When they try to convince you that the economy is getting better, ask them these questions.

If the economy is getting better, then why did new home sales in the United States hit a new all-time record low during 2011?

Why are there six million less jobs in America today than there were before the recession started?

Why is the average duration of unemployment in this country close to an all-time record high?

Why has the number of Americans on food stamps increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since early 2009?

Why has the number of children living in poverty in America risen for four years in a row?

Why is the percentage of Americans living in “extreme poverty” at an all-time high? Why is the Federal Housing Administration on the verge of a financial collapse?

Why do only 23 percent of American companies plan to hire more employees in 2012?

Why has the number of self-employed Americans fallen by more than two million since 2006? Why did an all-time record low percentage of U.S. teens have a job last summer?

Why does median household income keep declining? Why has the number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by 10 million since 2006?

Why are 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 living with their parents?

If the economy is getting better, then why does the number of “long-term unemployed workers” stay so high?

 

Doug Schexnayder

Vidalia resident