Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterMore Nevadans will need help as economic storm worsens
Total of Nevadans on food stamps jumps 45 percent; state projects greater hardship, more in need of aid by 2013
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Chris Morris
Enlargeable graphic
Sun Archives
Sun Coverage
The parking lot at Catholic Charities, which shares space with a state welfare office, is packed these days.
That’s a new thing. In the past, clients were the type to take the bus or walk to the service center on Las Vegas Boulevard in North Las Vegas. Now it’s the middle and working classes driving here, desperate for help.
Same at the Women, Infants, and Children program offices at Flamingo Road and Torrey Pines Drive, its waiting room teeming with young, weary mothers who need nutrition assistance for their toddlers.
Nevada’s spiking unemployment rate, which officially hit 13.2 percent recently, is forcing the newly destitute to seek help from the state as unemployment checks stop coming, savings accounts run dry and there are no jobs to be had.
This spreading pain is measured in the ballooning number of Nevadans receiving government help — food, medical care, cash assistance.
In June, for example, the number of residents on food stamps rose 45 percent compared with a year earlier. That was the second-fastest rise in the nation, behind Utah’s, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Recently revised state planning documents obtained by the Sun last week offer a grim forecast for where those numbers are headed. By summer 2013, according to the state Health and Human Services Department, hundreds of thousands of Nevadans will need public assistance to survive:
• Nearly one in five Nevadans will be on food stamps;
• Enrollment in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, will increase nearly 25 percent, to more than 250,000;
• Enrollment in welfare will increase by one-third.
For so many Nevadans seeking assistance, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Many have never been unemployed for an extended period and never imagined signing up for food stamps or going to a food bank.
James Kowalski, a National Guardsman and a union carpenter, said his family went through its first serious bout with poverty when he was laid off at CityCenter. He lost his truck and home, and moved his wife, four children and four pets into an affordable apartment.
Kowalski, 40, thought he was back on track when he got picked up at the Hoover Dam Bypass project, only to be laid off again. He went from making $1,100 a week on the job to a $400-a-week unemployment check.
“I didn’t think it could get this bad,” he said, echoing others interviewed by the Sun who were lulled into thinking that Las Vegas was a place of limitless growth and plentiful jobs.
Kowalski was at the state welfare office last week planning ahead so that as soon as he depletes his savings and becomes eligible, he can get food stamps.
He would move elsewhere for work, but right now he can’t afford it, so he’s out looking in the valley.
Given what has happened to him, he seemed upbeat: “I’m still trying to get my first one to college,” he said of his 16-year-old.
In a state that hasn’t seen a serious recession in nearly three decades, policymakers have been consistently blindsided by the turn of events, with repeated rounds of fiscal havoc.
As the recession began two years ago, wildly optimistic state tax revenue estimates fell short of actual dollars, which forced elected officials to make deep cuts to programs.
As the Legislature met this year, Nevada faced the largest deficit as a percentage of its total budget of any state in the nation.
Now, even though policymakers have brought revenue estimates in line with reality, they seem to have underestimated the spiking need for services.
The new Health and Human Services forecasts are sharply higher than estimates the agency submitted to the Legislature earlier this year, and money for welfare and health care for the poor will run out before the Legislature convenes in 2011.
Chuck Duarte, administrator of the state’s Medicaid system, told a legislative committee last week that the program is on track to spend $37 million more during the next two years than was predicted in May, when the Legislature set projections and budgeted the money.
“These projections are a sign of how people of Nevada are coping with the economic downturn,” said Ben Kieckhefer, spokesman for Health and Human Services. “More and more people are out of work, and that drives them to assistance programs to sustain themselves.”
The revised estimates appear to be prudent, according to public and private economists. The experts caution, however, that even these strikingly dour forecasts may not be pessimistic enough.
Ellen Crecelius, a Health and Human Services economist, said the model used to make projections assumed peak unemployment of 13.3 percent, to occur in the first quarter of 2010. Unemployment already has reached 13.2 percent and is expected to continue rising.
“Clearly unemployment is going to get worse instead of getting better,” Crecelius said.
John Restrepo, vice chairman of state government’s official forecaster, the Economic Forum, and a principal of a consulting firm, said unemployment could rise to 15 percent or 16 percent by next year.
Moreover, as UNLV economist Keith Schwer noted, the official unemployment rate is a relatively narrow measure of economic malaise. A broader measure, referred to by economists as “U-6,” includes the marginally employed and people working part time who would rather be working full time. It is already likely 20 percent, Schwer said.
“We’re in uncharted waters here,” he said.
Economists also generally agree that recovery will arrive in Nevada well after the rest of the country.
“Have we seen the worst? No,” Restrepo said. He said there won’t be tangible recovery in the state’s economy — six months of positive job growth — until late 2010 or 2011.
Until then, the state has few options to prevent a deepening fiscal hole.
In the past, Nevada has sharply limited the number of people on public assistance by creating tough eligibility requirements. But under provisions governing the federal stimulus dollars that Nevada accepted this year, the state cannot tighten eligibility.
Once the recovery begins, a significant lag time will occur before pressure lets up on the state’s social programs. That’s because hundreds of thousands of jobless will be fighting for a relatively small number of new jobs, with the long-term unemployed relying on public assistance to survive.
For Nevadans suffering under the weight of the recession, the effect on the state budget is the least of their worries. They are merely hoping to find work — any work.
After construction worker David Twine was laid off at CityCenter, he ran out of money and entered a Salvation Army program that provides temporary housing and vocational training. He refuses to burden family or friends, or live on the street, he said.
When Twine is not working off his room and board at the North Las Vegas facility, where scores of homeless people gather every morning, he takes the bus to busy commercial areas and goes door-to-door for work. At this point, he’ll take anything.
Twine, 58, said he’s a Vietnam-era veteran and worked on Las Vegas icons such as the Mirage and MGM Grand.
He asked a question already answered by the thousands who have given up on the Las Vegas dream the past few years and have gone home. “How much longer can I stay here before I have to think about leaving Las Vegas?”
Nikisha Bangerter was at the office of Women, Infants, and Children last week with daughter Danyka, 2, so she could get help with milk, juice, eggs and other staples. She also has a 6-year-old.
An Army veteran, Bangerter said she’s looked everywhere for work, but to no avail, so she enrolled at the local University of Phoenix, from which she’ll graduate in 2011. She’s getting by with a little help from her parents — she lives with them but pays rent — plus student loans and the GI Bill, although that will run out in November.
The stress of poverty is a trigger for her migraine headaches and arthritis, which go untreated because her application for Medicaid has been denied.
She is 29.
“I just want to support my kids on my own,” she said.
Discussion: 49 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Franchione potential early candidate for UNLV football post
- Police: 3 arrested in officer’s death have gang ties
- Big fight headed for a New Frontier?
- Mayor: Morale not good among LV city employees
- MGM Mirage (finally) makes George Strait show official
- Hotels rein in risque advertising campaigns
- Creditors want to expand probe of Station Casinos deal
- $60 million to stabilize neighborhoods buys five homes
- Reserve Rebels didn’t have time to panic
- Funny Face: Carrot Top’s stage act a mask of contradictions
Blogs
Elsewhere
Marquardt v. Sonnen scheduled for UFC 109
Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity
Will a fourth consecutive title by Jimmie Johnson be good or bad for NASCAR?
Top Chef: Las Vegas
The Jet Stream: And then there were four
Top Chef Episode 12: On keeping it simple
Miech Again
Chilly start for Chace, but Stanback says he'll warm up (1 Comment)
Elsewhere
Harvard Poker Pro: Texas Hold 'Em skills can help traders
Oscar De La Hoya wants to see Pacquiao/Mayweather
- Live chat
- Tuesday, noon PST
- Chat with Krista Creelman
- Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question
Calendar »
- 21 Sat
- 22 Sun
- 23 Mon
- 24 Tue
- 25 Wed
-
UFC 106 at Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center | 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
The Four Tops at The Orleans Showroom
Orleans Hotel-Casino
-
Julio Iglesias at the Las Vegas Hilton
Las Vegas Hilton
-
The Four Tops at The Orleans Showroom
Orleans Hotel-Casino
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
eric cantor's favorite answer to people down on their luck-charity. heartless folks these right wingbuts.
Biden told us this week "I never thought the stimulus would work this well"
Well if this is the good from the stimulus !@#$$%^%^&&*
All of these demands on state aid will throw a wringer into next year's state budget. They will have to cut back and cut out a lot of things.
This is so sad. These are good people, all of them. THese are our neighbors, friends, former co-workers.
But hey, let's pin our hopes on City Center and build more casinos.
I truly feel for the less than fortunate, but surely there is something they can do to feed themselves without having to go to the public doles.
By formervegas76
eric cantor's favorite answer to people down on their luck-charity. heartless folks these right wingbuts.
9/27/09 at 3:26 a.m
=================================
This economy and the last eight years have been very good for the elite. Three huge tax breaks for the rich. Haliburton did pretty good. Even though Goldman Sachs got sacked. They still all got their bonuses. Paid in full by your 401K. The working class people did not get any raises, let alone share in this prosparity. And now Cantnor wants us to beg from the charity's many of which we have contributed to. This is republicant thinking. I got mine........screw you!
The high paying construction jobs that have left many unemployed will cost the local economy dearly. A job paying $30/hr puts more money into it than one paying $10. The worst part of it is that when things were bad in 1989, Las Vegas was booming. Today there is no place for these workers to migrate to. There will be no recovery until there are jobs. The government needs to start rebuilding our rotting infrastructure immediately to get us out of this mess, or start another war.
What happened. I know I heard harry Reid announce the stimulus plan designed by Pelosi and Company was going to fix the economy.
I know the President holding Las Vegas out as a place business should not go didn't hurt anything.
I know the finishing of City Center is going to cure everything.
I am sure we need a new city hall and a mob museum as they will fix everything.
I know that paying more for a favored contractor to build roads for the county makes sense to someone.
Were all of these things just not enough? Did we need more government spending to pull us out? Can't we get any more free money to fix things? I know adding more for health care, cap and trade, and more stimulus must be the answer.
because Reid told me so.
Comment removed by staff.
Comment removed by staff. Comment contained an advertisement.
its2hot
Go back to sleep. Your post is so way off.
Obama didn't start this mess. It started with that other President, you know, the one before Obama. This MESS WE ARE IN DID NOT START LAST NOVEMBER NOR IN JANUARY.
Yeah let's "reverse the lunatic policies and laws enacted by the baboons". You mean the Bush administration?
UNTIL Vegas AND Nevada can provide for those "productive members of society" - like creating jobs that make more thatn $10 an hour, it will become a city with those "sucking off the system" for years to come no matter who is in the White House or in the Nevada senate. Heck, I wouoldn't be surprised if more casinos will be built in 2012!
It will be the same old story.
vegasgurl
I feel your pain. Try being 60 years old, have a ton of experience and STILL can't find a job - not even at Walmart!!!. My 401K is wiped out as is my savings. I never thought I'd end up like this at this age. But I have a loving family and that is all that matters and they are there helping me and for that I am very thankful. Some people don 't even have that.
Some interesting comments.
LOTS of folks, from all walks of life, are suffering greatly. vegasgurl, DetMunch, these are your typical examples. Good people run over by recession and myriad associated issues beyond their control. GOOD LUCK & God Bless EVERY NEVADAN who is suffering today due to the economy.
Now, its2hot and HIS ilk, the clueless, the classless, you just go on thinking your way.
MARK MY WORDS;
Karma is the biggest bitch, and you will get yours.
DetMunch, I'm 47 and literally have lost everything I've worked for for the last 10 years too. I went from a positive 6-figure net worth to a negative 6-figure net worth in 3 years. If I was younger I'd say it was easier, but it's not. Never thought I'd end up here too but here we are, surviving. You are right, I have a supportive family who fortunately haven't been hit by hard times (I'm the only one) and friends who have gone through what I have...so yes I'm grateful too for this. Thanks for sharing.
Comment removed by staff. Comment contained an advertisement.
maybe they could make available funds for moving people who want to back to their home state, or wherever they have family and the support thats needed in these times (for those that want to leave). probably more cost effective as well.
Comment removed by staff. Comment contained an advertisement.
gmag states: "Now, its2hot and HIS ilk, the clueless, the classless, you just go on thinking your way. MARK MY WORDS; Karma is the biggest bitch, and you will get yours."
Sounds like gmag needs to get a little soul searching done this Sunday...
Bless you my son...
Liberials:
You still don't get it. For those truly who need help my checkbook is open and happy to give.
But not for you lunatic liberals those who truly need help they'd get it. It is that you lunatics have ruined it for the ones that really need the help. When you stop wasting my tax money on programs that enable the slow, dumb, and lazy then America will become a much better place. Until this time occurs, America is becoming a cesspool of blood suckers who have no desire to work and are destroying us from within.
If karma means we're going to put a fence around communities you liberals want me to support, perfect, put a fence and we'll see who is left on a year or so. The savings to America couldn't be measured because the amount would be so great our government wouldn't know how to handle the surplus and you liberals would find another way to suck it from us.
Look in the mirror and give yourself a hug, it are you liberals destroying America from within and we're not going to allow this to happen. Obama is your president through 2012, after that he's outta there. We've learned a valuable lesson and the sad part is that Obama ruined it for many who are honestly trying to succeed without the liberal programs. Liberals think people are too stupid and need the help, they don't. Liberals just need to out of our lives and we'll get along just fine and America will become a much happier place for all.
Who's the bigger parasite, those that steal from society to fund social programs or those that feed themselves from them?
: (
I ( a tourist who has been bringing money to Vegas for years now, at least 5000 usd every single year for the past 15 years), I get the feeling that the casinos should take care of the matter now. Simply lift 1 per cent of taxes and feed the homeless and unemployed. This would do the job. The percentages of the slots and table games are terrible enough and the dealers are paid minimum wage. The room maid service lacks more and more , not because the lady who is doing my room is lazy but because the casinos obviously cut and cut and cut and these poor ladies have to do more and more rooms in the same time for super low wages. I noticed how much a very little tip already helped make my room look much nicer on the next morning. But, it can't be that a company is not paying its employees enough or squeezes them out like a lemon but at the same time is generating billions of dollars in profit for extention plans. Now the taxation level should trigger up a notch for the unempoyed and homeless, solely. I think this would make us tourists (s.....ers tourists i...iots) feel a bit better. We then know that at least a little amount of my money brought to Vegas is used positively.
Greetings from Switzerland
How our representatives take so much advantage of amnesia of the Voters. And they just keep electing them. Who's really the blame? An Independant
and all the food the casinos must legally dump as they can't feed the homeless with it. It's a shame. Every day, 100 buffets or so dump thousands of lbs of fresh and good high quality food. And the poor people have nothing to eat!!!
how about this (idea): The casinos of course will not want or will not have to pay 1 additional per cent to feed the homeless and unemployed. And probably will make money, anyway. And the story will go on. However, how about this: The buffets close at 10 p.m. daily. And after that the hotels throw all the food into big bins and fee the pigs or dump the food. Instead of dumping it, the buffet could re-open 1 hour later, perhaps in a different way in a little room adjacent of the casino, where the food is being given to the ones that would appreciate it? This way it would cost nothing and the casinos would contribute something to the current situation.
We all talk, but what we need , that's the people who get something going.
LittleLarry,
When you quote without the context, you miss the message. But of course, that's your way, eh? Soul search? please.
Do you attend the church of the poisoned mind?
Harley,
You call people suffering from the economic crisis "parasites". How classless.
its2hot,
your mindless "lunatic liberals" rants are really without any intelligent aforethought.
Parasite; a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.
: )
This tells me that those of us still making it should increase our emergency funds from 3-6 months to 1-2 years. It is hard to save anything right now with incomes flat but we have to expect to be in the same situation soon. Cutting down on any extra spending and safe guarding the money. Its going to be a slow recovery maybe 10 plus years so learning to live with less and saving more needs to be the agenda at most households.
Now gmag is passing judgment on people. I guess he has searched his soul and determined that it is too far Left to be reverent.
LarryVegas,
READ YOUR OWN STUFF, DUDE.
You pass judgement with EVERY COMMENT YOU POST.
its2hot
You STILL don't get it. The liberals didn't cause this. It's hard working, Middle class Americans - both liberal and conservative - who are suffering.
So you can understand:
IT IS ALL AMERICANS GOING THRU THIS regardless of WHO they voted for this past election, previous elections and future elections. It doesn't matter what your politics are, if you agree or disagree with what the government is trying to do - it is everyone!!!
AND - it is BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES THAT ARE AND WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY OF THE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WE ARE GOING THRU TODAY.
Since you know so much and have it all figured out - what would YOU DO to make things better right here in Las Vegas?
heart breaking threads from good people; during the depression, people shared and worked together to get through the hard times; they didnt lock the front door because they didnt have to. now, the twenty first century looks as dismal as the 1930's and globalization has created a monster with no relief in sight.
Its going to be a slow recovery maybe 10 plus years so learning to live with less and saving more needs to be the agenda at most households.
I always beliesved that everyone is going to learn how to live differently after things start getting better and for those of us who remember, it will be just like it was when we were growing up in the 50's and 60's - very rarely did our parents use credit for anything, even cars. They paid cash all the time, were able to save and yet we, at least our family did, lived comfortably. The store of the time was Sears who let you buy on a 90-day revolving account!
And as alwsays, the middle class are the ones getting hit hardest. The very poor - well they still have their welfare and food stamps ; the rich - self-explanatory (but not all have escaped hardship this time around). It is the middle class, and even upper middle class, that is taking a beating this time around.
A lot of us brought some of these bad times on ourselves with free spending via credit cards, expensive vacations, 52" flat screens, SUV's that cost as much as some of the houses in Vegas right now! The list goes on. No one thought twice about losing our jobs, our homes, our health insurance for that matter. Hopefully, EVERYONE has learned from tehse hard times. And with the help of The Big Guy upstairs, we WILL GET through it all, and be the wiser for it.
I have seen the goodness in people in the last 8 months and that is a nice feeling. There is still quite a bit of compassion from a lot of the people that live in this City. Not everyone hides behind their brick walls. So TPTB can build all the casinos they want because contrary to what they want the world to believe, the real thing that defines Las Vegas are the people that live here.
Okay, I'm off my soap box! lolol
as i get up in the morning for yet another day of fruitless job searching, i hear some economist or politician say "the recession might be over".
please, give me a freaking break.
this is not CLOSE to being over.
just go to google and click on "search news" and type in the word "layoffs" and then filter it by "stories this week"...
companies are still laying people off and many of them are solid, blue-collar manufacturing jobs that probably are not coming back.
"solid, blue-collar manufacturing jobs "
That is an oxy moron. Lets face it, times have changed. Companies and the stock market will stabilize. Jobs will not come back. Americans are expensive and healthcare is out of control.
The middle class is disappearing faster every year. The top does not want to support them anymore. We have more people than we need for employment. The casino crowd is a prime example.
As long as we let corporate America elect our leaders, this trend will continue.
i meant "solid" as in actually BUILDING a physical product, not "solid" as in them being around forever.
The problem is the American citizen, as well as it's government, has been on a credit fueled spending spree for decades. Now those debts have finally crashed the system and many of those big spenders no longer have anything to spend. Many played by the rules and were vicitms of bad luck like medical bills and early job loss. We cannot change the past but we can hope we have all learned a lesson. For many of us, I doubt it.
I see millionaire Nick is on gold plated soapbox claiming only the rich are worthy, the rest are useless slugs. Get off the sauce. The only thing I see rich slugs do is sit behind a desk and make phone calls while the "unworthies" keep the world running. It is the bottom supporting the top, not the other way around.
We are running out of countries to exploit slave labor. Couple that with transportation costs exploding when the world econonomy recovers and oil skyrockets, it will mean blue collar jobs coming back to the USA. It will mean white collar professional jobs going overseas. Who needs some educated Gen X or Y with an attitude problem and lack of work ethic when a competent replacement can be had for pennies on the dollar overseas. The free flow of information over the internet is instantaneous and dirt cheap. This is the real face of globalization. One year ago the unemployment rate for bachelors degree on up was 2.7%. Now it is 4.7% and climbing, a figure unheard of before. So much for that fiction that a degree guaranteed a job.
"Have we seen the worst? No," Restrepo said. He said there won't be tangible recovery in the state's economy -- six months of positive job growth -- until late 2010 or 2011."
How these people pull figures out of their behind with nothing to back it baffles me. What will happen in late 2010 or 2011 to turn the tide, Mr Restrepo? Will the globalists who run our country decide that they want to preserve the middle class and stop exporting jobs and entire professions to third world countries? Not likely. If anything, they'll find ways to export more professions to poor countries or start importing these poor people to the US to teach in our schools, work in our hospitals, maybe even patrol our streets for $10 an hour (a fortune back home)
Is there a solution? Yes, of course. 1) Invent something, create something, or come up with a novel idea. We are a country of inventors and innovators. Think outside the box. Quit doing what you are doing or you'll continue to get the same results. To think otherwise is insane. 2) Move to a state/area that needs workers or where you can live off the land (as in grow your own food, raise your own herds). 3) Provide services that are currently not being met. If you think hard enough in your area of expertise, you can think of something. 4) Cut back on all non essentials. Use all waking hours on using your brains to get you out of your predicament. Work smart, not hard. Sell all non-essentials and stock up on essential food items. Concentrate on essential fatty acids and essential amino acids (nuts, olive oil, powdered milk, protein powder, canned tuna, beans, etc) ie, make what money you currently get go further and save save save.
Those who stay the course and hope/expect the gov to bail them out or save them in the future will find themselves homeless or living on someones couch. Our gov is/ will go broke (as in devalued dollar, inflation, new type of gov set-up to reboot) Their solution will be a VAT tax on top of sales taxes, federal taxes, and a new NV state income tax coming our way as well. This will kill most small business' (middle class) and drive the wealthy to tax shelter countries (like Costa Rica, where I now have dual citizenship). The US is poised to become one big prison, USSR style. The hoards of needy will accept it with open arms. This entire mess was planned long ago, this is just the end game. So no, Mr R, there will be no recovery in 2010 or 11. Malls will be boarded up by then. Many mega casino's will close. And violence will begin to ramp up as the hoards of fed up hungry citizens and illegal aliens begin to loot stores in order to feed their hungry families. These things are not predictions, they're guarantees.
In all of our debt ridden glory, the rest of the world still needs the USA. In 20 years maybe not, but for the next 5 or 10 yes. If this country dissolves into anarchy, so will most of the world including your beloved Costa Rica. The rich will be the first to feel the wrath no matter where they hide. I'm sure there are many south of our border who don't appreciate how those rich Americans have exploited them for decades throwing them crumbs for their hard work.
Although there will be many who will not learn a lesson from the current crisis, do not assume that all Americans are bowls of quivering jello hooked on anti-depressants and Oprah. We have proven the world wrong before and we will again. For those of you too blinded by your "education" or prejudices against working people, it's hard working Americans who keep this country rolling. Not illegals. Not those high priced "I'm gonna get mine" lazy greedsters on Wall Street. Not those lazy take the easy way out but get maximum pay occupants in the board rooms and corporate suites. Take them all to Costa Rica with you. Your loss our gain.
We have so many of our fellow citizens screaming from their soapbox about the "criminal" bailouts of bankers and "handouts" to those who are taking it on the chin in these tough times. Do you complainers have a better way, or do we just blow up the banks and go back to the stone ages with people starving and dying just to make you happy. No banks, no money, no commerce. Hungry people are dangerous people and no one is safe not even you smug complainers complaining about "deadbeats". Better ford up with plenty of firepower.
So many complainers have been calling for a revolution. Be careful what you wish for. Revolutions smash everything in sight whether it be buildings, institutions, and lives. Think LA riots but on a world wide scale and more deadly. No matter how bad you think it is, in this country and most of the world we still have it pretty good. Have your revolution and watch the suffering and death go on for decades as we decend into the dark ages and eventually recover worse than before.
That lady in the article who is going to the Univ. of Phoenix says she is financing her education with student loans. That is SCARY!!! You CANNOT default on a student loan. It's like borrowing money from the mafia. That's why there isn't going to be a recovery--half the people are still paying off their credit cards and the other half are going into new debt in the form of student loans. College is a SCAM and it does not come with a job guarantee. Do you want fries with that--and when you get home you have five calls from Sallie Mae. Also check out this movie trailer on www.americancasinothemovie.com
Odeman,
Most of the folks who have moved to Costa Rica are retired conservatives. You can live very well in Costa Rica with a $1500 a month pension and eat good, organic food, fish in un-polluted rivers and oceans, and enjoy the ex-pat community (very large). They use the dollar in CR, allow Americans to own land, and allow dual citizenship. It's a democracy, but they have no military. Down side is that prostitution and gambling is legal so it's not too family friendly in the major cities. In the beach area where I live however (gated) it's quiet, safe, and virtually 100% ex Americans. Nice!
The CR economy is not tied to America. They are pretty self sufficient. They grow their own produce, have plenty of cattle, fish, etc. They are not a fast paced modern society, they don't get into a lot of debt to fund large projects, so they'll be fine. The RE prices are going up, not down in the 100% American enclaves, despite the US's problems with RE. You can still homestead and build your own place (free land) in any of the rural areas however.
As for your diatribe about the bailouts, I have a better idea! We could have told our elected officials not to vote for it or else we'll throw them out. So what if AIG and a few others fail! The banks took our tax dollars, have hoarded them, and are still not lending! It was all a big scam to ensure the elites would be fine, financially, despite the rest of the citizens. If they really wanted to create jobs and turn the economy around, I have plenty of ideas that would have worked. I'll share those in my next post.
Bush was a raging globalist liberal neocon who did not have Americans best interest at mind when he bullied the first bailout down the politician's throats. The first thing that should have happened was to take a step back and calm the nation, let them know that just because AIG and an investment house fails it's just the free enterprise system weeding out the stupid companies that made bad decisions. That way, there would be no run on banks, etc. Next thing he should have done, institute some "protectionist" laws and tell the world that we're going to have to take care of our own for a while until things get better. Sure, we'll have to pay a little more for a pair of shoes or cloth or cheap electronic stuff in the short run, but all of the manufacturing jobs that would be created here would help get us out of our funk. Next thing he could have done was pull the troops from Iran and Afghanistan, saying that we can no longer afford to waste 8 billion dollars a month on those ill conceived wars and that the 8 billion would go to fund unemployment benefits and welfare programs in the US for the next few years. Next thing he could have done is offer small businesses (not large corporations) various lucrative tax incentives based on new hires. That would have helped many small businesses from failing and laying people off. Next he could have told all foreign car makers that don't manufacture their cars in the US (like Toyota does) that they will have to start building plants in the US if they want to sell to the US public in the future. That alone would have spurred a lot of construction and hires.
You get the idea. Stop the bleeding from outsourcing jobs. Stop wasting money on wars we shouldn't be in that do not affect our national security (Al Queda is a CIA and Mossad created and run organization, means "the toilet" in Arabic, a joke to the rest of the world). Go back to the 50's when we made most of what we consume her in the US! Force people to buy US! That is how you turn an economy around. Not buy bankrupting our country and forcing new taxes down the road that will eliminate the middle class!
Al Queda = toilet (fake org) http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLE... "What about all those beheading's I seen on Michael Savages website"? Please. Savage (Michael Weiner) is a Israel first Neocon who knows those tapes were CIA propaganda to get Americans angry with Arabs! 100% fake. 100% carried out by Mossad-CIA. Here's some proof if you didn't know: http://www.topplerummy.org/berg/
The many hardships that locals are facing is shocking - But there is a great untold story-
http://vegasbubble.com/2009/09/28/more-n...
Odeman is a comfirmed wacko
"I see millionaire Nick is on gold plated soapbox claiming only the rich are worthy, the rest are useless slugs"
Wow, now I am a millionaire!
And Odeman thinks manufacturing is coming back and educated people will not find work. The hate of education in LV is alarming. It amazes me the unemployment rate is only 13%.
No worries, the dumbacrats will just print another 4000 trillion dollars to account for the short fall.
Just dial up the White House and ask for dipsh@t.
Yeah, and if dipsh@t is busy ask for his wife.
Church charities, food stamps, what is happening to the USA. Living in another country, I look at the USA in very serious trouble, with external debt running out of control.
Vegasinsider:
They don't even have to print it anymore. All of our money is electronic impulses; just press a button and more is created.