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.
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 â Years of state and federal neglect have hobbled the nationâs 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 yearâs end.
Call centers and Web sites have been overwhelmed, leaving frustrated workers sometimes fighting for days to file an application.
While the strained program still makes more than 80 percent of initial payments within three weeks â slightly below the standard set under federal law â 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 weekâs 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
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.
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 â Years of state and federal neglect have hobbled the nationâs 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 yearâs end.
Call centers and Web sites have been overwhelmed, leaving frustrated workers sometimes fighting for days to file an application.
While the strained program still makes more than 80 percent of initial payments within three weeks â slightly below the standard set under federal law â 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 weekâs 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
