It’s the question candidates are asking. Are you better off? Last week’s job report seemed to indicate a slight improvement in business. But a quick look at the job layoff report might make one think otherwise.
Daily Job Cuts: October 10, 2012 Layoffs Report
Cummins announces plans to cut up to 1,500 jobs by end of 2012 https://trib.al/6a7AyE
FEDEX to cut thousands from workforce… https://drudge.tw/TycFJh
AP: American Airlines Notifies Thousands of a Layoff Risk as American goes through a bankruptcy reorganization.
KSL.com Nearly 300 employees laid off at EnergySolutions in Utah.
Orlando Sentinel: Lockheed Martin cuts 200 jobs.
These are just job layoffs. There’s another list of business closings…
Not convinced? Here are a few more statistics to ponder. This is every day life for many of us.
CNN: Home Ownership Falls to 1965 levels.
After a decades-long rise in in home ownership the rate dropped to 65.5% in the second quarter of 2012. A senior manager at Amherst Securities says if you include borrowers who have not made a mortgage payment in over a year and are facing foreclosure the ownership rate is actually 63.3%.
Nearly everyone knows someone who bought a home that is now worth less than they paid. The resulting foreclosures hurt all homeowners.
Bloomberg News: Food Stamp Recipients Jump in July.
About 46.68 million Americans received food stamps in July, the government said in a report released late on Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, a traditional time for dumping bad news. The report for July, the most recent month that data was available, showed participation up by 11,532 from June and 2.9 percent higher than a year earlier.
The Obama legacy. Nearly 1 in 7 Americans are now on Food Stamps. That’s a record number!
Since when did we become dependent on the government to feed us? If we had jobs we wouldn’t need food stamps.
Consumer Reports: Price of gas in January 2009 $1.88.
National average price of gas on October 8, 2012 is $3.81. Californians are now paying average of $4.66 per gallon.
Ouch! My friend lives in Temecula, CA and drives into the city each day for work. There is no train. It’s a crazy $6.00 a gallon this week!
Reuters: US Loses Prized AAA Credit Rating.
In August, 2011 S&P dropped the credit rating for the United States of America due to concerns about the government’s budget deficit and the country’s rising debt burden. In September, 2012 ratings firm Egan-Jones cut its credit rating on the U.S. government further to “AA-” from “AA,” citing its opinion that quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve would hurt the U.S. economy and the country’s credit quality.
Young people might say, “So what?” But when they go to buy a car or get a loan they’ll discover that the better one’s credit rating the easier it is to get a loan and the less interest they’ll likely pay. A lower credit rating for the country means we’ll have fewer options for loans to pay off that whopping national debt. What happens when China wants us to pay up?
CNS News: Backlog Processing Vets Disability Claims Skyrockets.
The backlog of veterans’ disability claims has jumped by 179 percent during President Barack Obama’s first term in office, reaching 883,949 outstanding claims, according to Veterans Administration (VA) statistics.
Our veterans put their lives on the line so the rest of us can sleep in safety. Shouldn’t they be getting priority care instead of being met with more government bureaucracy?
Not a Vet? Do you know someone college age?
ASU: Tuition Nearly Doubles in 4 Years.
President Obama promised to make college more affordable. Tuition for a new undergrad student at Arizona State University was $5409 in 2008. Students entering fall of 2012 are paying $9208.
There’s more…the price of coffee, peanut butter, your McDonald’s Happy Meal (oh, but according to this administration you shouldn’t be eating those…)
So. Are you better off???? If you’re not, you’d better get out there and vote.
