economy

By Chris Horton

Today it’s very hard to be a father, and that can be hard for everyone in the family.

For men, who see our ability to bring home a paycheck as a big part of what makes us a man, of what makes us worthy to belong to a family, not being able to provide for them can be devastating. But we are worth much more than that to our children. This is a good day for us and for our families to reflect on what we’re worth, what we bring, why we’re needed.

Times are hard, and it’s natural to feel that it’s our fault, our personal failure. The “great ones”, the ones who’ve made it and the ones who were “born on third base and think they hit a triple”, are trying to blame this disaster on us and get us blaming ourselves and on each other for it, but it’s really not our fault. When you’re struggling to survive and it’s not working, you have to keep on trying - and to do that well you have to take responsibility for the results you get. But when it’s not working no matter how hard you try because of things beyond your control, there’s nothing to be gained and everything to lose from beating yourself up, drugging yourself and taking it out on your family.

Unemployment levels are higher than at any time since the Great Depression. The De Facto Unemployment Rate (DUFR, calculated by the Center for Working Class Studies, counting everyone who would be working full time if they could but can’t) is hovering around 30%. And that’s not Dad’s fault. Click to continue »

By Richard Schmitt

There are many desperate people in our world. Some act out their desperation. They shoot and kill perfect strangers, they invade a former workplace and kill one-time colleagues. Husbands kill their wives and children and then themselves. Men kill former girl friends. Abused wives kill their husbands. Other direct their desperate violence against themselves and cut their arms or numb their unhappiness with pills, or alcohol, or drugs, or commit suicide.

Explanations of this flood of desperation are endless. There are those who blame it on the decay of family values, or on people turning their backs on God. Others blame rampant materialism. Others again blame our restless movement back and forth across the country that destroys established communities.

A recent, particularly pathetic story raises other questions about desperation and what we might be able to do about it. Click to continue »

By Rosalie Tirella

Some folks on the left are disappointed in our prez. Not I! He is cool, goodlooking, smart and progressive. How wonderful to turn on the tube and see a guy who speaks well, listens carefully, reacts intelligently, has a sense of humor (a wee bit smug, perhaps) AND is pretty much the community organizer I voted for last November.

President Barack Obama still cares about families, neighborhoods and kids. He wants a health care system that doesn’t break the bank - a system that serves the guy with cancer or the girl who just broke an ankle. Not the insurance companies or the HMOs. And no, there will not be rationing of health care. And like Obama said, if you have health insurance that you are happy with and you like all your docs - then keep them. But chances are you will be paying less money for their good services. Click to continue »

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By Jack Hoffman

On Monday before 9AM seven major corporations laid off over 60000 employees, and that’s not counting the thousands of small businesses that have closed their doors. On Wednesday Starbucks announced thousands more would be add to the unemployed rolls.

In 2008, 2.5 million people lost their jobs. We know that the national unemployment rate has hit 7.2% for December- combined with the under a staggering 15%. Estimates for January could be 10%, or even higher. Exactly how many are actually seeking employment, or underemployed (being paid less than a fair wage we can only guess. California’s unemployment is now 9.3%- in some communities it’s as high as 25%. The governor has recently announced that the largest state in the union is now 65 billion in debt including state and local governments. State worker’s pay could be delayed. The governor of Massachusetts has just announced that he will have to cut 125 million from the cities and towns. Fortunately are unemployed is less than the national average (6.5%) Click to continue »