U.S. Bankruptcy Watch: Jobless Checks for Millions Delayed as States Struggle

Discussion in 'Economics' started by ByLoSellHi, Jul 24, 2009.

  1. Some may object to the title, but it just is recognition that the U.S. will have no other choice than to default on its debt obligation, as repayment of the current, let along future, monies borrowed from creditors is mathematically impossible given simple domestic demographic and global economic trends.

    The United States of American, currently owing well over 14 trillion dollars to present creditors, and facing 60 trillion in unfunded liabilities, is on the inevitable march towards insolvency.

    None other than David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States, has warned as much.

    - "Borrowing your way out of recession [or depression] is like standing in a bucket and trying to pick yourself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill

    And now to the play-by-play:

    The Safety Net

    Jobless Checks for Millions Delayed as States Struggle


    By JASON DePARLE

    Sixteen states are paying unemployment benefits with borrowed money, and hundreds of thousands of needy people have waited months for checks.

    [​IMG]
    Luis Coronel and his wife waited months for aid while she was pregnant with Paola Maya, now four months old.

    By JASON DePARLE
    Published: July 23, 2009

    WASHINGTON — Years of state and federal neglect have hobbled the nation’s unemployment system just as a brutal recession has doubled the number of jobless Americans seeking aid.

    In a program that values timeliness above all else, decisions involving more than a million applicants have been slowed, and hundreds of thousands of needy people have waited months for checks.

    And with benefit funds at dangerous lows even before the recession began, states are taking on billions in debt, increasing the pressure to raise taxes or cut aid, just as either would inflict maximum pain.

    Sixteen states, with exhausted funds, are now paying benefits with borrowed cash, and their number could double by the year’s end.

    Call centers and Web sites have been overwhelmed, leaving frustrated workers sometimes fighting for days to file an application.

    [​IMG]

    While the strained program still makes more than 80 percent of initial payments within three weeks — slightly below the standard set under federal law — cases that require individual review are especially prone to delay. Thirty-eight states are failing to make those decisions within the federal deadline.

    For workers who survive a paycheck at a time, even a week’s delay can mean a missed rent payment or foregone meals...

    Read the rest:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24unemploy.html?_r=1&hp
     
  2. Mav88

    Mav88

    We are on our way to insolvency, it's practically guaranteed as it is the current plan of the current administration- but hey, it will BE FAIR and we'll FEEL GOOD. Now BuyLo if you would just shut up and be a good little multicultural liberal, the image master is too busy to bother with your damn details, Letterman awaits.
     
  3. Insolvency will not occur, but expect more currency debasement. Doesn't mean stocks will go down though.
     
  4. S2007S

    S2007S

    Im not worried, just the feeling that the markets have rebounded over 40% should help the 15 million people unemployed feel more confident about future job growth and an end to this really long recession.
     
  5. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of the USA in 2006 was 300,000,000.

    Of that population figure, 24.6% were under the age of 18. Therefore, the population of the USA over the age of 18 is: 225,746,457


    For more information, see: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

    I can't find stats on the number of senior citizens, but I'd bet that 15% of the total population is a fair bet, so that would be 45 million.

    225 million - 45 million

    = 180,000,000 working age Americans.

    The real rate of unemployment in the U.S. is just under 20%.

    So, 36 million Americans of working age are unemployed.
     
  6. Given this news article, I just cannot understand why the market is pushing highs.
     
  7. S2007S

    S2007S


    Is that a sarcastic remark?


    :eek:
     
  8. Not at all.

    I'm seriously baffled by the market's movements, BUT that being said, it's more proof that you need to follow price action, not fundamentals.
     
  9. TGregg

    TGregg

    Correct. And right in line with the very first bit of wisdom I ever received about the markets - straight from Atlas Shrugged.

    I don't remember the exact quote, but Fransisco is at a party and makes a dark hint about the future of his copper mining company and somebody else tries to counter his implication by pointing to the increasing stock price. That person says something like "By your own standards, doesn't the stock market reflect the true value of a company?" Fransisco replies "Of course. In the long run."
     
  10. I still believe the fundamentals overtake the trend, drag it out into the back alley, and shoot it in the head, in the long term.

    But you're right - if one manages to profitably trade the short term, while less frequently unprofitably trading it - they'll make money, regardless of what fundamentals dictate over intermediate and long terms.

    Every trader that had great success doing that seems/seemed to blow up, though, from Livermore on down.

    Buffet's an investor.

    Does anyone truly know of a successful trader over the long term? (as opposed to successful long term trader?)
     
    #10     Jul 24, 2009