychecks ratcheted up while the corporate income tax bill either declined or the size of the corporate tax

refund expanded.

What was even more outrageous about this report, even more so than the tax dodging is;

‘these companies paid more for lobbyist than they paid in taxes last year!’

Unbelievable!

The IPS report also found:

“Of the 25 companies that paid their CEO more than Uncle Sam, 20 also spent more on lobbying

lawmakers than they paid in corporate taxes. Eighteen gave more to the political campaigns of their

favorite candidates than they paid to the IRS in taxes.”xxiv

Again, while I don’t want to sound like a doom-and-gloomer here; I do want to make this point.

THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED!

WE HAVE TO LEARN TO NAVIGATE THIS NEW TERRAIN!

While there are millions of people out of work who are looking for jobs in an environment that

has changed and shifted, some of the people who contributed to the pain and suffering of

those looking for jobs have recovered handsomely!

In fact, some of these same CEOs and their political cronies are fighting to keep how well

they’ve done in relation to the average worker during the recession a secret. Hence, the money

they spend lobbying Congress.


Executive compensation at the nation’s largest firms has more than quadrupled in real terms since the 1970s, according to research by Carola Frydman from MIT’s Sloan School of Management

and Raven Molloy of the Federal Reserve, even as pay for 90 percent of America has stalled.

In 1970, average executive pay at the nation’s top companies was 28 times average workers income according to the Frydman-Molloy data and numbers provided by Emmanuel Saez at the University of California, Berkeley.

By 2005, executive pay had jumped to 158 times that of the average worker!

In an article in The Washington Post entitled: Public Companies shouldn’t have to compare CEO

and worker pay;xxv

it shows the dilemma workers face in getting clear answers from the top.

“Companies Lobby to Hide Disparity in CEO and Worker Pay!”

“One financial figure some big companies would rather keep secret is how much more their CEO makes than their typical worker.”

“A group backed by 81 major companies–including McDonald’s, Lowe’s, General Dynamics, American Airlines, IBM, and General Mills–is lobbying against new rules that would force disclosure of this comparison.”

“The companies and some Republicans in Congress call the comparison between the chief executive and everyone else in the company “useless.””

“A House committee Wednesday APPROVED a bill that would repeal the disclosure requirement.”


“Expecting politicians and corporations to look out for our best

interests is akin to sticking our heads in the sand…”

This is not an indictment of every CEO in corporate America.

There are some fair-minded and socially conscientious CEOs running great companies,

however; it’s the culture of greed, excess, and selfishness we are seeing among some

companies and their CEOs that I am speaking out against.

And just as there are some honest and conscientious CEOs running great corporations, there

are also some good, honest politicians, who truly want to do what’s right for their constituents

and the citizens of this great nation.


The GOVERNMENT–

“If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the

pretense of taking care of them, they will be happy”

–Thomas Jefferson

We often hear the saying, “The role of Government!” When it comes to unemployment, what is

the role of the government?

What can the government do about the current unemployment situation?

Unfortunately, NOT MUCH!

While it sounds plausible to blame the government for all of the unemployment woes,

providing jobs for Americans is not government’s duty!

Government plays a role, however its role is limited. The only jobs

government can create are “Government” jobs, which certainly there

aren’t enough of to go around.

Recently, the U. S. Government has tried to stimulate job growth by borrowing money from The

Federal Reserve and to encourage investment in America. They’ve done recently in

unprecedented amounts. However, borrowing still hasn’t stimulated the growth of jobs!

The U. S. Government even bailed out the banks and other financial institutions with

astronomical amounts of borrowed money after their inept and incompetent investment

abilities almost led to the collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008.

Almost a trillion dollars was borrowed from foreign countries–mainly China–yet still there’s no

significant hiring taking place across the country!

They’ve implored The Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to spur borrowing amongst banks

and corporations in an effort to grow the economy thinking this might encourage them to lend

to small businesses and expand their work force.

Today interest rates are at historical lows, but this action has yet to produce jobs.

In many instances banks and corporations took this cheap money and financed the purchase of

other banks and businesses, which only produced more profits for them.


After buying over two trillion dollars in a combination of U. S. treasuries and poor performing

mortgage backed securities from the U. S. Government, the Feds is starting to realize that there

is little else they can do to stimulate the economy and influence job growth.

In a rare admission by The Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, during a recent news

conference this past June, he stated, “We don’t have a precise read on why this slower pace of

growth is persisting.”xxvi

COLLATERAL DAMAGE–

Contributing to the unemployment situation is a little known equation the government uses

and seldom discusses. It is something called the National Equilibrium Unemployment Rate.

You might be asking, what the heck is that? Let me try to explain without getting too technical.

The United States operates under a market based free enterprise system of supply and demand,

also referred to as capitalism. Under this system, when demand for certain goods and services

are high, labor for those goods and services are in demand as well.

Subsequently, as demand for those goods or services increase, so does the cost associated with

them; prices increase, the cost of labor, materials used to make the goods increase, triggering

inflationary conditions.

However, when the demand for those goods or services fall, the labor associated with them fall

as well. As a result, companies shed the unnecessary labor, thereby, causing layoffs and

increasing the roles of the unemployed.

In the past, when new industries have emerged and old ones died, the marketplace was able to

absorb many of the displaced workers causing the labor markets to be in equilibrium or

balance.

Following the recent recession the equilibrium effect didn’t happen and the government

stepped in to save certain industries.

Lately, we have seen the government play a role in determining which industries survive and

which will be considered “collateral damage.”

As I mentioned earlier, the U. S. Government spent trillions of borrowed dollars to bail out

banks, auto makers, financial institutions, and Wall Street tycoons, yet spent little to nothing

saving jobs related to manufacturing, housing, or bailing out the consumer.

While many people believe the government when they say they want to have “full

employment,” that’s not going to happen anytime soon!


“FULL EMPLOYMENT IN THE U. S. IS A FALLACY!”

The U. S. Government and its affiliates do expect a percentage of the labor pool in the U. S. to

be unemployed at any given time.

They decide what percentage is acceptable and make labor policy decisions and set monetary

price controls based on this percentage.

Before the recession hit in December, 2007, the National Equilibrium Unemployment Rate in

the U. S. was 5% and by its end in June, 2009 had increased to 6.5%. At the time 6.5% of the

labor force being unemployed was an acceptable figure.

According to a “Selected Issues Paper” issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)––the

international organization that promotes monetary cooperation, secure financial stability,

facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth

among its 187 member nations––there are two factors contributing to the sharp increase in the

rate.

In the “Selected Issues Paper,”xxvii

which is produced by the agency relating to issues affecting

their member nations dated July/2010, they pointed out two primary drivers that accounted for

the increase in the National Equilibrium Unemployment Rate.

8. Our analysis suggests that increases in skill mismatches and deterioration in housing conditions explain a significant share of increased unemployment during the crisis. The specifications shown in Table 1 imply an increase in the national equilibrium unemployment rate (related to skill mismatches and housing conditions) between 2007 and 2009 ranging from 1 to 1¾ percentage points. 4). A simple Hodrick-Prescott filter applied to state-level unemployment rate data and then aggregated at the national level using relative labor force shares as weights, produces a national equilibrium unemployment rate of about 5 percent in 2007—a level consistent with estimates by other analysts. Thus, the structural changes discussed here, imply an equilibrium unemployment rate in the United States of around 6½ percent in 2009. Using a panel econometric model for the 50 states and the District of Columbia (controlling for the cyclical relationship between the unemployment rate, mismatches between supply and demand of labor skills, and housing market conditions) we find that the impact of skill mismatches and housing hurdles might have raised the national equilibrium rate of unemployment by 1 to 1¾ percentage points since 2007, with large regional variations in unemployment performance.

As the IMF paper points out; a more troubling reality of the persistently high unemployment we

are seeing has more to do with something called “structural” unemployment.

Skills mismatch is when the skills of the labor pool employers have to choose from do not

match the skills that are in demand in the marketplace.


The fact that many of the people displaced by the ”Great Recession of 2008-2009” have skills

that no longer match those needed for the current jobs that are available only compounds the

situation.

And, given the prolonged contraction of the housing industry–which in the past has been a

stalwart jobs generator for the U. S. economy–no one can say how long we will see these

persistent unemployment conditions continue.

There are no easy solutions to the problem of structural unemployment as demand for new

skills typically changes much faster than workers can be retrained; especially with older or less

mobile workers.

Another element of collateral damage that is most disturbing being suffered by those caught in

the middle of this prolonged unemployment dilemma is the discrimination of the unemployed!

NELP–the National Employment Law Project, a national advocacy organization for employment

rights of lower-wage workers, recently did a study which it published in a Briefing Paper

entitled: Hiring Discrimination Against the Unemployed!xxviii

This scathing report addressed the unconscionable practice by some employers, staffing

agencies, and online job posting firms of the blatant discrimination of those who are

unemployed!

Their report states: “Making matters worse, U. S. employers of all sizes, staffing agencies and online

job posting firms are using recruitment and hiring policies that expressly deny employment to the

unemployed–simply because they are not currently working. In other words, at a time when the

competition for jobs is extraordinarily intense–some businesses and recruitment firms are telling would-

be job seekers that they can’t get a job unless they already have a job.”

“This perverse catch-22 is deepening out unemployment crisis by arbitrarily foreclosing job opportunities

to many who are otherwise qualified for them.”

This is This is This is This is OUTRAGEOUSOUTRAGEOUSOUTRAGEOUSOUTRAGEOUS!!!!

NELP conducted its review of these practices over a four-week period beginning March 9, 2011

and concluding on April 5, 2011 in which their researcher reviewed job postings of four of the

nation’s most prominent online job listing websites.

Their snapshots of job postings identified 150 ads in which a majority of them specifically

required that applicants “must be currently employed!”

It also stated that: “Significantly, the fact that NELP’s relatively limited research yielded such a broad

cross-section of exclusionary ads–with postings for jobs throughout the United States, by small, medium

and large employers, for white collar, blue collar, and service sector jobs, at virtually every skill level–

suggests that the practice of excluding unemployed job seekers could be far more extensive than

depicted in this limited sample.”


Prior to this report, on February 18, 2011, Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National

Employment Law Project testified before a public meeting convened and attended by the

(EEOC) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chairperson Jacqueline A. Berrien.xxix

Owens stated: “There is a disturbing and growing trend among employers and staffing firms to refuse

to even consider the unemployed for available job openings, regardless of their qualifications. Excluding

unemployed workers from employment opportunities is unfair to workers, bad for the economy, and

potentially violates basic civil rights protections because of the disparate impact on older workers,

workers of color, women and others. At a time when we should be doing whatever we can to open up job

opportunities, it is profoundly disturbing to see deliberate exclusion of the jobless from work

opportunities.”

This revelation should have caused an uproar in the media, unfortunately, it didn’t! It took a

back seat to the debate about raising the debt ceiling.

There is even a bill in the Congress addressing this disturbing trend. On July 12, 2011 two

members of Congress, Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Henry Johnson, Jr. (D-GA)

introduced the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011.

Its purpose is to prohibit employers and employment agencies from refusing to consider a job

applicant solely because of their currently unemployed status.

Even though the bill does not make the unemployed a “protected class” under current Anti-

discrimination Laws and Actsxxx, it does have teeth.

It targets the process used by employers in the hiring and recruiting procedures of those who

are unemployed, and prevents them from being discriminated against due to their current

employment status.

Given all the talk by politicians about how they are going to do so much for the unemployed if

they are elected, you’d think they would be out in front on this issue!

You would think Congress would want to protect the rights and dignity of ALL Americans who

have suffered enough in the morass of persistent unemployment and pass this bill, right?

No, they chose to focus on “the debt ceiling” instead, and passed on addressing the jobless

situation millions of Americans face.

When the debt ceiling debacle was over…they went on recess! They won’t address the

unemployment discrimination issue until they return in September if they address it at all!

So, there you have it! The greatest myth plaguing millions of people today! With all of these

factors sabotaging the current unemployment situation in the U. S., it’s a miracle anybody’s

working!


Chapter Four

The Paradigm has Shifted

The Little Oxford English Dictionary defines “Paradigm” as:

1. a typical example, pattern, or model of something

2. a model underlying the theories and practices of a

scientific subject

The paradigm has shifted significantly in the U.S. job and labor market by factors beyond our

control.

Given this new reality, we must shift our perspective. President John F. Kennedy expressed the

thinking I believe we must adopt in order to excel in this new paradigm.

In his eloquent inaugural address in 1961, he admonished Americans to:

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country!”

No truer words have been uttered from the lips of an American that grasps the essence of

innovative progress than these.

Especially given the revolutionary and transformational times we live in today! Opportunities

are abundant in this environment if we view them with the right attitude!

Growing up as a kid in grade school, we were taught the three basics of learning: Reading,

Writing, and Arithmetic, or in the slang vernacular, it was more commonly referred to as the

“Three Rs,” Reading, Riting and Rithmatic!

We were taught that if we learned these, after high school; we could earn admissions to a good

college or university, graduate with a degree, and get a good job with benefits, right?

Then, after working on that job for the better part of our lives, we could retire with a pension

worth half of what we were making while we were working.

For many, that became the plan for their lives, however; times have changed and that plan no

longer applies.

That model has become obsolete in today’s economy.

While having the basics certainly still matter, there are three additional “Rs” we need to adopt

if we want to succeed in today’s economy.


We must also become:

1. REFOCUSED

2. RESOURCEFUL

3. RELENTLESS

Refocused in our attitude and thinking about work, business, and generating income!

Traditional thinking will only net us the same old results, in fact, to quote Albert Einstein again:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same old thing over and over again and expecting

different results.”

Times have changed! Success in the new economy is going to take a radical change in how we

view ourselves, our occupations, and our opportunities.

Change is an inevitable and a

necessary occurrence that

ushers you into something new!

Unfortunately, there are those who might find it difficult to make a transition to a better way of

life because their self-worth is often tied to having a job, therefore, they can’t see the

opportunity this new reality presents.

Their identity is tied to having a job!

Many people who have been unemployed for a while may have started to feel useless and

ashamed and give up on their hopes and dreams for the future.

This is a trick of the enemy (Satan) designed to discourage you and destroy your desire to strive

for a better way of life.

Breaking free of the chains of familiarity will be a challenge, but it can and must be done.

Not only do we have to become refocused, but we also must become RESOURCEFUL!

Being resourceful means to utilize current tools, methods, and strategies to accomplish our

desired objective!

Completing job applications; sending out resumes; attending job fairs or sitting through

countless job interviews won’t cut it anymore.

Those traditional methods of finding employment may have been how it was done in the past;

but they aren’t effective in today’s marketplace.


Today, life is done “online!” By online, I mean, on the Internet!

If you’ve looked for a job recently, or had to file for unemployment benefits, most likely you

had to go online do it didn’t you?

Today, everything from; finding a job, a doctor, a college, or a house, to seeking a mate has

changed!

While those outdated methods may be familiar and comfortable to us, it’s not how business is

done any longer.

Many of the functions we were used to performing manually are now being done over the

Internet, and there are no signs of life going back to the way it used to be.

Think about it, just because you have a wonderful collection of vinyl record albums, eight track,

or cassette tapes, even compact discs–I know I am telling my age now–it doesn’t change the

fact that we are now living in a “digital” age!

Those mediums were great during their time; however, today they are obsolete to everyone

except memorabilia collectors!

Today, information is googled, downloaded, uploaded, streamed and skyped over the Internet!

We must become resourceful in our adaptation of this new medium or get left in the dark ages.

Finally, we must become RELENTLESS!

Being relentless means never giving up! We must keep striving until we achieve our desired

outcome.

To position our families in a place where external factors such as the economy, politics,

cutbacks, layoffs and corporate downsizing does not disturb their peace of mind, takes a

relentless pursuit of the life we want for them.

We can achieve anything we set our mind and heart to achieving, but only if we want it bad

enough!

It is going to take the same relentlessness we had when we worked on jobs for menial wages.

When we worked on those jobs there was very little that stopped us from getting them, wasn’t

there?

I know people today who drive one hundred miles or more one way just to get to a job they

don’t like that pays them a wage that barely keep their heads above water!


When you factor in the cost of gas, time, stress, and their safety traveling on the road, you

question whether it’s worth it? Apparently, it is to them, because they are committed to doing

it every day.

THE MIDDLE CLASS

We hear a lot of talk these days by politicians about saving the Middle Class and how they are

so concerned about that sector of the working public being lost. News Flash…they are already

lost!

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his

salary depends upon his not understanding it."

~Upton Sinclair-noted political and business reforms author

Recently the latest Census Bureau report confirmed what many suspected. CNN Money xxxi

highlighted the hit the middle class has taken in the past 10 years:

“It's official. The first decade of the 21st century will go down in the history books as a step back for the American middle class.”

“While the earnings of middle-income Americans have barely budged since the mid 1970s, the new data showed that from 2000 to 2010, they actually regressed.”

"Economists talk about the lost decade in Japan. Well, with these 2010 data, we can confirm the lost decade for the American middle class," said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Not only has the income stalled, but the truth is:

95% of the middle class in America are living on a fixed income!

I am not talking about those on welfare or social programs; I am talking about those who get up

and go to work on a job everyday!

You see, when it comes to earning an income in America, there are really only three ways we

get paid, only three!

Those Three ways are:

1. By the HOUR

2. By the SALARY

3. By the TRANSACTION

Two of the three are FIXED! Let’s take a look at these methods more closely.

When we earn income by the hour or salary, we are simply trading our TIME for WAGES.


Wages that are set by someone else for a job that the employer can basically get anyone off the

street to do with a little training. That may be a blow to the ego, but it’s true.

The fundamental fact is:

Companies don’t pay PEOPLE, they pay POSITIONS!

Unfortunately, there is little the employee can do about how much the wage is for most hourly

or salary jobs, because it is set by the employer.

If we accept the position, then we are agreeing to receive whatever the wage they’ve set for

that position, plain and simple.

We are trading irreplaceable hours of our life for a set amount of

money!

If the hourly or salary wage is enough to give us the lifestyle we desire for our family, wonderful

if not, we have a dilemma.

We can either adjust our lifestyle down to fit within the wages we receive, or we can find

another job that pays more.

Unfortunately, neither option is very desirable.

The truth is, we can change jobs, add extra jobs or whatever, our chances of getting ahead

using these methods are minimal because we will always be limited by the amount of hours we

can physically work.

Besides, companies already know what they are going to pay positions because it is an expense

they’ve already budgeted for.

I learned this firsthand twenty years ago, when I worked for the pharmaceutical manufacturing

company in their distribution warehouse. There, I was asked by management to participate in a

“Wage and Salary” survey.

The survey was to determine if the workers at the company I worked for were being

compensated at the same or similar rate as workers for similar companies who performed the

same duties.

Our task on the committee was to canvass other distribution companies in the area and survey

their human resource department to find out what they paid their distribution employees.

The conclusion was; whatever the average pay was for those jobs, then that’s what our pay

would be!


This was a rude awakening for me!

At that moment, I realized it didn’t matter how hard I worked, how much profits I produced for

the company, or anything that I physically did, all I was going to receive was what the position I

worked in paid.

To recognize the fact that my income would never be based on what I knew, how much

education I had, or the degrees I possessed, was a revelation for me!

Nothing that I could control mattered! My worth to them was simply based on what similar jobs

in that field paid, that’s it!

To top it off, management told me that if I needed more money I could work some overtime,

but then I realized it didn’t matter how much overtime I worked, there was still only so many

hours in a day.

There are only twenty-four hours in a day that you can

physically work and trade those hours for wages.

After that awakening, believe it or not, I still considered going into management as a supervisor

thinking I could earn a little more money by being in management.

But, the closer I observed what the managers and supervisors at the company did, I realized

they worked more hours than I did, yet they were not being paid for it.

I noticed they were usually at work when I got there and were often there when I left! They

worked on weekends and many times were called in on their days off when one of us didn’t

show up for work.

I thought, Wow; being on salary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

In my mind, they were donating that time to the company…who can afford that?

At least as an hourly worker when I worked overtime, I got paid for it, they didn’t!

This is when it hit me that people living on a fixed income were not just those on welfare,

retired, or disability. It was people like me–the majority in our society–who work on jobs

everyday of which we couldn’t control any aspect of!

This revelation shifted my paradigm and changed my life and thinking forever!


Chapter Five

The New Wealth Phenomenon

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”~Albert Einstein

We have seen how the unemployment predicament in America has several contributing factors

that are beyond our control that is preventing it from recovering anytime soon.

However, therein lies the greatest opportunity for building wealth! Those who seize it will reap

rewards beyond their wildest dreams and imaginations!

Again, I am reminded of King Solomon, and what he said about creating wealth:

“For a dream cometh through the multitude of business...”

(Ecclesiastes 5:3 KJV)

King Solomon gives us a clue to the key to wealth. He knew a little something about it, given

that he was the richest man on earth at the time of his reign.

The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, (about

3.4 billion dollars worth then) besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders,

from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

(1 Kings 10:14-15 NKJV)

King Solomon applied the concept of multiple streams of income to create his wealth! He didn’t

rely on one source for his income, nor should we. Those days are gone.

If we are to capitalize on this shift, it is important that we understand how wealth is created

and generated.

As I studied God’s plan for man as it relates to employment, I found that it is His desire and

good pleasure that we enjoy what we do to earn a living. Remember, Eden was Paradise!

Do you think Adam enjoyed maintaining the Paradise? Absolutely!

Again, King Solomon observed God’s intention for man concerning labor!

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his

labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.

As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive

his heritage and rejoice in his labor–this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of

his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

(Ecclesiastes 5: 18-20 NKJV)


It is not only good for us that we have labor, but also that we enjoy it; this is our right and

heritage from God. We have been blessed with a gift! The gift of purposeful labor!

When we are busy doing work that we love, we put more into it, don’t you agree?

Not only do we put our hands into it, but more importantly, we put our hearts into it as well.

Those who earn the most in our society understand this; they also utilize the best method of

earning income.

Their success is not limited by the number of hours in the day, the economy, whether

companies are hiring, or any outside factor that affects the average laborer.

They get paid: By the TRANSACTION

This is residual income! This means, whenever a transaction is made of a product or service,

they’ve created, they get paid!

This can be in the form of royalties for a songwriter, movie actor, or producer who lends their

name or talent to a product, service, or project.

Think for a minute, have you ever bought a record, tape or compact disc, or perhaps saw a

movie and liked it so much that you referred it to a friend?

If so, you contributed to providing residual income to that songwriter, producer, or actor, and I

am sure they and their family thank you very much!

This can also be in the form of endorsements for athletes where any time a product is sold

bearing their signature or likeness, they get paid!

Many athletes and actors often earn more from endorsements than they do from their chosen

profession.

I will show you how you too can join this trend and reap very credible rewards like the pros.

An investor receives profits or dividends from stock transactions or bonds and savings interest.

A landlord receives income from rental properties, authors receive royalties from books, CDs

and articles they sell; the list can go on and on regardless of the chosen profession or venture.

Getting paid by the transaction does not limit you to the number of hours in the day, hours you

can work, people you can see, or any physical limitation that stifle you as a laborer.

Now, you might be saying, Donnye, all of this sounds good, but how can I take advantage of

these opportunities? I’m not an actor, athlete, or songwriter, and besides, I need money now!


In my opinion, the easiest way to get started is by joining the millions of everyday

entrepreneurs, network marketers, online marketers, multi-level and affiliate marketers, who

are leading the charge and creating a New Wealth Phenomenon!

These individuals are getting paid every time a transaction takes place through them or through

someone in their organization, anywhere, anytime, regardless of what is happening in the

economy.

You can join any number of major companies that are reinventing how business is done today

and in the future.

There are millions of successful, independent, and dynamic business men and women from all

walks of life who are taking advantage of these opportunities, as a result, millions of dollars in

income is being paid to them every day!

Because of the explosive growth of these companies and their leaders, The Wall Street Journal

took notice.

In June, they did a special supplement to their paper entitled, “The Ultimate Social Business

Model, Why Now is the Prime Time for Direct Selling.”xxxii

They noted that; “In 2010, direct selling companies generated over $125 billion in revenues in

150 countries through more than 75 million men and women who are changing lives serving

others.”

Not only did The Wall Street Journal take notice, but Wall Street did as well:

Statistics in The Wall Street Journal also claim that: “From March 2009 to May 2011, the top 7

publicly traded direct selling companies averaged a 268 percent increase in stock price.”

Ever heard of Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Amway, Herbalife and Primerica, just to name a

few? You probably have because these are major corporations which are traded in the U. S.

stock markets that have been around for years.

These, as well as hundreds of other companies, have quietly built major product brands in their

respective industries and are paying out millions to average men and women on a regular basis.

Every time a “transaction” is made someone gets paid!

It is residual because once you create the relationship that produces transactions; you continue

to receive income from that relationship over and over again without having to do the work

over and over again. Amazing!

We are also seeing groups like Work At Home Moms the industry calls them WHAMS who are

making a great living and helping their family tremendously from the comfort of their home.


I have a personal friend who is a mother with six daughters who is earning a fabulous income

from home while enjoying the freedom to care for her daughters––her way.

Another way to jumpstart a new career and get paid by the transaction is through affiliate

marketing. Affiliate marketing is projected to grow exponentially in the years to come!

Instead of a “paycheck” why not earn a “partner” check!

That’s right, instead of trying to get a company to hire you as an employee, why not become an

affiliate and partner with them. That’s right, partner with them.

As an employee you are an EXPENSE to the corporation, as a partner you are an ASSET!

You would be surprised to learn that many of the major companies you have heard of whose

products and services you probably use quite often are looking for partners, people like YOU

and me to promote their products, brands, and services!

Companies like Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Apple, Ebay, Under Armour, Reebok, Hilton,

Marriott, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, just to name a few, and hundreds of others are

looking for partners to promote their brands.

These companies are looking for new outlets to get their product into the hands of the

consumer; you could be one of them.

Whatever your passion is, there’s a company in the marketplace that’s eager to partner with

you to make your dream a reality.

They are eager to build a relationship that serve both parties and they also offer tremendous

support to help you succeed!

The more YOU succeed the more THEY succeed.

VALUE/CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Another explosive realm where ordinary people are leveraging their talent and skills and

achieving extraordinary results is in content creation and distribution!

What is content creation and distribution? It is content or information you create that brings

value to someone else’s life; so much so that they are willing to pay you to share it with them!

Unbelievable!


Starting today, you can create content and valuable products or services that

enrich the lives of others and distribute them to the masses!

When God created us, He endowed us with gifts and talents and a purpose to fulfill using those

gifts and talents.

There’s a parable in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples of a ruler who went away for a

season and left three of his trusted servants each with a talent according to their abilities:

For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and

delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to

each according to his own ability. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with

them and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But

he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.

(Matthew 25: 14-18 NKJV)

Each servant was given talents (skill, gift, purpose) commiserate with what their master knew

they were capable of handling.

Their talent or gift could have been: singing, writing, painting, business, leadership, accounting,

or any vocation that would benefit mankind and they could be compensated for.

After a while, the ruler returned to settle his accounts his servants and to see (what they had

done with what they were given.

He found that the first two servants had doubled their talents.

They honed their skills, developed their gift, and offered it to the world. This pleased the ruler,

and he then said to them:

“Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over

many things.”

(Matthew 25: 21 NKJV)

However, the servant who hid his talent and didn’t grow or increase it didn’t fare as well. In

other words–he got a job–which only benefited him, and let his talent go to waste:

“Then he who received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where

you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and

hid YOUR talent in the ground.” But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy

servant….So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For everyone who has,

more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has

will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness

(Matthew 25: 24-30 NKJV)


This servant thought he was protecting himself from the disappointment of trying something

different and failing. As a result, his master took his talent and gave it to the servant with ten.

Beloved, God expects us to be profitable and to increase the gifts and talents we’ve been given

by sharing them with others and not let them go to waste!

What’s stopping you?

That’s right, what’s stopping you? What’s stopping you from honing the talent, skill, knowledge,

or information God gave you to create content that serves others?

Is the fact that you are unemployed or underemployed stopping you? It shouldn’t.

This new paradigm is only limited by your imagination and resourcefulness!

I am often heartbroken when I speak to men and women who feel they are worthless because

they have been out of a job for so long. They say they didn’t feel valuable anymore.

Who says your worth or value only comes through having a job provided by man?

That may be what the enemy–Satan–is telling you to believe, but that’s not what God says!

As I stated earlier, there are too many people in the kingdom of God who have been misled by

the enemy into believing the lie that having a job is the only way they can prove their worth in

our society!

They have been tricked into believing that if they have been unemployed for an extended

period of time it means that they are unemployable!

That is simply not true! You are Employ-able by God for His purpose!

Not only are you Employ-able, but you are Value-able as well!

You are able to deliver value to society through the employment of your God given talent, skill,

knowledge or expertise.

There is a groundswell of people who are realizing there is a better alternative to simply trading

their time for wages. They are tapping into the New Wealth Phenomenon taking place in

America and around the world.

The New Wealth Phenomenon is enabling them to regain the passion, confidence, joy, and

peace of mind they once enjoyed, while positively contributing to the lives of others.


Where is this new wealth being created you might ask? On the Internet!

“If you're afraid of the future, then

get out of the way, stand aside. The

people of this country are ready to

move again.”

Ronald Reagan

The New Wealth Phenomenon is being created everyday by people just like you and me through

blogs, websites, webinars, seminars, social media; through producing products and services

that serve a targeted group of people.

It is done through creating, writing and selling books and eBooks, by self-publishing them and

utilizing-print on demand technologies to produce and distribute them. They are also producing

music and learning CDs, videos, advice and information materials; the list can go on and on.

There’s a market for just about anything you can think of or imagine relating to any subject,

topic, or genre.

You need to know how to find your target market, service them with good–value-added

content and products–and monetize your offering to produce the income you want.

Do you have some knowledge, information, or expertise you would like to get to people who

can benefit from it?

It can be done most effectively using the Internet.

How powerful is this new medium you might ask?

Well, recently the Internet was instrumental in electing the first African American U.S.

President; who incidentally used it to raise a whopping $750 million dollars in only 21 months

during his 2008 campaign.

This was the most money ever raised by a candidate in the history of elections in the U. S. and

the majority of it came from online/internet donors!

The Internet has completely revolutionized the music and book publishing and distribution

industries; remember Tower Records, Blockbuster, or Borders?

Prior to 2008–just three short years ago–who on a massive scale had ever heard of Lady Gaga

or Justin Bieber, both of whom and countless others were discovered on Youtube!

Social Media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Skype have been reported to have

played a major role in the uprisings in Egypt and Syria as well as the “Arab Spring” revolution.


It has also created scores of millionaires and even some billionaires virtually overnight like:

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, often dubbed the "Google Guys," Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook),

Pierre Omidyar (Ebay), and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim

(Youtube)!

Now, I’m not claiming you will be the next president, music or movie mogul, or millionaire using

the Internet–although it could happen. However; do you have a book or movie you’ve dreamed

of and would like to see it become a reality?

Perhaps you have a wonderful concept for a children’s book, television or radio program, or

business. Using this phenomenal medium called the Internet; you could be one step away from

making any dream a reality.

Maybe you are a graphic artist, photographer, videographer, or perhaps you have good oratory

skills, or know how to dress professionally; whatever your skill or hobby is, it can be monetized

to earn you a very comfortable income.

There is place for you here! All you need to know is how to navigate this sea of unlimited

possibilities.

Join the millions of average individuals around the world who have decided to take their

livelihood and welfare into their own hands and are using the talent, skill, knowledge and gift

God gave them to bring value to the lives of others.

The possibilities are endless! They are only limited by your imagination and desire.

Let’s take a look at why this new medium is garnering so much attention worldwide and how it

plays a major role in building this New Wealth Phenomenon.

The REVOLUTION will not be televised; it will be STREAMED on the internet!

Broadband/Internet access is the one medium that governments around the world are eyeing

to revitalize their economies, including the U. S.

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest gathering of world leaders in history

adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global

partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a

deadline of 2015 that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The purpose for the MDGs was to enable countries everywhere to reap the widespread

economic and social benefits of broadband.

As a result of this Summit, The Broadband Commission for Digital Development,

www.broadbandcommission.org was created.


In their report presented to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September 2010 entitled:

BROADBAND: A Platform for Progress,xxxiii

provided detailed assessments of why broadband is

so valuable in driving economies and societies forward.

“Broadband has been shown to be beneficial to the economy in a number of ways. Widespread

broadband has been shown to increase jobs, GDP, the employment rate, and productivity. Broadband

benefits the lower to middle-income brackets, providing a boost of 1.38 additional percentage growth to

GDP for every 10-percentage-point increase in penetration, according to a 2009 study by the World

Bank.”

“The Internet has revolutionized our way of life. Even with access at low speeds, it brings connectivity

and knowledge in a way that could hardly have been dreamed of a few years ago.”

“…in 2012 more than a billion people worldwide will spend over a trillion US dollars on business-to-

consumer transaction,…”

“The overall message of the report is that broadband is not an end in itself: it is an important means of

meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors, And without these networks, countries and

communities will miss the golden opportunities for the 21st century.”

This is a boon for those who endeavor to distribute their products or services worldwide,

thereby, boosting their reach into markets that were logistically unimaginable just a few short

years ago.

Billions of dollars are being invested annually by countries around the world as a part of this

new initiative.


Secretary Locke Announces Recovery Act Investments to Expand

Broadband Internet Access and Spur Economic Growth

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Secretary Locke Announces Recovery Act Investments to Expand Broadband Internet Access and Spur Economic Growth

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced 23 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs and improve education and healthcare cross the country. The grants, totaling more than $160 million, will lay the groundwork to bring high-speed Internet access to millions of households and businesses, and link up thousands of schools, hospitals, libraries, and public safety offices to the information superhighway.

“In a globalized 21st century economy, when you don’t have regular access to the Internet, you don't have access to all the educational and employment opportunities it provides. Fast, reliable Internet can help keep communities safer, open doors for small businesses and provide job training and skills to more Americans,” Locke said.

Currently, the U.S. lags Asia and Europe in Internet users, but we are rapidly catching up.

http://www.internetworldstats.com


Internet Usage and Population in North America

NORTH AMERICA INTERNET USERS AND POPULATION STATISTICS

NORTH AMERICA REGION

Population (2011 Est.)

% Pop. of World

Internet Users, Latest Data

Penetration (% Population)

Growth (2000-2011)

% Users of World

North America 347,394,870 5.0 % 272,066,000 78.3 % 151.7 % 13.0 %

Rest of the World 6,582,660,284 95.0 % 1,822,940,005 27.7 % 620.8 % 87.0 %

WORLD TOTAL 6,930,055,154 100.0 % 2,095,006,005 30.2 % 480.4 % 100.0 %

According to latest data provided by The Internet World Stats Group, there are currently

272,066,000 people in North America and almost 2.1 billion worldwide using the Internet.

2.1 Billion people are using the Internet

Think for a moment, what if some of these people were looking for the business that you

choose to market online?

Or what if you joined forces with a network marketing, affiliate marketing or online book or

music distribution company, to build an income stream that is not limited by your experience,

time, or geographical location?

You could do business anywhere in the world, anytime with limited resources to develop and

dominate your target market, while getting paid every time a transaction takes place.


World Regions Population (2011 Est.)

Africa 1,037,524,058

Asia 3,879,740,877

Europe 816,426,346

Middle East 216,258,843

North America 347,394,870

Latin America / Caribbean. 597,283,165

Oceania / Australia 35,426,995

WORLD TOTAL 6,930,055,154

As you can see by this chart, Interne

years, with a 30.2% market penetration

There’s unlimited room for growth given th


Population (2011 Est.)

Internet Users

Dec. 31, 2000

Internet Users Latest Data

Penetration(% Population)

1,037,524,058 4,514,400 118,609,620

3,879,740,877 114,304,000 922,329,554

816,426,346 105,096,093 476,213,935

216,258,843 3,284,800 68,553,666

347,394,870 108,096,800 272,066,000

597,283,165 18,068,919 215,939,400

35,426,995 7,620,480 21,293,830

6,930,055,154 360,985,492 2,095,006,005

Internet usage has exploded with 480.4% growth

a 30.2% market penetration worldwide.

room for growth given that there’s almost seven billion

Penetration (% Population)

Growth 2000-2011

Users % of Table

11.4 % 2,527.4 % 5.7 %

23.8 % 706.9 % 44.0 %

58.3 % 353.1 % 22.7 %

31.7 % 1,987.0 % 3.3 %

78.3 % 151.7 % 13.0 %

36.2 % 1,037.4 % 10.3 %

60.1 % 179.4 % 1.0 %

30.2 % 480.4 % 100.0 %

with 480.4% growth in just the last 10

people on the Earth.


THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The introduction of social media has radically changed the way people communicate, interact,

work, and play, and has also dramatically altered the way business is done in the world.

Everyone from the average online or network marketer to the largest Fortune 500 corporation

is using social media to expand their reach into previously unchartered territory.

In fact there are hundreds of social media sites that distribute content and information created

by ordinary individuals who are making serious money spreading their message to the world.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube just to name a few; have turned every day

individuals into internet entrepreneurs and mini media moguls.

Yet, there are millions who don’t realize how powerful these platforms can be towards helping

them generate or increase their income and business exposure.

Take Facebook for instance:

1. 1 in every 13 people on Earth is on Facebook

2. 71.2 % of all USA internet users are on Facebook

3. It has more than 650 million active users

4. If it was a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world behind China and India

5. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

This is a tremendous marketing and distribution tool, also Twitter:

1. In March 2011 there are an estimated 225 million users

2. 100 million new accounts added on Twitter in 2010

3. 177 million tweets sent on March 11, 2011.

4. 3 years, 2 months and 1 day…the time it took from the first tweet to the billionth tweet.

5. It now takes one week for users to send a billion Tweets.

YouTube:

1. Over a third of YouTube’s total monetized views come from Content ID

2. More than 1000 partners are using Content ID, including every major US network broadcaster,

movie studio and record label

3. Over 3 billion videos are viewed a day on YouTube

4. More video content is uploaded to YouTube in a 60 day period than the three major U.S.

television networks created in 60 years

5. YouTube is monetizing over 3 billion video views per week globally


LinkedIn:

1. During the second half of 2010, LinkedIn’s membership base grew, on average, by 1 million new

members every ten days.

2. Registered users grew from 55 million at the end of 2009 to 90 million at the end of 2010

3. LinkedIn launched in May 2003 and grew to be worth over $9 billion USD when it went public on

May 19, 2011

I’m sure you would agree, utilizing these tools can help spread your message to an unlimited

audience, but the granddaddy of them all is Google–the most powerful income generating tool

available on the Internet!

Google:

1. Google’s global search market share is 85%

2. Google search handles over 1 billion searches per day with 7.2 billion daily page views

3. It currently runs over 1 million computer servers in data centers around the world

4. 97% is the percentage of revenue from advertising

5. Daily visitors to Google is 620 million

What does all of this mean to you? It means that when someone visits the Google site–they are

searching for someone or something, seeking a solution to a problem, or researching an idea,

topic, or opportunity!

Millions of people are on the Internet every day searching for a better, faster, more interesting,

unique, or safer way to do something. What if YOU offered them what they are looking for?

The question is…can they find you to buy your book or CD, join your organization, subscribe to

your magazine or newsletter, view your TV show or listen to your views on your radio program?

They could if you knew how to exploit the benefits of marketing yourself online! My motto that

I often tell entrepreneurs who want to “get known” and explode their business or career is:

You BLOW up when you SHOW up…on the Internet!

If no one can find you or know you exist the chances of you being discovered on any scale are

extremely remote.

When you know how to promote yourself and your offering properly online, you attract an

audience who is eager to hear from you and are readily interested in what it is you offer, or can

help them with.


In Conclusion:

There you have it beloved! My Mission!

A mission to empower God’s people to rebuild their homes, lives, hopes and dreams and to

take the lead in this New Wealth Phenomenon!

I hope you join me in this quest. God never meant for us to suffer the way so many are

suffering.

Our nation is in peril because of unemployment. My aim is to eradicate this plague from our

society and put people on the path towards fulfilling their God given purpose.

Take your place among those who have chosen to dream again, hope again, love again, dare

again, and are striving to be the best human being God created them to be!

Over the past twenty or thirty years or so, I believe we–God’s people–have been sold a bill of

goods about what is The American Dream.

There are those who would argue that “having a job” is The American Dream or “owning a

house” is The American Dream, and many people bought into those definitions, but I believe

they are wrong.

I believe the true definition of The American Dream is still the one that was given by God to the

founding fathers of this nation.

A promise that is indelibly forged, and framed into the Declaration of Independence.

Thirty-six powerful words that guarantee access to our most cherished ideals as a nation and as

a people bound together by our Creator!

The American Dream to me is still: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men

are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable

Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness–“

There it is–The American Dream–Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness!

God has a dream with your name on it, claim it today!

The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season,

and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And

the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath….

(Deuteronomy 28:12-13 NKJV)

The End...For Some, The Beginning for Others!


Other books written by Donnye D. Collins:

Attack Your Giants–Using King Davis’s Perspective to Overcome Any Giant You Face!

Learn how to overcome the Giants of fear, depression, job loss, divorce, addictions, spiritual confusion,

and negative people that have prevented you from living your best life!

Order your copy TODAY at: www.attackyourgiants.com and become a “Giant Slayer!”

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Email: [email protected]

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Email: [email protected]


Endnotesxxxiv

i http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm#employed paragraph 4

ii http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm#employed paragraph 2

iii http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

iv http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm#employed paragraph 10

v http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

vi http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm

vii Labor Dept, DataStream, IBD

viii CQ Roll Call Guide to the New Congress, Thursday November 4, 2010, pg:14

ix http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/us-election-will-cost-53-billi.html paragraph 6

x http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/us-election-will-cost-53-billi.html paragraph 11

xi http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/us-election-will-cost-53-billi.html paragraph 4

xii

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/us-election-will-cost-53-billi.html paragraph 13

xiii

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/11/congressional-members-personal-weal.html paragraph 1

xiv


xv


xvi

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm

xvii

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm

xviii

Article by: David J Lynch, Reporter, USA Today, dated 03/21/2008, paragraphs: 1,3,4

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-03-20-corporate-tax-offshoring_N.htm

xix

Article by: David J Lynch, Reporter, USA Today, dated 03/21/2008, paragraphs: 15, 15, 10, 11

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-03-20-corporate-tax-offshoring_N.htm

xx

Mark Doms, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce, paragraphs: 2,3

http://www.esa.doc.gov/Blog/2011/05/26/economic-indicator-q1-gdp-and-rise-corporate-profits

xxi

Article by: Justin Lahart, Reporter, Wall Street Journal, 12/10/2010, paragraphs: 1,2, 17, 18, 19

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009501161973480.html

xxii

Article by: RACHEL BECK, Reporter, Huffington Post, 05/ 6/11 07:01 AM ET, paragraphs: 2,3,4

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/ceo-pay-high-pre-recession_n_858430.html

xxiii

I. Key Findings, CEOs get more than Uncle Sam, pg. 5

http://www.ips-dc.org/files/3552/Executive-Excess-CEO-Rewards-for-Tax-Dodging.pdf


xxiv

I. Key Findings, Bigger Checks for Influence-Peddling than for IRS, pg. 5

http://www.ips-dc.org/files/3552/Executive-Excess-CEO-Rewards-for-Tax-Dodging.pdf

xxv

Article by: Peter Whoriskey, Reporter , 06/24/2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/business-group-public-companies-shouldnt-have-to-

compare-ceo-and-worker-pay/2011/06/23/AGGMcFjH_story.html

xxvi Article by: BINYAMIN APPELBAUM, Reporter, 06/ 22/ 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/business/economy/23fed.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

xxvii

IMF Country Report No. 10/248, July 2010 pgs. 7,5,6 www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2010/cr10248.pdf

xxviii

NELP Briefing Paper, Hiring Discrimination Against the Unemployed, 07/12/2011 pgs,1,2

http://nelp.3cdn.net/b4ade339e970088d72_alm6blqx8.pdf

xxix

Posted by: Mitchell Hirsch on Feb 18, 2011, paragraph 4

http://unemployedworkers.org/sites/unemployedworkers/index.php/site/blog_entry/eeoc_probes_discri

mination_against_unemployed_workers_in_hiring

xxx

Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination, Questions and Answers:

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html

xxxi

Article by: Annalyn Censky, Staff Reporter, A rough 10 years for the middle class, 10/14/2011 http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/news/economy/middle_class_income/index.htm?iid=HP_Highlight

xxxii

Katherine Ponder, The Wall Street Journal, publ, June,2011 http://www.directsellingnews.com/WSJ-

DSN/Wall%20St%20Journal_preview.pdf

xxxiii

Broadband, A Platform for Progress, June 2010

http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Reports/Report_2.pdf

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