10 Reasons Why Ordinary Hard-Working Americans Are About To Really Start Feeling The Squeeze

[DJ13]

American families better get ready to tighten their belts again. There is every indication that we are all going to really start feeling the squeeze in the months ahead. The price of gas is starting to spike again. The price of food is moving north. Health insurance premium increases are being announced coast to coast and a whole slate of tax increases is scheduled to go into effect in 2011. Meanwhile, household incomes are down substantially all over the nation and the U.S. government is indicating that there will not be an increase in Social Security benefits for the upcoming year once again. So if the cost of most of the basic things in our monthly budgets is going up and our incomes are going down what does that mean? It means that average American families are about to be squeezed like nothing we have seen in decades.

The reality is that it is getting really hard to make it out there. Not only do most households have both parents working, but in many cases both parents are getting second or even third jobs. Things have gotten so bad that millions of Americans have felt forced to turn to the government for assistance just to survive.

It can be really disheartening to come to the end of the month and realize that despite your best efforts you have less money than you did at the beginning of the month. But that is where millions upon millions of American families now find themselves.

The economic despair in the air is almost palpable. Already hordes of Americans are truly and honestly hurting and things are only going to get worse.

The following are ten reasons why ordinary hard-working Americans are about to really start feeling the squeeze....

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-reasons-why-ordinary-hard-working-americans-are-about-to-really-start-feeling-the-squeeze

[givemebackmycountry]

1. So, Hey! I got an idea...

Lets vote the Republicans back into office, that will fix everything!

We are a extra stupid country.

[cutlassmama]

9. +4

[HughBeaumont]

11. Not JUST Republicans . . .

. . . Republicans that make The Failure Fratster look like a moderate. SURELY that's the better plan . . . abandoning all hope after 2 years and cede the country to the wealthmongers and their gatekeepers.

Keep the great decisions coming, DUHmerica.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Hate to say it, but I think one of the biggest reasons is that half or more vote against themselves.

Yeah, there's a lot of blame to be placed on the plutocracy for the loss of the middle-class, but there's also a shitload of blame on those same middle-class who have felt it more important to fight for homosexuality to be illegal or abortions to be felony life-sentence-requiring crimes.

I'm not willing to give the rich a free pass in this, but we really truly absolutely have to remember to blame the very people helped by unions and civil disobedience who have decided that they should fight against the unions, minimum wage, universal health care, and other things that would otherwise help make our country worth living in.

[WhiteTara]

4. isn't that the truth! n/t

[emmadoggy]

3. Feeling the squeeze very hard here in my house.

Just got a nice big python squeeze yesterday. No end in sight.

:cry: :scared:

[spanone]

5. looks like a pretty hysterical website.....doom & doomer

[Rex]

6. Well 'the economic collapse' blog doesn't give me the warm fuzzies.

[scheming daemons]

7. That blog is pathetic.....

[southmost]

8. not a great article or blog

.

[eilen]

10. Is it bad because your don't care for it's topic? I read the 10 things

and they seem valid to me.

1. Gas prices-- in my area they are $2.89/gallon-- up 30 cents since August.

2. Food prices have gone up and packaging has gone smaller.

3. Recent news article in NYT and on DU about no COLA for SS this year.

4. Health insurance as well as health costs have gone up. Some insurers are just opting out of offering individual insurance all together. Even people with Medicare who can't afford the Supplemental insurance are having big trouble.

5. The Foreclosuregate is a big issue. The law of unintended consequences is in play. While a moratorium is helpful to keep people in their homes, there is a consequence of lenders being unlikely to lend. Fees and costs will go up for loans. There was also an article out recently that predicted banks laying off a good percentage of their employees in the coming year as forecasts show little earnings. (gotta preserve those bonuses at the top).

6. Wage attachment is a valid debt recovery tool in most states.

7. Large student loan debt is a very real problem that we did not have in the 1970's or the 30's. You literally cannot escape them. People have their SS garnished for defaulted student loans. Plus they just continue to accumulate interest.

8. Companies everywhere are trying to lower wages, benefits.

9. Google Quantitative Easing. When you make money out of nothing, prices go up. This is why you are seeing commodity prices rising.

10. I live in NY--the most heavily taxed state in the union. It used to cost $58 to register my car for 2 years, now it is $99; Our town and property taxes are all going up. I might be given a tax cut on the federal level but everywhere else the fees and taxes have risen.

[southmost]

17. because its missing the number one problem

Diminishing wages, thats when I began feeling a squeeze; but no, this articles is focusing on blaming anything outside of the private sector... The perspective of the article is lopsided.

[seabeyond]

12. have already really been feeling the squeeze. nt

[lunatica]

13. So am I

I was forced to declare bankruptcy in July and now I'm falling behind on my equity payments. It didn't take long for my mortgage company to contact me. The letter they sent was posted before the recent scandal, so who knows what will happen.

I asked for the Mortgage Note in September. When I talked to them this week they claimed they never received the letter. I told them that if I decide to sell I want to make sure prospective buyers know they have the Mortgage Note. I also want to know for my sake.

[seabeyond]

14. wow. i am so sorry

hubby has done everything right. we have followed all the rules. and it is just different. if it is for us, i can only imagine for others.

he works so many hours.... into the night (computer tech so can do lots at home) and still the wage does not reflect the work. and he is so obtuse to the money. gonna have to sit and talk to him. decisions to be made.

3 yrs and no wage increase. they cut out the incentive that was part of pay. everything has gone up. and investments disappeared.

you get to be a certain age, thinking, hold this and will be ok. then last 5 years happen and not so much.

i hope you can figure out your situation.

[Kalyke]

15. I just posted this same thing in another thread, but it's appropriate here, too.

I with the media would stop blaming the government for everything and would focus on just how many people have tried and tried and tried and worked hard - very hard - and save (only to have a major car/home repair or health care crisis issue wipe out the savings) and STILL haven't become Horatio Alger!

The media should include in the story the main reason why this is so:
1. Corporations refuse to pay workers decent wages and use the money to spread propaganda about how "awful" labor unions are.
2. Corporations keep raising health care insurance costs, but refuse to admit that other countries with single-payer health care insurance have healthier populations.
3. Corporations keep raising the prices of houses, cars, food, etc. while not keeping the percentage of pay on an even playing field.
4. Corporations have moved our better-paying jobs overseas, to save a buck, while providing an inferior product.
5. Corporations have raped our social safety nets so that when one loses a job due to outsourcing, there is very little unemployment and/or welfare to carry a family until the breadwinner(s) can find comparable work.

But, of course, the media will never cover this because:
1. CORPORATIONS OWN THE MEDIA!

[HughBeaumont]

16. Yep. This hits home.

Just got socked with a $1300 bill on the wife's car after paying $700 last week to fix mine. And I'm supposed to save for a new car HOW? I guess this is punishment for me being so foolish as to expect to keep a car for as long as possible so I can avoid a $300+ car payment every month for four years.

I don't know, do the powers that be expect me to just pluck 2 grand from the money tree in the back yard? I can't even come close to saving an emergency fund like they tell me to do for just such an untimely occasion. What if I didn't have a job?

This is how it is everywhere. What lemmings brush off as "that's just life. Git a helmet", sorry, I see as a genuine problem. Bottom line is, if you cannot make a LIVING wage that covers basic necessities and successfully keeps up with the cost of living, then this whole thing fails.

[krawhitham]

18. Start?