He is a Republican, after all. Lying is second nature.
Sen. Greg Lavelle's newsletter states that over the past eight years, "Delaware's unemployment rate has exceeded the national average more often than not." That's false. It was better than the U.S. rate for about 85 percent of that span. #netDE
— Matthew Bittle (@MatthewCBittle) August 17, 2018
Here is proof of that in visual form, courtesy of Michael Klemens:
Graphic was made in excel utilizing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the link below (you'll be able to verify if you don't believe me). Shows the unemployment rate of DE (blue) and entire US (grey) for the years of 2008-2018.https://t.co/mOymYaH6DH pic.twitter.com/mDA6JRoqeV
— Michael Klemens (@m_klemens) August 17, 2018
You will notice that the only time the Delaware unemployment rate was higher than the national average was from April 2017 until April 2018. It cannot be coincidence that this was also the time period where Delaware was facing a budget crisis and then, due to Lavelle’s policy stances, had to endure massive cuts to social services, which resulted in job losses, because Lavelle and his Republicans refused to pass a budget that raised taxes on the wealthy to close the budget deficit.
The man is and always has been an intellectual fraud. His purposeful manipulation of the data, as you correctly point out, can only be labeled, “Trumpian”. Great sleuth work. Complimenti…
So glad you are calling out liars. Keep up the good work.
Why this guy who lives practically a county away from me (I am in Pike Creek) is representing me in the Senate is beyond me.
Luckily we have two great candidates running to represent us in Pike Creek – I’m sure you already know all about Laura Sturgeon running against Lavelle, and Stephanie Barry is running against Mike Ramone.
Greg is the Managing Director of a successful financial services business and holds a Masters Degree in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors Degree in Finance & Economics from the University of Delaware. He also has his Certified Cash Manager designation from the Treasury Management Association.
He is going against a former teacher! A great professional, with know business experience or working with the government.
Don’t vote for a party, but for the most qualified for the job!
She is NOT a former teacher…she is a current teacher. And what does “know business experience” mean? Did you mean “no?”
lol hi greg
“Financial services” are what imploded the economy in 2008. Not exactly the credentials of someone you’d want representing you in Dover.
Unemployment rate is a very misleading statistic. People move in and out of the available work force which by itself can raise or lower the rate.
More importantly is the average wage of the states workers. We have lost thousands of union and white color professional jobs that paid decent middle class incomes to our works. Many of these jobs have been replaced by service industry jobs that do not pay anywhere near as much. Therefore the standard of living of many Delawareans has fallen.
If you are going to look at the unemployment rate over time then the average wage should also be shown for the same time period.
While this is all true, it is not relevant to the matter at hand: Lavelle’s misrepresentation of the unemployment rate in his campaign materials. It is like you are saying ignore Lavelle’s lies because the unemployment rate statistic is misleading in and of itself. I will not do that.
I am saying the opposite off your comment. Giving out misleading statistics is the same as lies. My point is Lavelle is pushing BS and he should not be believed or voted for.
Will also note that Lavelle routinely votes against any increase in the state minimum wage that would help those in the service industry get closer to a minimum wage. And would help reduce their reliance on Medicaid or housing supports or food supports — all of which would also help Delaware’s budget and increase some standard of living for those in these service jobs. Lavelle is complicit in the wage suppression that does reduce the state’s average wage rate.
I hate the term minimum wage. We should be using living wage and it should be in the $20 – $22 range for Delaware now with COLA protection. Everyone will get a boost. The poor can live without or with minimal government subsidies, they will have increased spending power which will get spent locally and help all businesses. If an employer cannot pay people a living wage and has to rely on substandard wages with federal and state assistance to his/her employees he has no business being in business.
$15 dollar wage increases in places such as California and more recently Seattle have only caused people to be laid off from jobs, more part time and less full time employment, and companies to focus more on using automation to reduce overall headcount.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/26/new-study-casts-doubt-on-whether-a-15-minimum-wage-really-helps-workers/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0a4ac332dd28
The study you linked to is more than two years old, and I doubt you read it given your summation of it. If you read the article, you see the study has major shortcomings. It also has not been replicated by other studies.
This is the problem with your inability to think critically. Stupid people suck.
And tend to use capitalization and exclamation points unto excess.
@ Wik States get capitalized. There were no exclamation points.
And here is something more recent. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/01/11/what-does-a-15-minimum-wage-do-to-the-economy-economists-are-starting-to-find-out/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.33846c68017d
” As of March this year, Seattle’s unemployment rate was 3.1%. As of the same date, Delaware’s was 4.3.” Awesome.
This study is quite the outlier from all of the other studies on this topic. And (as Alby says) I don’t think you read this article, but it notes why it could be flawed. As of March this year, Seattle’s unemployment rate was 3.1%. As of the same date, Delaware’s was 4.3.
Besides the faults in the study mentioned above it should be mentioned that employers who pay megar minimum wages are being subsidized by federal and state governments. Their employees cannot live on the wages paid so they go to the governments and receive many different benefits including medical aid for children, food stamps, aid to dependent children housing assistance, and the list goes on. The employers who insist on paying substandard wages should be required to repay the Federal and state governments for all payments made to their employees. Taxpayers would then stop subsidizing employers who pay substandard wages.
Also, would you not want to argue that you, as a state senator, made a difference to unemployment? I don’t really get the strategy here.
If we want to really examine Lavelle’s integrity, I can supply you with lots of campaign mailers that claim he’s “bipartisan,” which is quite the lie considering he’s the leader of the GOP caucus.
Today
DE: 3.9%
U.S: 4.0%
Thanks!