Jobs 

31% of Jobless Have Been Out of Work for More than a Year:  As President Obama’s economic policies continue to fail, more unemployed Americans are now forced to survive without work longer than at any time since the Great Depression.  According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust, 31.8% of the nearly 14 million Americans who were unemployed in the third quarter of 2011 had been jobless for a year or more.  That percentage translates into more than 4.4 million people.

Spending

October Deficit $98 Billion:  According to the Department of Treasury, the Deficit for the month of October was $98.5 billion or $3.2 billion every day.  Although the deficit was down from the last October’s monthly deficit of $140 billion, October’s deficit was still $35 billion higher than the month of September.  The deficit in the first month of the year puts the U.S. on pace to rack up a $1.18 trillion deficit in FY 2012.

Medicare

 Entitlement Reform A Priority:  Heritage Foundation researchers explain in a WebMemo this month the peril of tax increases without first securing entitlement reform.  “As for the budgetary impact of tax hikes, unless entitlements are fundamentally overhauled, their unbridled spending growth would drive taxes ever higher. So solutions that rely on taxes now will mean even higher taxes in the future.”