Blog

2203152

Friday May 11th 2012, 11:40 pm

I was doing pretty good today, upbeat but a little tired. Then I saw a disheartening news report today that really hits home. It was about the recent decision to cut off unemployment benefits for people needing jobs. What made it quite profound for me was that the news report was national news and they actually came here to Merced, our humble small town. You see, the problem is while the California unemployment percentage rate has dropped slightly (less than a percent actually), here in Merced we’re at 20% unemployment, there just is not enough jobs building quick enough here. 20% percent is a scary number, thats one in five people unable to find work. And it greatly saddens me when I see a family in my town that is going to lose a precious safety line to keep them afloat disappear. The time limit for benefits was was 99 weeks, and now suddenly, that has been cut to 75 or less. Its ludicrous to reduce the benefit time when I’ve seen report after report that its taking some people 2 years or more to find work, and then its usually for less than what they used to make. Ironically I also saw the report of one of the largest banks losing 2 billion dollars this year due to ridiculous risk taking on bad financial derivatives, this was a lead factor in causing the recession in the first place, and some clearly have not learned a lesson. A bank acting so recklessly while people who need help are not going to get it is beyond aggravating, its just stupid. I just don’t know what government expects people to do, there are not enough jobs. Yes they are coming back overall for the country, but not nearly in the amounts needed. Policies in place by the administration are slowly working, but it seems congress cuts the working programs at the knees by making other poor decisions, causing poverty rates to go up. I do believe we’ll get back up to capacity as a nation, its just going to take time, obviously more time than our own elected congress is willing to give. Maybe its time that all elected officials be forced to have term limits. Maybe getting rid of the idea of career politicians will force elected officials to actually do things to help people rather than harm them. One thing I can say for certain, is that I can feel lucky that I have work, but sad too when so many others may end up going without things they need very soon. I don’t mean to sound preachy, and I don’t usually say political statements in public forums, but this report really got to me. So if you can, be giving to charities that are about helping those in need in your community.

Blog

2203152

Leave a Comment