WHAT RECOVERY?

I do not buy that we are in recovery. The 1 percent are. I question whether they actually suffered at any time. The 99 percent are not.

Last week, I wrote about the NFL not paying taxes. Taxes on $9.5 billion in revenue. An organization that pays its Commissioner Roger Goodell $44 million a year.

In the past, I have written about the U.S. corporations making billions and not paying taxes. General Electric being one example.

All the preceding made possible by Congressional action and Presidential approval. They make the laws. The laws which in most instances benefit the very rich.

There recently has been an exuberance, an excitement, a jubilation in Washington. We are told recession recovery has arrived.....look at the good job we have done.

Generally accepted indicators indicate it. I do not agree. In spite of the 321,000 jobs created in November, in spite of the 5 percent growth rate for the GDP in the third quarter, in spite of the Stock Market being at its highest levels ever, in spite of the 5 percent unemployment rate.

New jobs created are not of the quality pre-recession. They pay much less. The stock market primarily benefits only those who can afford to play, the 1 percent. A 5 percent unemployment rate does not take into account the millions who have fallen off the radar screen. Those no longer receiving unemployment benefits. They have become a shadow society.

I will concede the U.S. is getting out of the hole. However, not totally.. We are about half way. The rich have gotten richer, the poor remain where they were in 2008. For them, no recovery.

I say these things based contrary to the indicators the government relies upon.

When Reagan began his Presidency, corporations paid a $1.25 in taxes to the $1 the people paid. Today, American corporations pay twenty cents to every $1 the people pay. 

It was recently reported that for the first time in U.S. history, a majority of public school children live in poverty. For the first time in 50 years. Again, the recovery has benefited the rich only. The poor are still waiting.

Sixteen million public school children are homeless. They live in the woods, cardboard boxes, abandoned cars, etc. They go to school each morning dirty, not well fed.

The organization No Child Held Back recently reported on the less than adequate conditions. The organization quoted Sonya Romero Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. She said, "When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is take an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe."

Smith is a veteran kindergarten teacher. Her present class totals 18. Fourteen are eligible for free lunches. She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes. Her desk drawers are stocked with clean socks, underwear, pants and shoes.

Something is seriously wrong when a nation does not take care of those least able to care for themselves.

The U.S. economy is divided into two parts. Big business and small business. The economy is good, if not great, for big business. Small businesses are still struggling. Small businesses pre-recession provided 2/3rds of American jobs. They are no where near that number today.

Small business is still in the doldrums. There can be no true recovery unless things get better for them and small business jobs become available.

Those who control government do not seem to care about poor children and small businesses. They are not concerned with the poor. They are more concerned with passing legislation that helps the rich. I am telling you nothing you do not already know.

Unless and until these and similar problems are corrected, the recovery will not be complete. Regardless of the indicators Washington has been throwing at us.