Rep. Allen West Accuses Obama of Manipulating Jobless Numbers as Tactics from Saul Alinsky

Rep. Allen West Accuses Obama of Manipulating Jobless Numbers as Tactics from Saul Alinsky (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Tea Party darling Rep. Allen West (R-FL), the co-chair of Mitt Romney’s Black Leadership Council, agrees with former GE CEO Jack Welch that the Obama administration manipulated the unemployment numbers to reflect a big drop — 7.8 percent for September. West, who is in a tough reelection race, wrote the following on his Facebook page:

“I agree with former GE CEO Jack Welch, Chicago style politics is at work here. Somehow by manipulation of data we are all of a sudden below 8 percent unemployment, a month from the Presidential election. This is Orwellian to say the least and representative of Saul Alinsky tactics from the book “Rules for Radicals”- a must read for all who want to know how the left strategize.”

While the Republicans are freaking out about this, former George W. Bush spokesman Tony Fratto added this:

“BLS benchmark revisions come from actual state unemployment benefits rolls & businesses reporting to state tax authorities.”

BLS is not manipulating data.Evidence of such would be a scandal of enormous proportions & loss of credibility.

— Tony Fratto (@TonyFratto) October 5, 2012

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post’s Election 2012 blog wrote this morning:

For the record, career professionals at the Bureau of Labor Statistics come up with the monthly jobs report in total secrecy, walled off from all political staff.

… Like News Corp. CEO Richard Murdoch, Welch wants Mitt Romney to win but has a habit of giving the Republican candidate unsolicited (and perhaps unwelcome) advice. This time, he’s not getting much support.