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| The Obama Family off for another vacation on Martha's Vineyard |
Americans may face a disspiriting choice for the presidency in 2012, but the following shocking statistics prove that the important work begun with the 2010 elections by the TEA Party movement and other concerned Americans must continue. Whether we vote for a presidential candidate or not, the hope and promise of America can only be restored when the Congress becomes laser-like in representing the best interests of WE THE PEOPLE.
#1 Median household income in the United States is down 7.8 percent since December 2007 after adjusting for inflation.
#2 There are 5.6 million less jobs than there were when the last recession began back in late 2007.
#3 The U.S. government says that the number of Americans “not in the labor force” rose by 17.9 million between 2000 and 2011. During the entire decade of the 1980s, the number of Americans “not in the labor force” rose by only 1.7 million.
#4 In 2007, the unemployment rate for the 20 to 29 age bracket was about 6.5 percent. Today, the unemployment rate for that same age group is about 13 percent.
#5 In 2007, 73.2 percent of all young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 that were not enrolled in school had jobs. Today, that number has declined to 65 percent.
#6 Back in the year 2000, more than 50 percent of all Americans teens had a job. This past summer, only 29.6% of all American teens had a job.
#7 When Barack Obama entered the White House, the number of “long-term unemployed workers” in the United States was approximately 2.6 million. Today, that number is sitting at 5.6 million.
#8 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is nearly three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.
#9 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.
#10 According to the Obama administration, about 20 percent of all jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs back in the year 2000. Today, about 5 percent of all jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.
#11 Sadly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been shut down since 2001.
#12 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
#13 The U.S. trade deficit with China during 2011 was 28 times larger than it was back in 1990.
#14 About twice as many new homes were sold in the United States in 1965 as are being sold today.
#15 Home prices in the 4th quarter of 2011 were four percent lower than they were during the 4th quarter of 2010. Overall, U.S. home prices are 34 percent lower than they were back at the peak of the housing bubble.
#16 The total value of household real estate in America has declined from $22.7 trillion in 2006 to $16.2 trillion today.
#17 At the end of 2011, 22.8 percent of all homes in the United States with a mortgage were in negative equity. That would have been unthinkable a decade or two ago.
#18 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.
#19 Total consumer debt in the United States has increased by a whopping 1700% since 1971.
#20 Since the beginning of 2009, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has increased by more than90 percent.
#21 The number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent since 2007.
#22 Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.
#23 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, 46.5 million Americans are on food stamps.
#24 The U.S. dollar has lost 96.2 percent of its value since 1900. You can thank the Federal Reserve system for that.
#25 In 1950, the United States was #1 in GDP per capita. Today, the United States is #13 in GDP per capita.
#26 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.
#27 In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18 percent of all income.
#28 Federal housing assistance increased by a whopping 42 percent between 2006 and 2010.
#29 Medicare spending increased by 138 percent between 1999 and 2010.
#30 Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for 32 percent of all health care spending in America. Today, that figure is up to 45 percent and it is projected to surpass 50 percent very shortly.
#31 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#32 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
#33 In 2004, the U.S. government had a budget deficit of a little over 412 billion dollars. This year, the U.S. government will run a budget deficit of over 1.3 trillion dollars.
#34 In 2001, the U.S. national debt was less than 6 trillion dollars. Today, it is over 15 trillion dollars and it is increasing by about 150 million dollars every single hour.
#35 The U.S. national debt is now more than 22 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.
Unfortunately, these shocking statistics just don’t fully capture the horrible pain that many American families are having to endure in this economy.
A recent USA Today article told the sad story of one unemployed American named Jerome Greene….
Greene, about to turn 50, worked for 16 years as an Oracle software developer, most recently at a Pennsylvania company that made electronic components for cars. When he was laid off in June 2008, the recession was just taking hold, and he still had job interviews. By fall, with the economy in free fall, his phone stopped ringing.
Greene hoped the downturn would be brief and he’d weather it with unemployment benefits.
But the jobless rate hovered above 9% and Greene’s 99 weeks of unemployment expired. He had trouble sleeping. Depression set in. Without health insurance, he took precautions — carrying hand sanitizer and his own pen when doing errands to avoid getting sick and having to pay $65 for a doctor’s visit.
“There’s no room for error,” he says “There’s no extra money.”
Can you imagine going through all that?
Tonight there are millions upon millions of Americans that will struggle to get to sleep as they wrestle with their financial problems. It is easy to feel as though you have failed when you can’t get a job and can’t provide for your children. After years of fighting to turn things around, it is hard not to fall into a state of depression.
Unfortunately, our leaders are not fixing any of the long-term problems that are systematically destroying the U.S. economy.
So things are going to get even worse in the years ahead.
Buckle up.
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