1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

Record number of Americans get government help

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- One in six Americans are receiving help from the government, just as fiscal austerity threatens to reduce some of that aid.

Soaring unemployment during The Great Recession has driven tens of millions of people to the dole. Enrollment in Medicaid and food stamp programs are at record highs, while unemployment insurance rolls remain at elevated levels. Many people depend on more than one program."

Record number of Americans helped by government safety net - Apr. 13, 2011

This is the kind of information that tells us the truth about our economy. The Great Recession is not over and years from now, history will show it did not end in January of 2009.

People say, "Well, it's not nearly as bad as the Great Depression where people had to wait in line for food". But guess what? Food Stamps have replaced food lines and I believe it's a much better way to help people. But the food lines are there, they just blend in with everyone else.

The reason I'm posting this is so we can truthfully assess where we are and/or where we need to go. I think we all know deep down that our gov't and our taxpayers can't afford to keep this up for much longer.

In my opinion, the answers lie in economics and in gov't spending. We can reduce our spending dramatically and we can improve upon how our gov't does need to spend. Our gov't can't be all things to all people. It just can't work that way. We need some vision from our leaders as to what our economy will look like in the short and long term future. What are the possibilities, good & bad?

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

"The Great Recession" only effects the middle and lower classes of our society.. all the while corporate welfare in terms of subsidies and insane tax breaks continue for the top 20%..

The divide is getting wider, and will continue to do so.. sooner or later everyone will wake up on both sides of the aisle and realize what this is about.. that a few in power are essentially making the decisions and these "puppet masters" are getting richer and richer.. sometimes I think that the whole Tea Party Movement is orchestrated by the powerful, so that all our energies can be wasted fighting amongst ourselves.. while missing the obvious..

When you drive around this country, it becomes more and more obvious.. while most of us are treading water or near to drowning, those at the top are living large and living very well..

Wall Street Profits have increased 700%+, while home values have declined by 35%.. and now there are more tax cuts for the well to do proposed.. all the while the tax rates for the highest income people are at their all time lowest and middle income taxes have increased.

I am not an economist, but do not need to be one to know which way the wind blows... it will never change in Congress where 1 in 2 are millionaires, and every time they vote against an equitable solution it is an obvious conflict of interest.

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

Here is an excellent example of how the corporatists are trying to turn this into a third world country and perpetuating the great divide.. Ikea now has a plant in Danville, Va..

The hourly pay for an Ikea worker in Sweden in $19.00 per/hour and in Va. $8.00 per/hour

A Swedish Ikea worker gets 5 weeks of vacation. In the US a Ikea worker gets 4 days off of his or her choice, and another 8 days off at the discretion of the company.

Ikea made a 2.2 Billion Profit in 2009 and a 7% increase in sales during the same period..

Now the folks in Va. want to organize, can you blame them?? But remember Unions bad, the corporatists are good:confused::confused::confused:

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

Link?

Are the Swedish workers doing the same type of work? Very little furniture is manufactured in Sweden, but that is where the headquarters are located. Are those office workers? If so, apple, meet orange.

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

It's cheaper for them to have it made here since we don't protect our workers as well as they do. In other words, they consider us a "developing country."

Although IKEA household products and furniture are designed in Sweden, they are largely manufactured in developing countries to keep costs down. With suppliers in 50 countries, roughly 2/3 of purchasing is from Europe with about 1/3 from Asia. A small amount of products are produced in North America. Comparatively little production actually takes place in Sweden, though it still remains the fourth-largest supplier country (behind China, Poland and Italy) China accounts for about 2.5 times as much supply as Sweden. For most of its products, the final assembly is performed by the end-user (consumer).

IKEA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

I can't find the average IKEA factory worker's salary in Sweden. I did find an article which states that the average blue collar worker in Sweden earns between 19,600SEK and 22500SEK per month. If you convert that to US dollars it averages to $31,000 to $35,000.00 per month which would put an hourly wage somewhere roughly between $18 and $20.00 for a 40 hour work week.

So no, the comparison isn't apples and oranges - it's apples and apples.


LO - Landsorganisationen i Sverige - Initiatives in favour of equality and low-wage groups have resulted in higher salaries

Calculator for Swedish Krona (SEK) Currency Exchange Rate Conversion

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

$8.00 per hour is the rate in the packing department. What is the rate in other departments? Are all 335 people who want to form a union in the packing department?

Thanks to Mrs.P, I was able to find the original article.

ThinkProgress Owned By The World?s Largest ‘Charity’ Organization To Dodge Taxes, IKEA Thwarts Union Organizing

The $8/hour is applied to all workers (without explanation) and the $19/hour for Swedish workers is supplied without attribution.

Sorry. Not good enough.

Still, with a quickly declining currency I would expect to see more companies moving work to the U.S., so the whole "Sweden looks at the U.S. like we look at Mexico" thing is probably on the mark.

The spectacle of more jobs is frightening, though.

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

What would those 335 people be doing without the plant?

Re: 1 in 6 Americans Now Receive Gov't Assistance!
 

For all of you lovers of corporate America.. here is more on the Ikea situation.

Guess these 335 people are lucky to be earning $16.6 K per year, considering the poverty level for a family of 3 is $18,530... which is a segway to the original thread here, with this income this family would be probably be eligible for a variety of assistance.. food stamps, subsidized housing etc.

Labor Trouble In ‘Lack-land’ - Eco-nomics - Stories from the Mother Nature Network - Forbes