I have been watching the Repugs and the Media this week, and it occurs to me that none of them KNOW what this is.....or understand WHAT the Economy has done to normal Americans....that We the People are Hurting...and we all have stories....We have neighborhoods with empty houses, and friends, neighbors and family members out of work, or losing jobs, and Healthcare stories, and we SEE the Truth everyday.....The Media and DC are NOT listening to Our Pain and Our Angst....So we have to Write and Blog Our Stories, Our Reality,...Document Our History. So please do tell your stories here, or post them to Youtube, I will post them.....in the 1930's under the Works Project Great artists documented the damage...we need to do the same. Obama is trying to give Americans a works Project with the Stimulus Package, but unfortunately the Media and Repugs are Ostructing a Program that will create jobs and protect the health and welfare of the unemployed.....The Numbers are staggering and worrisome.....
Today the totals for January are 598,000 for jobs lost, that is 3.6 Million since it was "revealed" we are actually in a depression, 1.6 Million in less than 2 monthes....We are In Trouble ( which was obvious when Bush could not even say the"R" word for over 16 monthes....)
Here is a Piece of my story......
....and WHY I understand The Pain, WHY I see IT....One of my part time jobs is at a market, I help old people count change to buy soup.....I have so many neighbors out of work I can not count them....I have watched people leave my hood, foreclosed, abandoning their houses, and landlords losing their properties. ( I already moved once in January 2007 due to a foreclosed landlord....and I might have to do it again...). I am a nurse ( RN) who can NOT find Fulltime work, only part time work, and I work most hours at Other Jobs....ALL the Hospitals here- the BIG ones have a Freeze on....that is just a piece of my tale....
And then tonight over at Watergate Summer my other blog, Fran of Ramblings left a comment that tugged at my heart.......
"last week a busy corner had no home for sale signs- this week there are 3 plus one big red sign for an "auction" of a home (I'm guessing foreclosure).
My husband's one month "temporary" layoff has turned into 6 weeks, then 2 months, with word still pending as to if they will in fact go back to work.
For now, there is unemployment comp, but we are looking @ '08 taxes & because there is no college credit money this year (The college tax write off HOPE program was only good for 2 years), so according to the IRS there is no hope for us this year.
We may have to cough up almost $1000 bucks while unemployed to pay the IRS & having housed a college student rent free all year.
Where is the box to check off," simple oversight" or "honest mistake"????
How about- due to the depression, we don't have the damned money???
Pretty soon this cycle will come full circle to the IRS... people will simply have to default on taxes because the $$ is not there.
Game over.
I can't believe that # of jobs lost in 2009."
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So I read what she wrote and it made me realize that we all need to share OUR stories....This is Our History....and there is the Fierce Urgency of Now......and I am listening..... and I will keep listening.......
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Tracy Chapman..."Talking about a revolution"
11 comments:
So this was on Bob Cesca's Blog tonight....
THIS below is what the Rethugs are cutting from the stimulus:::
"Greg Sargeant has the latest roster of programs that are being inexplicably hacked out of the recovery bill. For example:
School improvement, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, CDC, Food Stamps
They've also cut school construction spending down to $60 billion.
At this point, I'm really pulling for this stuff to be restored in conference. Someone explain to me how school construction is bad for the economy."
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I am ill...these same repugs let bush piss Billions away in Iraq and on Blackwater contracts....etc....we should Bill them...sue them ? women and children are being cut ??????
A correction: The Depression of 2007 actually started in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. We just slid into it a little slower than we slid into the Great Depression -- though we're swiftly closing in on 1931.
-- Badtux the Depressed Penguin
Wonderful idea... I have some things I am sending to you from Financial Times I found this morning.
Badtux....
as ever- I once again stand corrected by the Penguin...thank you...
annette::
thanks....
Enigma, this is an excellent idea. We need to keep this top of mind and make sure it is clear how very bad things are. Will add this new link to my blog feeds.
You won't be short of stories to tell. Unfortunately the privileged classes are sitting on their privileged asses and since that is where they keep their brains they are unable to see the damage they have done.
I was surprised to find my blog post here! But your idea to focus on this time in history is excellent.
Although I was lamenting our situation, we are probably some of the "lucky ones". The husband is unemployed while there is still unemployment money to be had. I fear at some point we will reach the saturation level where states run out of unemployment funds, and the fed does not have reserves to cover it. How long can we ignore that soon-to-be $10.7 trillion dollar debt??
Seven states have already depleted unemployment monies, and are having to BORROW money from the Feds to cover it. Yes, they have to at some point, pay it back. Good luck with that. So many states are already operating in the red.
Rural Oregon, Oakridge in specific, is rolling out the idea of going to a 4 day a week school schedule. Make class sizes larger and less time in class due to budget woes.
Our local public Ambulance service says they are going under financially, as medicare does not cover actual costs & most ambulance calls are from elderly on Medicare.
Tough times for sure.
Thanks for providing the forum to document this unraveling.
Today, they had the debates on the bill in the senate.. Grassley of Iowa was talking about SChip and the money in the Bill for medicaide, He made one of the stupidest statements... he says, people will be dropping their insurance on their kids now and signing them up for medicaid with this funding in there and with the SChip funding they will be so glad to get this and will be lining up out the doors for all this free money. I just shook my head hearing this.
I love the focus here on that other time in our history!
I said to a friend just this week, that I think we will someday be informed that we are in a Depression, rather than a Recession.
Thank you for the new blog!
Thank you for starting this new blog. You have an uncanny ability to forsee the furture...You have the Migrant Mother photo up again, I see..I remember this photo from a couple of years ago when you posted it, and both of us saw what was to come..
NO::
the Migrant Mother anchors our souls....to what matters...thank you...
trish::
welcome..thank you....I think we need to document and learn from these times and each other....
Annette::
Grassley is an idiot...he has made that argument over and over- he has NO idea what is going on for most families...he does not get it- at all...
Fran::
the school schedule is being discussed all over the country- some places are cutting ALL services- nurses to PE to lunches to snacks to breakfast and here in Ohio they are closing school and consolidating schools- which is a problem because there are many districts where kids walk....and getting rid of music, Art, and PE....and closing libraries and computer labs- WHO does this really help ???? are budgets being balanced on our kids futures ? yes......
Jamie::
you are as ever- eloquent...and yes, they can sit on the their collective asses while rome burns...we may as well document it....we will all have stories to tell and see around us...some of us already do....( I know things were supposed to improve after the election....but Obama still needs our help..)
Maui::
thanks...I will try to keep updated....and any ideas or photos I will post...
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