It's on purpose - today's edition

The Most Equal Comrade is no doubt all grins at how well his Coward-Piven strategy is working. The cattle-masses are good and hobbled:

Employers in May added the fewest number of workers in almost six years, reflecting broad cutbacks that may raise concern about U.S. growth and prompt Federal Reserve policy makers to put off an increase in interest rates.

The addition of 38,000 workers, the fewest since September 2010, followed a 123,000 advance in April that was smaller than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The increase in May was less than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The jobless rate dropped to 4.7 percent, the lowest since November 2007, as Americans left the labor force.

Smaller employment gains reduce the odds of a more pronounced upturn in household spending and economic growth after a poor start to the year. Fed officials will take into account more judicious hiring, at a time when corporate profits are on a downswing and global markets remain weak, as they consider whether to raise interest rates again.

“The slowdown in job growth looks pretty pervasive across industries,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. “It raises some questions about the momentum of growth and about the outlook. The easy thing to say is, this takes June off the table for a Fed hike. To get to July, we’re going to need a pretty nice rebound in the data.”

Oh, and let's check in on how the "A"CA is doing:

Obamacare’s 13th co-op announced it’s closing ahead of the 2017 open enrollment period, and more of the nonprofit insurers could follow suit in the coming months.

Ohio’s InHealth Mutual announced late last week it would be closing its doors after the state’s Department of Insurance requested to liquidate the insurer.

As insurers prepare to submit proposed rate changes to the government ahead of the next open enrollment period, it’s likely Ohio’s co-op won’t be the last to close its doors.

“I think there are a couple of reasons why the picture will be clearer later in the summer,” Ed Haislmaier, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow in health policy, told The Daily Signal. “First, insurers are making decisions to participate in the exchange and submitting rates. The other is the risk adjustment formula will kick in for the last plan year, 2015, this summer.”

“Based on that, some companies may not make it. Some companies may decide to exit,” he continued.
InHealth Mutual enrolled nearly 22,000 consumers, with the majority selecting individual market plans. Customers now have 60 days to select a new plan on the federal exchange.
Ohio’s co-op, or consumer operated and oriented plan, is the 13th co-op created under the Affordable Care Act to close its doors. Twenty-four co-ops launched in 2013 with a total of $2.4 billion in start up and solvency loans awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
InHealth Mutual received $129.2 million in loans, according to the agency.Collectively, the now 13 failed co-ops received more than $1.3 billion in loans and enrolled more than 730,000 consumers across the 14 states they served. Those consumers were forced to pick new plans on the exchanges.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has not yet said definitively whether the co-ops will be able to repay the loans received. However, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt told a congressional panel his agency is working with the Justice Department to recoup the money.

Many of the co-ops that closed their doors did so late last year and cited Obamacare’s risk corridor program as their reason for doing so. 

Domestically as well as on the world stage, The Great Leveling Project is firing on all cylinders.