Unemployment: Where's the freakout?

[tonysam]

From the Daily Kos:

Brad DeLong pinpoints one of the things that's been particularly strange about the complacency in the powers that be over what in any other time would have been panic over unemployment.
___

The most astonishing and surprising thing I find about Washington DC today is the contrast in mood between DC today and what DC was thinking a generation ago, in 1983, the last time the unemployment rate was kissing 10%. Back then it was a genuine national emergency that unemployment was so high--real policies like massive monetary ease and the eruption of the Reagan deficits were put in place to reduce unemployment quickly, and everybody whose policies wouldn't have much of an effect on jobs was nevertheless claiming that their projects were the magic unemployment-reducing bullet.

Today.... nobody much in DC seems to care. A decade of widening wealth inequality that has created a chattering class of reporters, pundits, and lobbyists who have no connection with mainstream America? The collapse of the union movement and thus of the political voice of America's sellers of labor power? I don't know what the cause is. But it does astonish me.
___


Democrat Max Baucus dismisses the plight of the long-term unemployed and elected officials and that chattering class continue to obsess over the deficit, as if having a country at full employment--paying income taxes and buying stuff--wasn't the key to a robust economy and reduced deficits.

It's particularly confusing and frustrating that it's the ruling Democrats that are taking such a blase attitude toward this unemployment crisis. Both in that they are forgetting who brung them to this dance, and because keeping a Democratic majority is going to come down to jobs, because the improvements in the economy are not trickling down to most Americans, and the economic pain and insecurity is real. That's what this new ad by a coalition of unemployed workers organized by the Machinists Union is trying to point out.

It just upsets me to no end Democratic politicians don't seem to regard this as a real emergency. Not enough jobs are being created to absorb the massive numbers of unemployed.

Daily Kos

[Orrex]

1. Members of Congress should be required to live on whatever is the average wage of their constituents

All that stuff about DC's cost of living and the demands of campaigning are 100% bullshit--plenty of people nationwide work harder and for longer hours than our esteemed members of Congress.


The current unemployment situation is a catastrophic disaster that--all by itself--could easily return us to a permanent serf/robber baron framework.



We can afford a trillion dollars annually for the military, but $50 billion for the unemployed will somehow destroy the economy.

[bondwooley]

2. You've got a good point, Orrex! n/t

[Orrex]

3. Thanks! Usually I can keep it hidden under my hat!

[bondwooley]

10. I have a video response for you...

Best way to beat unemployment is to put all that extra time to productive use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwZk6p31nlo

Hope you get a laugh.

[sandnsea]

4. That is a complete crock of shit

Reagan did by far less for the unemployed than Obama is doing. The deficit spending went to the military, just like it does with every Republican.

There was ONE extension, ONE. The monetary policy drove interest rates sky high, but there was no other way to bring down inflation that Nixon and Ford unleashed.

God does the stupid not ever end?

[The Northerner]

5. K&R

[ipaint]

6. The plan would put deficit reduction ahead of job creation.

Over the past week, top White House officials have been floating a trial balloon for their strategy on the economy. At its core is a decision to put deficit reduction ahead of job creation.
The premise is that the bond markets and allied deficit hawks are demanding action to cut the budget, that Obama lacks the votes in the Senate for a serious jobs initiative, and that polls show voters care more about deficit reduction than about jobs.
So the plan, modeled closely on the work of the Peter G. Peterson foundation and the anticipated report of the president's own fiscal commission, is a deal that includes cuts in Social Security plus a new Value Added Tax (VAT), in order to get deep cuts in the deficit. As a sweetener to get Republicans to back the VAT, White House officials would cut the corporate income tax.

The plan is dubious economics and worse politics. You could hardly hand the Republicans a better gift for the fall election. Imagine the GOP TV spots, Fox talking points, and Wall Street Journal editorial: Obama Administration Has Secret Plan to Raise Your Taxes and Cut Your Social Security.

White House officials are working closely with the president's new fiscal commission in the hope that the bipartisan commissions final report will provide Republican cover for the deal. The commission, due to report by December 1, needs fourteen out of its eighteen members to make an official recommendation. One hope of the deficit hawks is that a super-majority report could steamroll a lame duck session of Congress to act quickly, pending a more Republican Congress in January.

Of the eighteen members, thirteen are fiscal conservatives. Only four are liberals -- Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Xavier Becerra, Sen. Dick Durban, and Andy Stern of the SEIU. A swing vote is Sen. Max Baucus, who is something of a deficit hawk, but defends Social Security and doesn't like automatic fiscal formulas that weaken his jurisdiction as Senate Finance Committee Chair.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_new_white_house_economic_strategy


Indefensible.

Found the link in this thread-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8337827

I got a "suck it up" rant in response to my comments on the prospect article.

That's why this isn't a national emergency. We are nation of people who look at each other and holler "suck it up" as the solution. The persistent existence of the unemployed threatens the legitimacy of our fearless leader. For some it's time to get rid of that little problem.

[tonysam]

7. The highest unemployment rate in decades

and people think that because a Democrat is in charge, we should shut the fuck up and suck it up.

Fuck that noise. It's BECAUSE there is a Democratic-controlled Congress that we NEED help and SHOULD be getting it. Democrats are supposed to be the compassionate ones and not act like GOP clones.

Democrats are going to fuck this up this fall if they don't get their heads out of their asses and realize JOB creation and unemployment are THE issues this fall.

If and when the GOP gets in, it will be far, far worse.

[lib2DaBone]

8. Wait until June when all benefits run out for millions....

.. then.. add in the New Orleans fishermen and restaurants and tourist business that has been destroyed by arrogant legislators...

There may be some pissed off people going to Washington to have a few words with the exalted, well-paid ruling class we call Congress.

[tonysam]

11. You know, if groups of unemployed could afford it, they should descend on D.C.

and create masses of "tent cities" around the Capitol building and in front of the White House.

Maybe, just maybe our elected officials would get a clue.

[Meldread]

9. "Kissing 10%"? It's much higher than that by far.

That is just the government calculated number and does not actually tell us how many people are unemployed. It tells us how many people are unemployed but are LOOKING for work. Those who have given up looking for work are not included. There is an estimated 15-17% of Americans who can work, but are unable to find work or who have given up looking. I don't believe that takes into account the underemployed, those working part time but want to work full time.

So in reality when the government published number goes higher in this environment, it is sometimes a GOOD thing. Why? It means those who have given up looking for work are now attempting to re-enter the job market, which in turn means that people are starting to feel more hopeful about the economy and the possibility of getting a new job.

We're starting to dig our way out of the recession. The major looming problem that could threaten us - and set us back to where we were back at the end of 2008 - is if Greece goes down and other European countries follow. They are the main purchasers of our exports. If they go down, we go down with them.

[ipaint]

12. Counting long term discouraged workers it is 22%.

http://www.shadowstats.com/