|
Political Commentary>
The Tragedy of Unemployment
February 16, 2010
I have just read a very depressing article in The Atlantic.
It makes clear the urgency of addressing unemployment.
Meanwhile, our president is here in Colorado attending $1000 a plate dinners to raise money for our beleaguered appointed Democratic senator who has distinguished himself primarily by being undistinguished.
This president seems oddly detached from the problems of the electorate for someone who was a community organizer. Everything he does seems aimed at worsening the nation’s unemployment problem. Big spending and higher taxes are the real killers.
Mr. Obama’s claiming that unemployment is 9.7% is misleading. The real numbers as told in The Atlantic are staggering and heartbreaking:
• 17.4% of Americans are unemployed or underemployed.
• 19.4% of all men in their prime working years, 25 to 54, do not have jobs.
• Unemployment among blacks is almost 16%.
• Unemployment among Hispanics is almost 13%.
• 44% of families experienced a job loss, reduction in hours, or pay cuts in the last year.
• One in seven mortgages is delinquent.
• Unemployment among black teens is 50%.
• Job offers to graduating college seniors fell 21% this year.
• 10% of adults younger than 35 live with their parents.
• And for the first time, women will soon outnumber men in the workplace.
The article tells us that for a man, losing his job has the same mental and physical health implications as suffering the death of a spouse. In a society that generally ignores the woes of men, we better take notice, because long-term unemployment increases illnesses of all kinds, destroys marriages and hurts children.
Democrats across the board seem oblivious to the problem of unemployment.
Our own Democratically controlled legislature here in Colorado has just voted to raise taxes in violation of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). Someone will have to sue them to make them comply with the law. But the real point is that corporations, which are hit especially hard by the new taxes, have told the legislators that if the state raises taxes, they will lay off workers.
This, of course, did not stop our brilliant Democratic majority who believe they were elected to “spend the money” on social programs we cannot afford, not solve problems.
As a consequence, the steel plant down in Pueblo plans to lay off 120 workers, the very people who through their taxes support the social programs the Democrats do not have the heart to cut.
Those losing their jobs will now need assistance. They will pay no taxes and no social security. They will likely default on their mortgages and lose their homes. And of course they will lose their health insurance.
All because of our Democratically controlled legislature’s contempt for the taxpayer and its inability to see the inverse relationship between higher taxes and jobs.
|
|
|
