Opinion - Some sobering figures

One in 10 Americans receive government aid. The gap between the rich and the poor in America is the widest it has ever been.

The poverty rate is rising, too. More food stamps are being used in the country. For the nation at large nearly 12 million households depend on food stamps. That’s households, not individuals.

The national unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent, and the underemployed rate has increased as people take whatever jobs they can find.

Nationally, income fell 2.9 percent between 2008 and 2009. More than 14 percent of Americans are living below the poverty line. Home ownership, the long-held American dream, has fallen over the last three years.

These are cold, hard numbers, but not all the impact has been economic. Marriages are down to the lowest rate in 15 years. Reportedly, depression and other stress related health problems are growing.

The impact of the economic slowdown in the local area can be seen, too, although the Palouse historically escapes the booms and busts of the nation.

Whitman Hospital is seeing fewer patients and fewer yet with private insurance. More children are on subsidized lunch programs. Local food banks are seeing greater demand and need. For publically supported institutions, tax revenues are down and, in some instances, expenses are up because of the demand for social services.

None of this is good news. None of it is surprising, either. It is just that some economic and social data was recently compiled and released.

Such downturns and difficulties have faced the country in the past. Recovery and renewal always followed, but they took time and effort.

Yet, what is needed now is the realization that these sobering figures are symptoms of more fundamental problems.

The fixes, the direction and the impetus will have to come from elected leaders at every level. The pressure on them to lay aside petty differences and get to the fundamentals will have to come from the citizens themselves.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher