Coping

Let's see.  There's a massive ecological disaster out in my Gulf that threatens to ruin the environment of the American Southeast for the next ten generations.  There's already substantial evidence that British Petroleum and Transocean and Halliburton cut corners and ignored both Federal and internal security regulations, and yet there are still those in political office (cough, mostly Republicans although I will concur that a few Democrats are in Big Oil's pocket) sucking up and making the criminals out to be the victims in all this.

There's high unemployment across the nation, but especially here in Florida, with few good wage job openings in sight.  Businesses are not inclined to hire on more people because the economy is still too shaky: banks aren't lending out much to small or start-up businesses for the same reason.  There's evidence that massive unemployment is both destructive to the economy and to our society: yet nothing is being done by our government to alleviate it...

Unemployment benefits / jobs bill have been held up - AGAIN - by an obstructionist Republican-controlled Senate, yes the Republicans are in the minority with 40 seated but thanks to Filibustering and Cloture rules that 40 can shut down any legislation brought to the floor.

And why are the Republicans holding up that legislation?  Because now - after the entire 2000-2008 era of Republicans' out-of-control spending and deficit creation ("Deficits Don't Matter," says Republican leader Dick Cheney) - because NOW the Republicans are all "Oh NO don't let the Democrats spend any money OH NOES let's be austere and RESPONSIBLE with YOUR, we mean OUR spending!"  Now when we NEED a Keynesian approach to getting our nation out of this DEPRESSION (we're still at 10 percent unemployment!  THIS.  IS.  NOT.  GOOD.) the Republicans are still stuck in Hooverist denial.  Like that worked the last time!

And it's as though the Republican leadership has no fucking clue just how bad it is out here in the World of Few Jobs.  Right now there's five job-seekers to each job opening: in good economic times it's supposed to be two job-seekers to each job (there were times jobs had to be re-opened to get more applicants interested to fulfill a three-candidate requirement!).  That's the official number: I swear to God it feels like there's ten or twenty job-seekers per opening.  They think we're all Welfare Queens all over again.  NO WE'RE NOT.  We're college-educated former workers (and some are even Republicans of long-standing although not anymore) who got screwed over by a One-Two (Home Ownership/Mortgage Collapse and the Stock Market/Banking Disaster) Economic Punch that's still not resolved.  Jobs are out there, Ms. Angle?  The jobs in question are entry-level low-wage jobs that won't pay our mortgages or kids' schooling.  Wal-Mart Greeter is not what I call a career.  The jobs are also over in Texas or Washington State or Montana and because of the real estate/mortgage fiasco we can't sell our homes and move to them.  Either way, we Job-Seekers ARE FUCKING SCREWED.

I still have a few benefits available at the local unemployment - sorry, Career Center - office, especially a Vocational Rehab service that can treat my ongoing psychological problem with depression.  Of course, as with any bureaucracy the paperwork is TAKING TOO DAMN LONG.  Sorry.

So here I sit.  Unemployed.  Sending more resumes out today to see about getting someone to interview me.  At least I got the A+ Certification to try for a Tech Support career track now.  But even that looks easier said than done.

Meanwhile the Republicans are pretty much killing us with oil-poisoned waters and no financial aid for 27-30 million unemployed Americans, and for some Godforsaken reason there's legitimate talk that these GOP bastards can retake the Congress in the November midterms.  WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO MY COUNTRY?!