Is California Scheming to Make the Obama Economy Look Better?

Back on October 11, President Obama got a major lift for his campaign when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment had dropped dramatically. Mitt Romney had thoroughly schooled Obama in the first presidential debate, changing the trajectory of the campaign. The president needed a lifeline and on October 5 the BLS had reported a big drop in unemployment, saying the rate had dropped below 8% for the first time in years, to match the rate when Obama took office. The Oct 5 numbers seemed fuzzy, and widespread skepticism greeted them. So when the next set of numbers came out on Oct 11 and they looked good too, hardly anyone believed them. The BLS accompanied those numbers with a note that one large state had not reported its unemployment numbers at all.

Which state? Fingers pointed at California and Illinois, based on both states being large, both being blue, and both having reputations for  — take your pick — incompetence and corruption. California denied it most loudly, and it turns out that the guilty dog barked first. Not only did California fail to report its numbers, the man in charge of the agency responsible for reporting those numbers is — cue the dramatic sting — an Obama donor.

Marty Morgenstern, the secretary of the California agency that substantially under-reported unemployment claims last week, contributed to President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election campaign, The Daily Caller has learned.

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Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Morgenstern to lead the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency in 2011. The state agency oversees the Employment Development Department.

According to campaign disclosure records, Morgenstern donated $4,600 — the maximum amount allowed by law — to the 2008 Obama camapaign, beginning with a $1,000 contribution to Obama for America in February 2008. Morgenstern followed up that donation with a $1,300 contribution in June, and then a $2,300 payout in early September.

I’m sure there’s nothing to see here. Why are you so suspicious? Surely it doesn’t mean anything that California’s unemployment numbers man takes up lefty union causes and donates to the president.