To date, 11.7 million Americans are still out of work and, for those who are eligible to collect unemployment benefits, their wallets are feeling even lighter these days because of the $equester. As of July 1st, the average weekly benefit check of $289.00 for recipients was reduced by $43.00 thanks to the budget cuts. And, though the economy does not seem to have been harmed much (at least not yet) by the mandated decreases, this could mark the first salvo of an even greater attack that could severely weaken an already fledgling recovery.
Until this news broke, the $equester had been more of an inconvenience than an actual attack on the economy, but we are now beginning to see signs of more serious cuts and, very possible, the signs of more severe cuts yet to come. While Congress and the White House seem unwilling to tackle more meaty and meaningful cuts, such as foreign aide, they have allowed American citizens to take the fall (at least until the events become major news stories).
Personally, I find it deplorable that our elected officials have allowed those who can afford it least to be the ones who suffer most. In watching recent news clips, it has been sickening for me to watch our representatives run off (no, sprint off) to their holiday destinations for their holiday festivities while leaving college students to worry about their student loan payments, veterans to celebrate their Independence Day celebrations without any fireworks displays and, now, the unemployed to have to worry about their very meager, and ever eroding, unemployment checks.
For the vast majority of our population, the economy is not getting any better — certainly not in a meaningful way — so don’t be fooled by the recent employment figures; especially when the number of workers holding part-time jobs for economic reasons (i.e. because they could not find full-time employment) swelled by 322,000 to the highest level since October, 2012.
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