the Great European Austerity Bombing continues unabated

[phantom power]

The January jobless rate for the 17-nation currency union was revised upward from the previously reported 11.9 percent.

For the overall European Union, the February jobless rate rose to 10.9 percent from 10.8 percent in January, Eurostat said, with more than 26 million people without work across the 27-nation bloc.

Sadly, the only thing keeping us from the same situation was the stimulus the President got through. It was only about half as large as it needed to be, but that’s why we’re dealing with 8% unemployment rather than 12%. Republicans won’t make the mistake of allowing the economy to improve until they get the reins back, then deficits won’t matter again.

Now that we’re on the sequestration diet, I expect that 8% to start creeping back up towards 9%. After all, the only reason those overpaid government jobs we’re shedding aren’t being replaced by shiny new awesome higher-paying private sector jobs is shut up and you’re lazy and Obama can’t shoot hoops and Google doodles of Hugo Weaving and Benghazi and food stamps and Obama took Cole’s effing mustard.

Until then, we’ll stall out for the next four years because national debt is immoral (and soon impeachable) so we must eliminate even more government jobs and put people on government safety net programs, and then cut the programs because there’s too many people on them. Then and only then will millions of jobs suddenly poop out of The Invisible Asshole Of The Free Market. Sure, they don’t pay enough to not require government help, but that’s why God made sure you have more than 40 hours in a week that you could work through.

Maybe if all those European Poors were working 90 hours a week at (less than) minimum wage while homeschooling their kids, volunteering for church and training for neighborhood firearms defense militias like us Puritan-streak rock-ribbed salt-of-the-earth ‘Muricans, they’d know le freedom.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/04/02/austere-ing-you-in-the-face/