December 7, 2008

Unemployed and hungry in the US

Jobless numbers highest in 15 years, food stamp users hit record 31.6 million or 1 in 10 Americans


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Bailout Fallout
Follow The Real News economic crisis coverage

More than half a million jobs were lost in the US in November, the largest loss in a single month since 1974. Though initially the announcement had a negative effect on the markets, by the end of the day Wall Street again forgot about the little guy, the Dow closed up 260 points. The more than 1.2 million jobs lost over the past 3 months, and the 11th straight month of job losses, bring the unemployment rate to 6.7 per cent, the highest in 15 years. Also this week the Department of Agriculture released figures that show food stamp beneficiaries increased by 17 percent in the past year. That’s more than 31.6 million or 1 out of every 10 people in the US receiving food stamps or taking part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. TRNN spoke to Dedrick Muhammad of the Institute for Policy Studies. Muhammad says that 6.7 percent is not the true unemployment number because it does not include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. Muhammad also says that the bailout is a "trickle down" bailout, that by giving money to the wealthiest institutions somehow this is supposed to help the middle class and working class.

Bio

Dedrick Muhammad is the Senior Organizer and Research Associate for the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. Dedrick's special area of focus is the domestic racial wealth divide particularly between African-Americans and white Americans. Dedrick Muhammad was a writer for the State of The Dream 2004, 2005, and 2008. He also co-authored with Chuck Collins a chapter in the Inequality Reader. Dedrick Muhammad was the former National Field Director for Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network. He also was the Coordinator for the Racial Wealth Divide Project of United For A Fair Economy. Dedrick Muhammad writes regular opeds found on www.inequality.org and has been featured on Democracy Now, BET News, CSPAN, NPR, and many other radio and television shows.

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sognimils 2008-12-08

I wrote Mr. Obama about this, as did many others, no doubt. Bailing out the institutions themselves seems like business as usual rather than as change. I would prefer to see the money used to extend and expand unemployment benefits and provide training assistance for those who are out of work and for those who will lose their jobs when these big corporations (the modern-day feudal landlords) fail. Let them fail, and let the rich nobility who run them fail with them, and let their niches be filled by forward-thinking companies that employ newly-trained workers that used to work at anachronistic, destructive corporations.

W_W 2008-12-07

The plan is working ...

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