Unemployment - increasing and personal

Bureaucrats hire economists to do studies and produce numbers. Politicians use those numbers to buy votes. With enough votes, politicians use your taxpayer dollars to hire more bureaucrats to hire more economists to produce more statistics.

Meanwhile, your neighbor's home was foreclosed.

The house is falling apart. The lawn is brown, except for the weeds. Another neighbor has lost her job. Many are concerned that the businesses they work for may not be able to employ them much longer.

You don't need a bureaucrat to know that things are bad.

But they told us anyway. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment recently told us that 8,400 Coloradans lost their jobs last month and another 11,300 became so discouraged that they quit looking for work.

Over 20 years ago, I opened Paradise Rock Gym, my first business. Adams County government welcomed my business, eliminating red tape, allowing me to focus on building my business, gaining customers, and selling something that people willingly bought. I willingly provided benefits for my employees, so they would willingly continue working for me. It was a solid middle class business, helping middle class people earn a living while pursuing their dreams.

These days, our government, with its insatiable desire to control our lives, regulate our businesses, and confiscate our money prevents businesses from doing what I did.

The bureaucrats tell us what we already know - our government is hurting us, the very people it claims to help.