Posted on 03/02/2013 10:02:29 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
We think of the iconic images of the Great Depression as representative of a uniquely miserable period, long vanished from American history. The bread lines and soup kitchens of those abnormal times have gone. So, too, has the sight of thousands of men (there were very few women among them then) waiting all day outside a factory in a forlorn quest for work.
But they're there still, in the many millions across the country—little changed in their total since the 1930s: 12.3 million today are fully unemployed, compared to 12.8 million in 1933 at the depth of the depression. The difference is that now they're invisible, because we've organized relief differently. In our "recovery," the millions are being assisted, out of sight, by the government, through unemployment checks, Social Security disability checks, and food stamps. More than 47 million Americans are in the food stamp program, some 15 percent of the total population, compared with the 7.9 percent participation in food stamps from 1970 to 2000. Then there are the more than 11 million Americans who are collecting checks from Social Security to compensate for disability, a record. Half of them have signed on since President Obama came to office. Twenty years ago, one person was on disability for every 35 workers; today, the ratio is one for every 16. Such an increase is simply impossible to explain by disability experienced during employment, for it is inconceivable that work in America has become so much more dangerous. For many, this program is another unemployment program, only this time it is without end...
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
I have a broken back that occurred in childhood, knees with little to no cartilage, high blood pressure, and I’ve been looking for work now nearly for 2-1/2 years. So far, no luck.
Could I go on disability? In a heartbeat. No problem. But I can work and want to work.
The problem is there are millions of young, healthy people also competing for those jobs.
Just like me, there are people who’ve been looking for work and can only find the kind of job that requires lifting 50-60 pounds unassisted, and/or moving about in a manufacturing facility.
I’m not quick to suspect everyone of disability fraud. Instead I suspect that the majority have worked for years with one or more disabilities that now prevent them from getting another job.
It just so happens I inherited the family home so I have items to auction, plus I was an award winning artist before graduating from high school and am starting a business around painting and marketing of my works.
I’ll probably make it. For the rest, I can pray that everyone survives the forthcoming financial debacle.
Gas prices were surely a factor. But major reason was the leveraged derivatives issued by banks which collapsed when housing bubble burst. Banks were rescued by TARP, courtesy of tax payers. Too bad the TARP does not rescue me when my investments decline.
You’re looking at it MACRO, I am looking at it MICRO. Why did the housing bubble burst? I think that it had a lot do with people getting homes they could barely afford. When something changed, spike in gas price and the attendant rise in food prices, many of the people just defaulted. It started to snowball when people started to lose their jobs also. Yes, it was due to derivatives but many of these investments relied on stability in the housing market and all that started to fall apart when over indebted people stopped making payments. So irresponsible banks lending to irresponsible people begat the crash. It was a house of cards built on greed by all parties, big-shots and little-shots who wanted to live beyond their means.
What are those “pot roast” and “sirloin steak” things that you speak of? We’re lucky to have Treet, generic hot dogs & beans and store brand macaroni & cheese.
That, and also less willing to accept less free terms of employment - given that both illegals and “skilled guest workers” both are under very captive terms. In each case, there is no room for someone(whether illegal for unskilled or guest worker for skilled occupations) to change employers or to raise valid complaints without retaliation.
In short, someone with a choice to seek and accept better terms seems to cost too much.
I assume you realize that Obama is not getting blamed for any of this, right?
It’s all the fault of “Congress”, otherwise known as the Republicans.
Frank Luntz just had a Focus Group consisting of 22 Obama Voters and 22 Romney Voters. They all blamed “Congress” for the Sequester, not Obama. Again, Congress = Republicans.
Ignorance is Obama’s best friend, along with the lapdog Media that promotes it and him.
Don’t leave out the CRA and flippers. Between the two, the housing market was pretty fragile, and flippers contributed to the bubble. When prices went down, they also added to those walking away.
The first falls under “living beyond one’s means”, the other under “uninhibited greed”.
The lid is starting to come off the Obama box of lies, deceit, law breaking and outright bull-crap.
Once momentum swings against him, the media will jump on the bandwagon. They will act totally surprised that anything amiss was going on right before their eyes.
And they will be shocked that anyone could think they were part of the corruption that put Obama in office and covered up his misdeeds.
Huge spike in gas prices? - When “Bush” was in office, gas prices were half what they are now. That was 2007; since Obama took over in 2009 it’s been Katie Bar the Door in every area. Change? For sure. Hope? Not so much. Forward? Yep. When something fails, DOUBLE DOWN!
Stupid comparison right off the bat by the writer. Same number of people in a smaller population makes a much larger impact. Clearly things were worse in the 30’s.
True enough. I have little doubt there were those who used the CRA to buy homes they could not afford, and then extracted ‘equity’ (”home improvement loan”) when the prices went up, only to walk away with a wad of cash.
The MSM is exaggerating in the other direction? Think about it, has the worm turned?
Course there is. They need to shill for the Comrades in 2014 and 2016.
Wow!
There is so much to do to get America back to the powerhouse it was:
•Invest in the national electricity grid and in a high-speed internet grid; in bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, and high-speed rail; in fracking; in education for science, technology, engineering, and math; and in training programs tied to unemployment.
•Add thousands of annual visas for foreigners with science and technology skills to work here, while allowing international graduates to stay rather than return home or settle elsewhere to compete against us.
•Simplify or abolish the regulations that foreign companies cite as the principal impediment to investing and creating jobs here.
•Broaden our tax base and get rid of loopholes, deductions, and credits and the inherent corruption related to them so as to enable lower marginal tax rates.
The Republicans should agree to this, but they won't.
Boehner's feelings are hurt, dontchaknow.
I still don't understand the whole "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations. If the "President his is revenue" as Boehner says over, and over, and over again - and Obama has agreed to at least some Entitlement reform, then what is the problem? These two sides are talking past each other.
The Sequester is going to cost 2 million jobs, hundreds of thousands of layoffs, and will gut a loyal Defense Dept that is already reeling from a $487 Billion cut that began 2 years ago in 2011.
The public is sick of it all. Now we have yet ANOTHER "cliff" crisis coming in another 25 days!
Reform tax rates and get rid of ridiculous things such as carried interest that even Conservatives like Michael Medved say are ridiculous.
Obama is a wicked, narcissistic homosexual, Boehner is an manic-depressive drunk, Pelosi is a delusional Marxist mafia princess, and Reid is a corrupt megalomaniac.
But if God could get through to even King Nebuchadnezzar, He can crush the hearts of these morons to make them do the right thing. They might, however, not want to keep testing His patience and see how that turned out.
Amen - and prayers to you.
Like you, my faith is in our Lord and I’m ready to take the next step in our eternal journey.
God Bless you, my friend!
I don't think so. We have enough unemployed engineering and scientific talent. The purpose is wage suppression, in a recession this is treasonous....
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