Do you agree with the current analyses regarding this economy as strong, as spouted by the current regime? I sure don't... but then, I'm an American worker, so I don't count.
More below.
This is the crux of the problem for millions of Americans, including me. Prices have gone up while our salaries stay the same, and healthcare benefits go up with less and less service, and less and less being covered. At some point something has got to give. I don't even go to the doctor unless it is absolutely necessary, and then, I worry about being able to make the co-payment. I couldn't even get my eyes checked until I got a referral from my medical doctor, and since I hadn't been there in two years my medical doctor then required me to pay for a visit to him before he would give me the referral. This system is so screwed up with formality and paperwork, that it is absolutely RIDICULOUS.
I forego it entirely as well if I need the money for my child, because he comes first. NO ONE in this country should have to choose between food and medicine, or sacrificng their own health to pay the rent or eat. With the cost of living currently, it is also virtually impossible for many to have anything to even save. My child is also heading towards his college years, and while I have some saved for that and have vowed I will not touch it, the cost of a college education has also skyrocketed, so I worry I won't even have enough for that. I pray he gets scholarships. God only knows what it will be like by the time he is ready for college.
Honestly, there are weeks when it is so tight, I just make my bills with little to spare, and it is an all too common tale for the working American, whose daily lives don't seem to be important to those who take and take. I don't even get to work everyday now, because the doctor I work for has been getting a lighter patient load because of Medicare changes, the economy, etc., and I don't get paid if I don't work, and that hurts.
So what does this regime do? They cut the budget for Americans like us and do all in their power to see us get the screws, and seek 120 billion more for their war. IS THAT NOT CRIMINAL? And Bush was also full of sh** during his SOTU rant. Many of the jobs created are part-time jobs with no benefits, seasonal jobs, and jobs that pay minimum wage. It is simply not enough to say a certain amount of jobs were created. It is the QUALITY of those jobs, the longevity of them, and the opportunities they give for advancement that are important. For God's sake, these are the people who classified a hamburger flipping job at McDonald's as a "manufacturing" position. Does anyone really think they know what the hell they are talking about?
They are so out of touch with the bread and butter issues Americans are worried about and living with everyday, it is criminal. Do these fools even know how much it costs for daycare? Hospice care? Food? Utilities? Even clothes? And my biggest gripe is, that EVERYTHING I touch is made in CHINA! So what country exactly was he quoting those jobs numbers for?
Where the hell is this country going? I work, my husband works VERY hard, and what have we to show for it? We are not spendthrifts. We don't waste money. I mean, you can't waste what you don't have. Yet, we the American worker are the forgotten Americans, and frankly, I'm sick and tired of it. People living in their ivory towers can spout stock prices and averages all they want. That is NOT any indication of the TRUE economy to someone living on the edge.
I can however be grateful for one thing. I cut up my credit cards five years ago and haven't used one since, and I have NO intention of EVER using one again. In reality, this is not a rich nation it is a DEBTOR'S nation, and those in power are doing all they can to keep that going because it benefits THEM. I think it's time they got a wake up call that we are tired of being squeezed. This is no way for anyone to have to live.
And yes, I know that 2/3 of the world live on less than 2 dollars a day, so to some I have no business even writing about this because I live in paradise compared to them, and in context that may be true. However, I work hard for the little I get, and the reality of it is that for many Americans, we are no better off than many others in this world when it comes to medical care, food, and the necessities of life. For a country that touts itself as the richest in the world, I think that is a goddamned disgrace. And this is one issue that Republicans FAIL MISERABLY on, and they should have to feel the sting of it EVERY DAMN DAY.
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The squeeze on American pocketbooks By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Feb 3, 3:00 AM ET
Americans are working as hard as ever, but their paychecks aren't keeping pace with rising inflation. That means trouble for their pocketbooks - and for an economy that's fueled by their spending.
Indeed, after two years of a "jobless recovery" following the 2001 recession, the US economy now faces something equally unsettling: a "wageless recovery."
Several government reports this week tell the story. For the first year since the Great Depression, the personal savings rate went negative in 2005. Pay and benefits, meanwhile, rose just 3.1 percent last year - the lowest rate since 1996 and not enough to outpace a 3.4 percent jump in the consumer price index. Is there any relief in sight?
None came Thursday, as the government reported a decline in worker productivity for the closing months of last year, a trend that could limit future wage growth.
The outlook isn't all discouraging, but a four-year-old economic expansion is clearly struggling to maintain its momentum. The reason: Americans are being squeezed from both sides of the household ledger. On the income side, wage growth has been historically low for a period of economic recovery. On the spending side, energy prices and interest rates are higher.
End of excerpt.
The squeeze on American pocketbooks
I would love to see Congress have to live out here in the "Real America" without all their amenities for just ONE DAY. They don't know what bravery is.