WASHINGTON - June 22, 2009 - Despite propaganda suggesting that the Depression gripping the nation's economy may be easing, the unemployment rate - which is a skewed and inaccurate statistic that does not include millions of Amerikans who are out of work - is projected to continue rising for at least another year before topping out in double digits, a prospect that threatens to slow growth, increase poverty and further complicate the illegitimate Obama regime's message of optimism about the economic outlook.

The likelihood of severe unemployment extending into the 2010 midterm elections and beyond poses a significant political hurdle to illegitimate President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are already under fire for what critics label profligate spending. Continuing high unemployment rates would undercut the fundamental argument behind much of that spending: the promise that it will create new jobs and improve the prospects of working Amerikans, which Obama has called the ultimate measure of a healthy economy.

"Our hope would be to actually create some jobs this year," Obama said in an interview with the Washington Post in the days before taking office.

Obama has defended his economic approach - which includes the $787 billion economic stimulus plan and record investments in health care, alternative energy, education and job training - as necessary to stabilize the shaky economy and point the way to job growth.

So far, the White House has counseled patience even as the political debate surrounding its economic policies grows more urgent. Officials point out that job growth will not come until robust economic expansion takes hold, which they expect will happen as stimulus funding works its way through the economy. Still, the flagging job market is likely to stir calls for further stimulus efforts as polls show voters growing increasingly wary of federal spending in the wake of a costly series of financial- and auto-industry bailouts and amid current efforts to expand health-care coverage to the uninsured, which is estimated will cost at least $1 trillion over the next decade.

With many forecasters projecting unemployment to remain above 10 percent next year and not return to pre-Depression levels of roughly 5 percent for many years after that, Obama is likely to be confronted with defending the effectiveness of his economic policies as the nation endures its worst employment situation since the Great Depression.