Poverty in America Has Gone Mainstream

Does America have a future or are we becoming as Comrade Obama and his Communist tsars promised—a fundamentally changed America—the United Soviet Socialists of America?

Share the wealth or share the poverty; our country is dying as an unprecedented 4 in 5 face poverty.

During the Great Depression in 1930 there were 123 million Americans.  At the height of the Depression in 1933, 24.9% of the total work force or 11,385,000 people, were unemployed.

Currently there are 300 million Americans and only  54.4 million are in the work force.  You do the math.

So what is the actual unemployment rate?  It depends on who you ask, or what source you seek to find the truth.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Labor, “The number of unemployed persons, at 11.8 million, and the unemployment rate, at 7.6 percent, were unchanged in June.  Both measures have shown little change since February.”  The U.S. gained nearly 200,000 jobs in June, and another 70,000 jobs appear to have been discovered in April and May.

Despite what some accounts say, it was a terrible report—70,000 less jobs than what economists predicted. And we can’t forget 100 jobs at forty hours being replaced by 100 jobs at 29 hours that are still counted as 100 jobs.  What is the difference?  A big cut in pay.

Forbes.com tells us the truth:  “The unemployment rate is higher than we think.”

Why?  The truth is in the statistics, or perhaps better said, the lies are in the government stats.

The numbers included in what we hear from the government every month does not include the U6 numbers which is closer, more accurate, to the actual number of people unemployed.

Who are the U6 people who are not counted in the government’s reporting that we hear every month?

• People who are discouraged and have given up looking for a job, and even if they do manage to snag an interview, employers are skeptical of workers who have been out of the job market for a few years and even months.  According to Forbes, “…by the eighth month of unemployment, the callback rate falls by about 45%.”

• Workers who want to work but are unable to find work and part time workers who want to work full time, but are unable to find work.  Cyclical unemployment is also included.

“The addition of part-time workers adds a full 2-3 percentage points to the official unemployment rate,” and it is growing.

The actual unemployment rate then is 14.3% of which 5.1% are working part time.  That means an astounding “…8 million people who are working part-time, are having difficulty making ends meet and most likely do not have any health insurance from their employers.”

Never fear—the comrades and tsars of the United States Government to the rescue.  128 million Americans are on some form of government assistance, the bulk of who are on more than one program.  That is 1 in 3 people.  The takers outnumber the food producers.

Here is a breakdown of government programs and numbers of recipients, as presented by Heritage researchers:

128,818,142 people are enrolled in at least one government program

48,580,105 people are on Medicaid

35,770,301 people receive their retirement income from Social Security

43,834,566 people are on Medicare

39,030,579 people are living in a household where at least one person accepts food stamps

6,984,783 people are living in subsidized rental housing

2,047,149 people are receiving a higher-education subsidy

“It is important to note that the above categories overlap; for example an individual may receive both subsidized rental housing and food stamps,” says the study.  The total number on at least one government program does not double count individuals, however.”

The 4 in 5 adults who are at the poverty line is another real scandal from a phony administration.