If it was not so tragic, I'd have to laugh at the people who are talking about a "jobless recovery" like it is a good thing. I've only seen one mainstream commentator - a former Clinton Administration official - come close to calling out the Obama Administration on the current economy. Instead you've got papers like the New York Times running articles saying that because there were not as many new people unemployed in the last reporting it is a sign of an improving economy. Why can't we call it like it is - all of the money the Government has spent over the last two years, under both President Bush and President Obama is only making the rich richer and it is not helping the little guys.
Merrill Lynch, AIG, and Goldman Sachs pay out big bonuses to employees. Warren Buffet makes a mint off of investments he made into companies that got government support. People who can afford to invest a lot of money in the stock market are doing very well again. Chrysler gets special treatment to obliterate the debts owed to Indiana retirees and people who were injured because they were driving defective Chrysler vehicles. Meanwhile, as Robert Reich wrote in his Blog: "The problem is, our newly expanded government isn't doing much for average working Americans who continue to lose their jobs and whose belts continue to tighten..." (See "Why the Dow is Hitting 10,000 Even When Consumers Can't Buy And Business Cries "Socialism" at http://robertreich.blogspot.com/)
Instead we here the media talking about a "jobless recovery" like that's a good thing. Or the Associated Press running an article saying the because the 530,000 new people unemployed last month were less than the number unemployed the previous month, we are seeing signs of an economic recovery.
Why can't we say it like it is. A jobless recovery in the US means a recovery with jobs is occurring somewhere - like China and India. The Dow Jones stock prices being near 10,000 while home values are a third less than they used to be means the rich are getting richer and the middle class in the US is getting poorer.
It has not mattered whether the expansion of the Federal Government was being managed by George Bush or Barack Obama - the fact is that all of these federal dollars are only helping rich people. Unless you call the new programs which only increase the dependency of people on government a good thing for the middle class. Personally, I find programs like extending the length of unemployment, cancelling an increase in Medicare premiums even though health care costs continue to rise, and extending first time home buyer credits that artificially inflate home values to be the opposite of what we need. These programs tell people to rely on the government and not on themselves while running up the Government "credit card" bill creating the likelihood of the Government and our country facing the same pain that so many consumers who overspent are suffering.
Merrill Lynch, AIG, and Goldman Sachs pay out big bonuses to employees. Warren Buffet makes a mint off of investments he made into companies that got government support. People who can afford to invest a lot of money in the stock market are doing very well again. Chrysler gets special treatment to obliterate the debts owed to Indiana retirees and people who were injured because they were driving defective Chrysler vehicles. Meanwhile, as Robert Reich wrote in his Blog: "The problem is, our newly expanded government isn't doing much for average working Americans who continue to lose their jobs and whose belts continue to tighten..." (See "Why the Dow is Hitting 10,000 Even When Consumers Can't Buy And Business Cries "Socialism" at http://robertreich.blogspot.com/)
Instead we here the media talking about a "jobless recovery" like that's a good thing. Or the Associated Press running an article saying the because the 530,000 new people unemployed last month were less than the number unemployed the previous month, we are seeing signs of an economic recovery.
Why can't we say it like it is. A jobless recovery in the US means a recovery with jobs is occurring somewhere - like China and India. The Dow Jones stock prices being near 10,000 while home values are a third less than they used to be means the rich are getting richer and the middle class in the US is getting poorer.
It has not mattered whether the expansion of the Federal Government was being managed by George Bush or Barack Obama - the fact is that all of these federal dollars are only helping rich people. Unless you call the new programs which only increase the dependency of people on government a good thing for the middle class. Personally, I find programs like extending the length of unemployment, cancelling an increase in Medicare premiums even though health care costs continue to rise, and extending first time home buyer credits that artificially inflate home values to be the opposite of what we need. These programs tell people to rely on the government and not on themselves while running up the Government "credit card" bill creating the likelihood of the Government and our country facing the same pain that so many consumers who overspent are suffering.
Comments