In light of the disturbing numbers associated with people going hungry just before our big feast day and with real unemployment numbers remaining around 8% of the total population, not just the workforce, one wonders what these people will be doing on Thanksgiving day.
This diary consolidates these thoughts with recent election results and even more recent plans coming out of Congress for "fiscal responsibility". As usual, the poor and the middle class will pay through the nose and other orifices for the folly of the rich. When I watch BBC specials about middle age England I see little difference to the direction this nation is headed. Maybe it's part of our social DNA.
Today’s national newspapers printed an article that should impact all of us as we approach the day of feasting known as Thanksgiving. That article told of 17 million of our fellow Americans who cannot afford to provide adequate food and nutrition for their families every day. This coincides with the stubborn unemployment number of about 15 million Americans known to be out of work. I say "known" because these are only the figures of people still receiving unemployment benefits or are otherwise on the books as job seekers. Real employment experts say the real number of jobless is said to be more like 20-25 million. That is 8% of the total population of the country, not just the 9.6% of employable citizens the government keeps mentioning.
How do you think those chronically unemployed people are going to enjoy their Thanksgiving? With respect to the indefatigable spirit of our people, I would suggest that they’ll find something in their lives for which to give thanks. Those are the people I want gainfully working for themselves and their families. I agonize every day that they are not able to find gainful employment. I agonize because I worked for a living for over 35 years in two major careers. I have been laid off a few times and have struggled to find good work more than I care to remember. I have been no stranger to the want ads in the paper. This is why the numbers in the first paragraph have my attention this day.
On a local level, this example in Texas might translate into similar events in your state. The results of the last mid-term election showed that almost 80% of Texas Republicans voted straight ticket, while only about 28% of Democrats voted that way. In view of the re-election of Rick Perry, which voters were more discerning and still considered Texas part of the United States? It seems that Democrats were more inclined to vote for the individual based on knowledge of candidate merit even if they were Republicans. In spite of the Republican voter propensity for voting straight ticket, Perry won by the least margin of any Republican running for any office. I wonder what the results would be if straight ticket voting were not allowed and citizens had to actually look at a name or an issue and vote for each individually.
After the first blush of the newly elected members of Congress waned, reports started surfacing about what sort of fiscal responsibility was needed to save the country from economic ruin. Many of the ideas for cutting this or that had merit, but the first things on the list to cut were Social Security benefits and upping retirement ages, Medicare benefits, a repeal of the new health care laws even before they are in effect, reductions in the department of education and elimination of extended unemployment benefits. Absent from this list were revenue generating plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest members of our society. Also absent were significant cuts in the incredible $800 billion Pentagon budget.
To summarize, our new Congress is going to ask the old and infirm to bear the brunt of almost a decade of de-regulation irresponsibility caused by the super rich who were bailed out by the people for whom they are now planning on cutting benefits. They want to slash infrastructure for our most precious resources, our children, while eliminating funding for state programs too. These people just won election to Congress by significant margins from a majority of the minority: only 53% of the electorate voted on November 2nd. That means that less than 30% of registered voters spoke for the other 70%, while another 30% of those eligible aren’t even registered.
This episode in our history transcends partisan politics, but is a result of it. The people sitting around their Thanksgiving table this year who don’t have enough to eat will ask, "What have we to be thankful for"? I wonder how Karl Rove, Hank Paulson, Larry Summers and all the other ex-Goldman-Sachs moguls will sleep tonight. What will they say they are thankful for on Thanksgiving? Will they be patting each other on the back for getting away with one of the largest thefts of public money and trust in history?
Enjoy your family.