I was reading headlines yesterday and saw a few news stories reporting 2.6 million American workers lost their jobs in 2008. This is just stunning, and I even thought the numbers low. I did a quick search on how many New Yorkers lost jobs in 2008, and couldn’t find an exact number (just percentages, which are meaningless, IMO). And those figures represent unemployment, not employees who have suffered reduced hours or wages. New York has been hemorraging jobs AND residents for decades. It’s shocking; and still the government acts like nothing is really wrong, judging by their actions. Even Governor Paterson, who claims that New Yorkers need to tighten the belt, isn’t making any big spending cuts– and especially no cuts for wealthy government employee salaries, jobs, or pensions.
I found this table at the NYS Labor Department website. YIKES!
Do you see what I see? Taxpayer-funded jobs (education, government, services) are growing at a phenomenal rate, compared to the massive losses of private sector jobs (jobs that PAY into taxes– the everyday people’s jobs). There is NO WAY this kind of economy is sustainable, NO WAY. It’s simple, simple arithmetic. What is it with idiot politicians? How can they be missing this?! Things do not bode well for the future, if things continue at this present rate. Unless, of course, things are completely turned around and it is government/education/service jobs that pay taxes to us in the private sector jobs…
Mon, Jan 12, 2009
the economy