WASHINGTON — Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it. And in new signs of distress among the middle class, median household incomes fell last year to levels last seen in 1996. Economists pointed to a telling statistic: It was the first time since the Great Depression that median household income, adjusted for inflation, had not risen over such a long period, said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard. “This is truly a lost decade,” Mr. Katz said. “We think of America as a place where every generation is doing better, but we’re looking at a period when the median family is in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s.” An analysis by the Brookings Institution estimated that at the current rate, the recession will have added nearly 10 million people to the ranks of the poor by the middle of the decade. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/14census.html?pagewanted=all This year is not likely to be any better, economists said. Stimulus money has largely ended, and state and local governments have made deep cuts to staff and to budgets for social programs, both likely to move economically fragile families closer to poverty.So I don't believe Obama has some great plan to change this situation and its seems that there are still many americans who are in denial that this is even occurring until perhaps the wave of poverty washes up upon their shore making them a victim of the time. The stats are really startling: 1) Last year, about 48 million people ages 18 to 64 did not work even one week out of the year, up from 45 million in 2009, said Trudi Renwick, a Census official. 2) Median income fell across all working-age categories, but was sharpest drop was among the young working Americans, ages 15 to 24, who experienced a decline of 9 percent. 3) According to the Census figures, the median annual income for a male full-time, year-round worker in 2010 — $47,715 — was virtually unchanged, in 2010 dollars, from its level in 1973, when it was $49,065, said Sheldon Danziger, professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. 4) Those who do not have college degrees were particularly hard hit, he said. “The median, full-time male worker has made no progress on average,” Mr. Danziger said. 5) The recession has continued pushing 25-to-34-year-olds to move in with family and friends to save money. Of that group, nearly half were living below the poverty line, when their parents’ incomes were excluded. The poverty level for a single person under the age of 65 was $11,344. There are those who say the economy is getting better and there isn't really a problem with inflation but no once seems to take into account the rising tide of poverty encroaching on the middle-class nor the fact that wages haven't risen to meet the cost of living or a generation without work or decent pay. If the economy is getting better, if job creation is around the corner then why these stats? Why is this continuing to happen? Why the decline on the ground and stunning financial progress made at the top? Its like there are two parallel economies, one that is in decline on the ground and swelling at the top, if it continues it may be irreversible. What is it that people believe Obama or any other candidate can do to reverse these chain of events? I mean even american postal service is running out of cash!!! As the U.S. Postal Service begins shuttering offices across the country to stem their ever-growing $9.2 billion deficit, the entire agency now faces default and could shut down next summer, USPS spokesman Dave Partenheimer told ABCNews. "Right now we think we can make it through until next summer most likely but then some hard choices will have to be made," he said. "That's why it's such an urgent crisis." USPS owes $5.5 billion to fund future retirees' health benefits, and next year it may not have money to pay its 560,000 employees. Partenheimer said that by Sept. 30, the end of the USPS fiscal year, the agency will have reached its borrowing limit of $15 billion. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/postal-office-nears-default-close-year/story?id=14449522 I mean I don't think I've heard of a situation like this since the Soviet Union began to economically unravel. (On the international level read 'American Decline: This time its for real' by Gideon Rachman. Its a long article.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/02/think_again_american_decline)
Well one, the current situtation faced by the US is not similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union - yet. We could get there if we prove ourselves incapable of governing ourselves (e.g. not pay our bills/raise the debt ceiling). The USPS is a nit in the overall scope of things. That is why people are not concerned about it. The USPS needs to find a new business model. It has not kept up with the times. Additionally just saying "x" is larger than it has ever been is meaningless unless put "X" into perspective. The US population is bigger than it has ever been too. It is true that this recession has been severe and many people have been placed into poverty as a result. But it is also true that the problem is exacerbated because many of the chronically unemployeed do not have the skill sets demanded in the market place. I know of companies who just cannot find enough people to hire. But they are looking for skilled employees. I think the unemployment rate for individuals with college degrees is something like 4 percent compared to the 9 percent for all workers. And I think the problem for unskilled workers is not going to get better, especially when you have a congress (Republicans) who refuse to invest in this nation's infrastructure.
Certainly the advent of internet and e-mail has impacted my own use of the postal service. My main use of postal now is to send greeting cards and small packages, and this use is primarily at Christmas with a few birthdays and other events thrown in, one pen-pal who is not on-line etc. I used to have postage stamps on my regular household shopping list and now usually only need to purchase them once in the year after the holiday season. Most recurring bills are on e-payment also. I live in Canada, yet even so it is difficult to imagine losing the U.S. postal service and I wonder how well our own postal service has planned it's future endeavors.
The situation with the Postal service has nothing to do with the recession. It's due to a new law that forced them to put aside 5 billion dollars a year for pensions. We could fix this without spending a dime.
