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"
