Scenes from the 'Recovery'

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

“We’re in a recovery and maybe the recovery is a little bit stronger than we thought,” said Ethan Harris, head of North America economics at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York. “My guess is the income will be stronger than the GDP data” in coming quarters.

To celebrate the fact that the recession is now history, as well as the stock market's recent run to levels not seen since before the downturn began, I bring you...

Scenes from the "Recovery"

"Struggling Families Depend More on School Lunches" (Associated Press)

For a couple tight weeks after taking in her sixth-grade stepson, Lisa Lewis fretted about how to pay for his school lunches.

Unable to find a full-time job, the 37-year-old works part-time at a Kansas City, Kan., daycare, earning minimum wage. On that money alone, she supports herself, her unemployed husband, her stepson and her 11th-grade son.

''I sometimes cry myself to sleep wondering how I am going to keep my family fed and things like that,'' Lewis said. ''I'm making it but barely.''

Her worries were eased when she found out she could get government assistance to pay for the younger boy's meals. Her older son already is part of the subsidized lunch program.

In the midst of a blistering recession, more families are flocking to the federal program that gives students free or reduced-priced lunches. Schools are watching for who enrolls in the program because it gives teachers insight into life at home and officials consider it a barometer of poverty.

The numbers are telling.

During the 2008-2009 school year, about 19 million students received free and reduced lunches, which is 895,000 more than the previous year -- a jump of nearly 5 percent and that greatly outpaced the overall increase in school enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Typically, the increases are about 1 to 2 percent each year.

''We have seen record program growth over the past two years as we go through this difficult period,'' said Jean Daniel, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Meanwhile, 78 percent of school nutrition directors surveyed in the fall said they had noticed an increased number of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals for the 2009-2010 school year, according to the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit that represents those who prepare school meals.

"Amid Recession, Memphis Becomes America's Hunger Capital" (McClatchy)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It wasn't long ago that Rachel Cales volunteered at her church's food pantry, bagging canned goods and emergency provisions for families that had fallen on hard times.

Last May, however, Cales lost her job managing a yogurt shop. Her elder daughter was about to be married and her two teenage children were living at home and looking for work. Suddenly, she couldn't afford the groceries her family needed, and she had to turn to the pantry for help.

"I never thought we'd have to ask anyone for food," said Cales, who lives on a tree-lined street in eastern Memphis, in a two-story house with prim blue shutters.

She's far from alone. This Southern city, long famous for blues and barbecue, has earned a grim new distinction: the hunger capital of the United States.

As more and more Americans struggle to pay their bills, a recent survey co-sponsored by Gallup found that 26 percent of people in greater Memphis couldn't afford to buy the food their families needed at some point over the previous 12 months, the highest rate in the nation.

The nationwide recession has compounded the region's economic woes, which experts say stem from the steady decline of family farms, a shortage of skilled workers and few major employers. Slammed with job losses, many middle-class families such as the Caleses find themselves forced to choose whether to pay their house, car, utilities and medical bills — or buy groceries.

"We have seen need grow at certain times, but we have never seen a national economy like this," said Susan Sanford, who's headed the Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis for the past two decades. "And we have never seen so many middle-class people lose their jobs and have to depend on emergency food assistance."

Last year, some 186,500 people in 31 Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee counties that surround Memphis relied on agencies for their next meals, a 28 percent increase from four years ago, the food bank reported. Paradoxically, the region also suffers from high rates of obesity, which experts say is the result of families eating cheaper and less nutritious food.

"It's no surprise that this is a very poor area," Sanford said. "But I never would have expected to be No. 1 in food insecurity in the entire country."

"Some Area Food Banks Running Short on Meat" (Flathead Beacon)

As the snow melts and warm weather begins to move in to the Flathead, it would seem that winter’s hardships are on the way out. But for some food banks in the valley, this time of year has been marked by a considerable lack of protein.

“We are out of meat,” said Leslie Knuth of the West Shore Food Bank in Lakeside.

Knuth said she hasn’t received a shipment of hamburger from the state in two months and has been buying in bulk from local grocers to cover the need. While the food bank does have chicken and sausage, hamburger meat is often critical for many families because of its versatility, Knuth said.

And with the recession taking its toll on many area families, Knuth said her food bank has seen a drastic increase of people in need over the past year. It has also had to change the way it approaches business. Instead of being a system of support for families by providing a three-day emergency supply of food, Knuth said their new modus operandi is simply to feed the hungry.

“When they come we try to give them whatever they need within a basic commodity list,” Knuth said.

Betty Baldwin at the North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish said they are facing similar woes. During last week’s distribution day, Baldwin said the food bank helped roughly 150 families in two hours. That’s indicative of the increased need, she said.

"Hungry in the Land of Plenty" (The Herald Bulletin)

ANDERSON, Ind. — Big hearts help fill empty stomachs in Indiana. Stomachs that may once have been growling are fuller thanks to Second Harvest Food Bank north of Muncie.

“We grew up together – or at least we grew old together,” jokes Lois Rockhill, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank. Rockhill has been a part of Second Harvest for 21 of its 27 years of operation.

In 2009, Second Harvest of Madison County distributed nearly 30 percent of its eight-county resources locally. “Once the economy started going down, the need started going up. We still have had so many people needing food and needing lots of it. Even with everything the food pantries and we do, it is hard to meet the need.”

The economy has impacted The Christian Center in several ways. Originally servicing both men and women, the Center now only houses men.

“To make sure the money coming in was being used efficiently and effectively, something had to give and unfortunately our women’s shelter was compromised,” explains says Daniel Wohlberg, the Center’s PR/Marketing coordinator. The Center houses 55 to 60 residents on average.

The Center attributes keeping up with the demand to a generous community. “When there is a need, the community steps up to the plate. Right now, we are pretty well stocked thanks to restaurants, other churches, and individuals in the community who are consistently providing food items.” Wohlberg explains.

Making resources easily accessible is the aim of The Tailgate Program, coordinated by Second Harvest. The Tailgate Program provides five or more food items on a periodic schedule to people in need at a drive-through venue. Of the eight counties Second Harvest serves, Madison and Delaware Counties rank highest in need. Rockhill notes, “As far as our own distribution through the Tailgate Program, even our small counties, like Wabash, we see 400 families come through the Tailgate on a monthly basis.”

Over the next five years, Rockhill anticipates the demand will escalate.

“For the people who are low-income, it is going to take that long for them to find jobs and begin to make up for what they lost, even when the economy becomes more stable.”

"Study: 1.4 million Illinoisans Needed Food Last Year" (Gatehouse News Service)

More than 10 percent of Illinois residents received emergency food from the eight regional food banks across the state, a new study finds.

The study was released at a Statehouse news conference today by Feeding Illinois, the statewide organization of the eight regional food banks. It found 1.4 million people received food assistance in 2009, with 42 percent being children.

The organization called for the General Assembly to approve $5 million in funding to the food banks, which would provide 25 percent of the food needed.

“The food banks in this state — the food pantries and soup kitchens that they serve — are desperate for this,” said Kate Maehr, president of Feeding Illinois. “As I’ve said, I’ve yet to meet anyone in Springfield or in any county in the state who believe that it’s OK for people in the state to go hungry, and that is what we are talking about.

Comments

[Linda C]

I have yet to see anything real that is making up this "recovery". We are supposed to believe Banc of A-Merril Lynch?
I am also concerned about the number of distressed banks that will continue to grow this year. The over reliance on the "FDIC handling it" somehow misses the point. It reminds me of the reassurances of handling the contagion of sub-prime mortgages.

[Luke]

there is no recovery. all who refer to it as a Great Recession and being over are lying. The media is full of nothing but talking heads without substance to even question what they are reporting and the stats are all manipulated.

[NowWhat]

"Greenzone" all manipulation on the reporters.

[jacob]

I find it funny that all the twats that were calling this recovery have now admitted they got it wrong. totally disaster? nope...they know what they have to do...create a positive atmosphere, to help them make money. So far it has worked....but look around at what is really going on out in the real world.

I subscribe to http://www.forecastfortomorrow.com and he has been spot on with all of this, and called the market crash in 2007. He knows his stuff, he laughs when people mention recovery.

[CedarS]

Concerning the food banks, GIVE CEREAL and lots of it. A quick and easy meal for anyone.
Cereal is enriched with vitamins and by giving the right kind (healthy), fiber is included.

[gordon]

Here's an excellent blog post comment(below) from zerohedge explaining who this "RECOVERY" IS FOR! It's a LIE, the media is owned by Wall Street, all media in the US is PROPAGANDA. All gov't statistics are a lie, to keep the masses quiet, while the rich get richer.

[gordon]

This blog comment from zerohedge today sums up who this "recovery" is for! All a LIE. All media PROPAGANDA.

The bubble has been reinflated INTENTIONALLY by, of and for the richest of the rich, the REAL OWNERS of the government and by extension of the country. Here's one of the best papers that show who owns what in these United States

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

And according to this UC Santa Cruz professor, not only top 1% owns 35% of the total wealth, they own 47% of the financial wealth, and 50% of all investable assets, while bottom 90% have only 12%. Anybody wants to guess who really benefit from the new bubble in asset prices? 90% may "feel better", but top 1% is laughing all the way to the federally-backstopped bank.

But the most interesting thing is that top 1% "owns" 5.4% of debt, while the share of debt "owned" by the bottom 90% is 73.4%!!! With 12 to 75 equity to debt ratio, how can 90% of the country see any benefits from this bubble?

This asset price bubble is not a simple scam (sorry, a policy of the government and federal reserve), it's a way to safeguard and extend the status, the wealth, and the influence of the mega-wealthy, while literally burying everyone else in tens of trilliosn of debt!

[Tyler Eliott]

This is Exactly what happened in the first 24 months after the Crash of 1929. Government officials and businessmen said the fundamentals were 'sound'. The newspapers would not cover the suffering of real people because they didn't want to lose readership by printing stories that depicted despair and gloom. It was only until late 1932 when the suffering reached the proportions of 25% unemployment that the media of the day was forced to report upon it honestly. The media has done a great job hiding human suffering & Government has done an even better job minimalizing the impact of this current depression upon everyday people.

[R Man J]

The majority blieve we are in a recovery. Definitely, every executive my fortune 500 company implicitly believes it.

In my small world, I root for this continued false hope because it helps hold the price of PMs down. Small individual investors with very little discretionary income have had the opportunity to invest in tangible PMs and PM IRAs at extremely low prices, a little at a time. I expect to be able to invest as much as I can in PMs for another 6 months at artificially low prices while he "recovery" continues. After that, even silver will be too expensive for me to buy. I guess its because I am dumb enough to believe people like Eric Sprott, Jim Sinclair, Peter Schiff, etc. rather than the NY & Washington criminals.

[Jason Hartz]

I am happy I found this website (there are few websites that talk the truth). My graduate degree is in economics and I am just amazed by how the main stream media keeps going on about a recovery. Just today I read an article on MSNBC from an economist who was talking about how all these jobs were going to be created this year and that we are on the eve of a robust recovery. REALLY!! I just don't understand how we can have a recovery when the job outlook is terrible, unemployment is high, the U.S has a huge deficit and the fact there is a weak demand for U.S. treasuries, and a majority of the states are the brink of insolvency. Add on top of this many retirees are expecting entitlement programs to kick in (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) and this is just a disaster waiting to happen.

I would be interested to know from others what these people are smoking? Seriously? Are these experts just plain stupid or is there some deep down agenda/conspiracy that is at work here? Otherwise, I am at a lost where these people are coming from.

[NowWhat]

Jason watch the movie Greenzone

[gordon]

R Man- read this(BELOW), and remember- corporations have NO alligence to the US workers, they will plunder the working class until we work for Asian wages. That is the goal.>>

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Good-bye--Truth-Has-Fall-by-paul-craig-roberts-100324-94.html

[gordon]

Jason H- meant you----
get educated, informed. The US is now opening an African front, sending troops to Morocco, this Imperialist nation of ours is in the hands of WARMONGERS, the Columbia "free trade" means 7 NEW MILITARY BASES FOR THE US IN COLUMBIA. The US is expanding a base in AUSTRALIA. Africa is next! It's all about the DOLLAR supported by aggressive slaughter of innocent countries, like Iraq. Get educated for God's sake. Call it the Boggie Man-- Al Queda- they are NOT in Afghanistan anymore, they're were only about 2 dozen! They're gone- in Pakistan, wherever- that means we pursue ENDLESS WAR ON "WHATEVER, WHEREVER" "WAR on WHATEVER!"
Don't think the Pentagon is not FABRICATING Bin Laden "audio tapes" that is PURE BULLSHIT! He died 2 years ago fron kidney problems, you Americans are the Saps, IDIOTS, consumed with you American Idol, Americans are pathetic, the most ignorant species on Earth.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Good-bye--Truth-Has-Fall-by-paul-craig-roberts-100324-94.html
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Good-bye--Truth-Has-Fall-by-paul-craig-roberts-100324-94.html