Showing posts with label Unemployment Rates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unemployment Rates. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Wall Street Occupy

The Wall Street Occupy group has raised almost $300,000 in funds to support their movement. The group is growing nationwide and has spread to Rome and London. I am sure the U.S. Government never planned on the group gaining momentum like they have. People are tired of the economy and they are expressing their Freedom of Speech. Honestly if I were in the government, I would be worried about the group.

People are demanding change. Most of the big corporations don't even pay taxes. They are supposed to be creating jobs with their tax break in the United States, but they aren't creating jobs they are cutting jobs left and right. In the meantime, the government is taxing the hell out of the working middle class. They take enough taxes out of my husband to support another family on and we are struggling because of it. He gets paid every two weeks and they take as much as $1,000 out of his check every two weeks. That is 26,000 a year in taxes. That is  another person's wages. Meanwhile, a lot of these big corporations aren't paying a dime in taxes. Then they take almost half the income of the working class trying to support their families. None of it makes any sense what so ever.

Then there are the ones who can't find jobs. There seems to be a large group of educated experienced people in their late 30's and up who can't find work. It is like we are washed up at 40, if we were laid off. Nobody wants to hire us. We are either over educated for the position or have too much experience. I have been looking for work, it's not easy. The wages are extremely low, less than half of what I used to make before. It seems employers are looking for younger people without any commitments to a family. At interviews, I am always asked how many children do I have and how old are they? A lot of employers don't want to hire women with children. I have worked every since I have had children, it never interfered with my job in the past, so why would it interfere now?

Another thing I hear is, why are you applying for this position when you have a degree in psychology? Why??? Obviously, it is to work is what I really want to tell them. Or another thing I am told is I don't think you will be satisfied with the position, because of the wages. I used to make $20 an hour working full time and now I am applying for positions making $8 or $9 an hour part-time. My attitude is, something is better than nothing, but they just don't seem to get it. I understand that when you are starting over with a new company, you have to work your way up, I am not going to find a job making $20 an hour in this economy. I started with the company in 1999 making $7.50 an hour working full time. Even back then, it was easier to find a job making more than you are now. At least it was full time, giving you more earning potential. That was 12 years ago, it is sad you make more money 12 years ago than you can today.

That is the reasoning behind the Wall Street Occupy. I understand why they are angry. We want jobs, jobs that we can support our families on. The big companies are taking their tax break and using the money to build companies overseas employing people in other countries, not people in the United States. That is not what the tax break was designed for and our government is not stopping them. They are burying the middle class alive. We have spent years of our lives helping these big corporations build their companies and they throw us away like garbage. We are a generation that has dedicated endless hours into investing in our future and we have nothing to show for it. We did what we were supposed to do, we went to college and worked hard to build a future for our families and to give our families a descent home to live in and a chance to go to college themselves. So many of our generation has lost their jobs, their homes and lucky if they even have a place to live. Everything we have worked for is gone and we are still paying the student loans for our education. The government is doing nothing to stop these companies from doing what they are doing. What ever happen to the American Dream? We have lost almost everything we own because of the decisions our government has made and they have the audacity to wonder why are we so angry?

Monday, October 10, 2011

The American People Are Getting The Boot

The President Elections are just around the corner. I usually look forward to the Presidential Elections, but this time around I am having a hard time getting motivated about one particular candidate. Bush put us in this economic pit and Obama has done little to take us out of it. On October 3, 2008, Bush's bill was signed by the House and signed into law to bail out $700 billion of mortgage related assets. By the end of 2008, banks had 850,000 homes in foreclosure as apposed to in 404,000 homes were in foreclosure in 2007. In 2009, home foreclosures were reported at 937,840. That means 1 in every 136 homes were in foreclosure in the United States. Banks were abusing the law, to receive the bail out money. In 2009, 2.9 million homes received a foreclosure notice. By May of 2011, 2.5 million homes have hit foreclosure, and it is expected to see 5.5 million homes in foreclosure by the end of 2011. These figures do not include those who were evicted from their apartments.

Not only does this effect the millions of home owners who have lost their homes, it effects the current home owners equity in their home. The mortgage companies may be foreclosing on all these homes to get the bail out money, but they are not going to win in the end. Not only has home values dropped dramatically, the mortgage applications are at a 13 year low. It is a shame, Bush sold out the American home owners and gave the mortgage companies the opportunity to make a profit off of throwing American Families out of their homes.

Millions of Americans are out of work and losing their homes. According to the 2011 Census Bureau reports for 2010, 15.1 percent of Americans are living in poverty. That translates to 46.2 million Americans living in poverty. Nearly 1 and 6 Americans were living in poverty in 2010. What is 2011 going to look like?

With an economy like this, everyone loses. No one wins in the end. It is a disgrace the American people have to pay for Bush's big ideas and Obama has done very little to help the situation either. So, who do we vote for. This election coming up, stands to be one of the most detrimental elections since the Great Depression. The Republics dug the whole and the Democrats sat by and watched us fall in. So, who do we vote for? This election determines whether or not we fall in deeper or begin to crawl out of this economic disaster the politicians have created. So, if you haven't been interested in politics yet, it is time to start. You may be next to fall in to the 46.2 million Americans living in poverty or one of the 5.5 million Americans losing their homes.