A record number of of Americans now live below the poverty line, up from 46.2 million last year. That figure factors in the 9.6 unemployment rate and has reached levels comparable to the levels seen during President Johnson's "war on poverty". The different times seem laughably similar; both times were characterized by harsh economic troubles and public outrage toward wars that the government had duped the public into participating in. But America recovered to an extent.
Now, the median household income has also slipped to $49,445. With the poor just getting poorer, and more middle class families joining them, a plan needs to be put into immediate action to stop the chain reaction. The more that are unemployed, the less people there are to pay government taxes. More unemployment means less consumerism and demand for goods and services. Less demand calls for less demand for labor, and the cycle continues. If the government can't raise enough funds to help the unemployed, the downward trend traps the government in a deadlock. Will Obama's vastly expensive job plan really be the solution to this ridiculous and complicated issue?
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2 comments:
I love your connection to President Johnson's "war on poverty" - there is indeed an interestingly strange overlap between the two eras. But I do not think that just because someone is unemployed means they're exempt from paying government taxes, unless if you were specifically referring to the income tax and such. Rather I think it's less tax revenue (not "less people") that the federal government is generating as a result of increasing unemployment, which adds to the downward spiral you accurately described in your post.
I feel that the problem with Obama's original stimulus was that it wasn't enough of a stimulus for our devastated economy, which was in a worse condition than government economists calculated. It seems like this jobs bill is one of Obama's only, if not his only, practical alternatives - let's hope it passes and works.
I believe Obamas plan will work as we seen a slight increase in more jobs but i think we need to be patient because its not going to change over night so i think we give it couple moths and see if it increases and if it does then i think its working
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