The year 1979 may very well have been the year when the middle-class in America had first began it's long decent into oblivion. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, manufacturing in the U.S. peaked in 1979 when we had over 19.6 million manufacturing jobs in a labor force of 104.6 million. In 1979 manufacturing was 21.6% of all jobs. Now manufacturing is only 9.9% of jobs in America.
In a speech last Wednesday President Obama said, "Over the past 40 months, our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs. This year, we are off to our strongest private-sector job growth since 1999."
But is that really true? And one also has to wonder...just what kind of jobs have those businesses been creating over the past 40 months? It's not always about the quantity, but the quality as well.
The headlines blaze criminal charges for SAC Capital Advisors, a wayward hedge fund. Yet if one reads the Southern district of New York indictment, it is fairly obvious the owner is getting off the hook.
Consider the irony of companies like Walmart that economically forces their employees to apply for food stamps, and then profits from their food stamp dollars. That's not more public welfare, that's more corporate welfare. But now those profits are at risk, because the GOP's current version of a farm bill includes ZERO for food stamps --- meaning, 1 in 6 Americans could also go hungry.
Food stamp usage has leveled off in growth yet is still alarmingly high. As of April 2013, 47,548,694 people were on food stamps. That is 1 out of every 6.64 persons in the United States. This means that 15.05% of all people living in America are on food assistance. The United States population in middle of April 2013 was 315,928,000 and this figure includes everyone, including Americans overseas. Food stamp usage has increased 2.8% from April 2012.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics --- the mainstream media and most bloggers refuse to (or are unable to) to get the numbers correct on Social Security disability. It's no wonder they are all saying different things, and why many of us (including myself) were so confused about the accuracy of SSDI statistics. There also appears to be a lot of ideological spin in everyone's reporting --- so I'd like to help clarify a few things.
Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" last Friday to discuss her proposed update of the Glass-Steagall Act and the big banks --- but the station's hosts didn't appear to be willing participants --- they almost sounded hostile.
From FY2011 to FY2012 (in the aftermath of the Great Recession) it was reported that there were actually less Social Security disability claims, less awards and more SSDI terminations. By the end of 2012, total disabled workers receiving SSDI benefits numbered 8.8 million --- not 14 million that the NPR consistently reports.
Detroit lost a quarter-million residents between 2000 and 2010. A population that in the 1950s reached 1.8 million is struggling to stay above 700,000. Much of the middle-class and scores of businesses also have fled Detroit, taking their tax dollars with them.
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