United States and Florida Society Stats

As I have watched the election season go by I have seen a lot of half-truths and a lot of total fabrications. Unfortunately you cannot judge your quality of life in the “Good ole USA” or the Sunshine state simply by your investment portfolio or your bank account.  I would hope that most Americans would feel the same way. So I have researched some societal statistics from government agencies and non-partisan think tanks.

In the area of foreclosures, unemployment, and food stamps in the United States the average foreclosures were 681; -0.1 change in unemployment (August 2011 – 2012) and 3.3% increase in food stamp participations (June 2011 – 2012).  For the same period the District of Columbia had 37,090 foreclosures; -1.7% change in unemployment and ranked in 22nd in food stamp participation and ranked 50 tied with North Dakota across all categories. Florida had 328 foreclosures; -1.7% change in unemployment and ranked 2^nd in food stamp participation and 9^th across all categories.

The total number of Americans participating in Food Stamps rose from 45,183,927 people in June 2011 to 46,670,373 in June 2012. The District of Columbia ranked 8^th lowest in participation 136,347 to 141,266. Florida was third highest in the number of participants 3,117,913 to 3,419,492 people.

Latest data available indicated that there were 17,412,000 children of immigrants living in the United States. The District of Columbia ranked 8^th lowest in 19000 children while Florida ranked 4^th highest with 1,207,000 children in immigrant families.

With a total US population of 314,900,669 the homeless rate was 0.21% with 649,917 homeless people. The District of Columbia ranked 1^st with a homeless rate of 1.04% or 6,539 homeless of 601,723 total residents. Florida ranked 8^th highest with a homeless rate of 0.30% or 57,551 homeless of 18,801,310 residents.

The US had a total incarceration rate of 497 people per 100,000 and Florida ranked 6^th highest with 556 people per 100,000.

Suicide rate within the US was 11.8 deaths per 100,000, District of Columbia was 4.4 deaths per 100,000 and Florida was 14.6 deaths per 100,000 or 38^th highest. Deaths caused by firearms occurred at a rate of 10.1 per 100,000, District of Columbia 16.6 per 100,000 and Florida ranked 32^nd with 12.1 deaths per 100,000.

 The child death rate within the US was 18 per 100,000; District of Columbia was 45 per 100,000 (highest in US) and Florida was 24^th with 19 per 100,000. The infant death rate within the US was 6.7 deaths per 100,000, District of Columbia was 12 per 100,000 (highest in US) and Florida was 30^th with 7.2 per 100,000. The United States ranked 49^th lowest within the world.

In K to 12 Grades Florida was 41^st in the amount of expenditures per student with $8,437 and ranked 44^th in SAT scores.

These statistics are not flattering. I only compared one statistic to the rest of the world and that was infant mortality. With our technology, level of medical expertise, and availability of public health capabilities this country should be one of the lowest in the world, not 49^th.  Florida, the Sunshine State, does not live up to that sun-drenched paradise envisioned in Jimmy Buffett songs, but a state with a high incarceration rate, very high number of people living in poverty relying on Food Stamps, high number of homeless and insufficient funding for children in grades K to 12. Politicians may talk about GDP growth and low interest rates, but look at the human numbers resulting from Congress inaction and the incompetence of the Florida legislature, and it is a totally different picture.

An Open Letter to Florida’s Elected Officials in Washington, DC

Dear Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio and our elected Congressmen and Congresswomen:

          Last year in Hernando County a small independent church and a Pastor with a vision of helping feed a couple hundred people realized that day how bad the hunger problem in Tampa Bay was. With the support of a few small businesses, another church, United Way of Hernando, and Feeding America Tampa Bay with the hope that $4500 would feed at most 500 people. Hours before the event even started, throngs of people started getting in line hoping maybe to get even a little bit of food, a lot more than the 500 that was expected. A little more than a week before a Pastor along with Feeding America Tampa Bay faced a line of more than 1900 people standing in line hoping to get some food. These couple thousand people along with more unknown amounts of hungry people who seek help from small bare bones food pantries are some of the people who hired you for the job that you have. Please remember that you folks only have Temp Jobs and your employers (us) cannot understand why this is happening. Thousands of people along with their children and elderly are hungry here. While Christmas vacation was in place for the schools many children did not have breakfast or lunch. You see, these groups of your employers have to deal with their hungry children crying and hearing the rumbling of their own stomachs to think much about your upcoming performance appraisal. An employer of yours who died about twenty years ago tried to help fix this hunger. Harry Chapin stated that "Hunger and poverty is an insult to America". He was right.

As I sit and ate my bowl of cereal this morning and read the paper I consider myself and my family blessed. We have food, can afford to buy the morning paper, and even donate food ourselves. At one time we were considered upper middle class, but now we are just the middle class and I try to remember how that happened. As one of your employers I can’t remember why we didn’t catch what was happening sooner and give each of you a letter of warning. When I got promoted as one of your employers (i.e. turned 18) I got excellent training. I learned that your job description is our Constitution, and in the first paragraph of your job description you are hired by us to manage the methods of establishing efficient and honest justice standards; and ensuring that the system your more senior employers put in place continued to ensure that we live in an environment of domestic Tranquility, maintain our defense and provide for those volunteer to do this, and promote the general Welfare and liberty for all of us.

As I read more of the newspaper I realized that contrary to what a large portion of your employers expected, you took our business capital and divided it up so much that we are not going to get a good return on a funds. We are going to have dirtier water supplies, poorer quality of air that we breathe, and now not only more hungry people but they are also going to get colder in the winter and even hotter in the summer. Why? Because you let yourself become distracted by hoping we will continue to hire you and that a small group of rich Americans will pay to try to persuade us come Election Day to let you keep your job or hire an unknown new guy. In addition I find it hard to believe that it takes more money so that you can do your job than it does to help provide basic needs for a large number of people that you work for. And this brings us back to the original issue of the long lines of people needing food because you failed to perform those basic terms of your employment.

Five Weeks To Go and We are still Ignorant

I realize that people place the blame on people rather than the system. Our country has become so polarized that I don't care who is in office or who has control of Congress will make much of a difference. Americans have to stop pointing the finger at others and become knowledgeable. As long as the American citizenry continues to be truly ignorant of the facts then we will have the best government money can buy.  The mantra of "I got mine so what" has to stop. If we look at some of these hot button issues during this election we will realize that backers behind the super-PACs are betting on us to believe their message and not do our homework.

 Social Security and Medicare-if we increase the income limit if will hurt business, baloney, we can leave the threshold that employers have to match at the same level, but for those who make more than the threshold they should pay their share up to $ 1 million. Television ads keep trying to confuse everyone between “payroll taxes” and income taxes. The payroll tax has been set at 6.2% for the worker to pay and 6.2% for the employer to pay, i.e. social security and Medicare. If you are self-employed you pay the total 12.4%.  For the last few years, the worker share has been 4.2% so that more money could enter back into the economy; drawback being less money going to fund Medicare and Social Security.  Because that temporary tax deduction had a built in self -destruct mechanism, no one is “increasing payroll taxes”. Pay attention to those who want to monkey around with income taxes; they seem to change every year and deductions and credits can truly effect the middle class, one way or another.

 Illegal immigrants- they are here and the vast majority of them pays taxes and performs jobs that most Americans would not. For those who complain about illegal immigrants causing them to lose their job and who have had their unemployment benefits stopped, large agribusinesses have lots of jobs. There is always a need for migrant farm workers.  Will you pick tomatoes for 5 cents per 100 pounds, or be part of a cleaning crew at minimum wage or even less. I don't know about you but I can't afford to pay $4 a pound for tomatoes or more for other produce. Those that are here and honestly working let's document them and for those who are truly criminals, deport them. Period!

Healthcare-I am a retired medical department officer. I don't like paying for health care anymore than any other person (especially when my recruiter told me that if you do 20 years, you get free medical care), but it’s much better than my colleagues in the private sector.  The "Obama-care" started out as a noble idea to ensure that every American has some access to basic medical care. It ballooned into a 2000 page monstrosity thanks to special interest groups such as the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the Healthcare Insurance Industry, AARP and the list goes on.  The magic question: Is basic healthcare a right or a privilege? It can't be in-between. If you claim that your faith is Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Buddhists, the basic premise is to take care of your brother. If those of you who do not believe that each American should have some basic healthcare, then you are a hypocrite.  Enough said.

I served 28 years and as a Naval Officer I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including all of the Bill of Rights. I guess that makes me a Liberal (defined as supporter of liberty) and yes I am a card-carrying member of the ALCU because their sole purpose is to defend the bill of rights. Bottom line, we need to come together and fix our country with humane ideals and those visions that made us a great nation, not believers of the 30 second sound bite of campaigning rhetoric!

Hunger is a true American Disgrace

      Adlai Stevenson in a speech on September 6, 1952 as the Ambassador to the United Nations stated that “A hungry man is not a free man.” Right now in the United States there are according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011 50.1 million people living in “food in-secure households” which by definition is “households were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food. Food-insecure households include those with low food security and very low food security”. For those households with children, 20.4% lived in food-insecure homes. To put this in real numbers of those 50.1 million people, 12.1 million adults lived in households with very low food security and 8.6 million children lived in food-insecure households in which children, along with adults, were food insecure. That’s a lot of hungry Americans for a country who is considered to be one of the richest nations in the world.

If you were to do a further analysis of the USDA data then: The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably among household types. Rates of food insecurity were higher than the national average (14.9 percent) for the following groups:

• All households with children (20.6 percent),
• Households with children under age 6 (21.9 percent),
• Households with children headed by a single woman (36.8 percent),
• Households with children headed by a single man (24.9 percent),
• Black, non-Hispanic households (25.1 percent),
• Hispanic households (26.2 percent), and

     Low-income households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold (34.5 percent; the Federal poverty line was $22,811 for a family of four in 2011).  (USDA ERS) If you only look at those who are classified as very low food insecurity defined by the USDA as “In these food-insecure households, normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because they had insufficient money or other resources for food. In reports prior to 2006, these households were described as "food insecure with hunger". This makes the overall picture for Americans look even bleaker for the following groups:

•  Households with children headed by a single woman (11.5 percent),
• Households with children headed by a single man (7.5 percent),
• Women living alone (7.9 percent) and men living alone (8.0 percent),
• Black, non-Hispanic households (10.5 percent),
• Hispanic households (8.3 percent),
• Households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line (14.2 percent), and
• Households located in principal cities of metropolitan areas (6.8 percent).

     Poverty is the big common denominator among all Americans receiving SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In 1992 the Federal Poverty line for a family of 4 was $13,950. (SSA Bulletin, Spring 1992) In 2011, the Poverty line was $22,500 for a family of 4; and this is gross income (before any income or FICA taxes are withheld. For 2011 this amounts to $11.25 per hour and in 1992 it was $6.98 per hour. For example in Florida minimum wage is $7.67 in 2011 and $3.25 in 1992. US Census data from 2001 through 2003 indicated that 31% of people lived in poverty for at least two months of tha time period and a little over 11% lived in poverty for a whole year. From 2004 to 2006 28.3% lived in poverty for at least two months of that period and 2.8 % during the whole time period. In 2009 the average people living below the poverty level was 14.3% and in 2010 it increased to 15.3% and in 2011 15.9%. 4.7% of adult children lived with their parents as of 2010 data. Data released in November of 2011 showing that 1 of 3 Americans live in poverty or slightly about the defined threshold or about 100 million Americans. In fiscal year 2010 40.3 million people received some form of nutritional benefits at a cost of $64.7 billion. These are real people who work, they are not freeloaders. They pay taxes and contribute to the economy.

     Hunger and Poverty is a national disgrace. This country produces more food than consumed. Every day people waste enough food to help others. This problem starts at the top and goes down. It is not red or white, democrat or republican, even neither liberal nor conservative. It is a national problem that needs real solutions. Churches, synagogues, Islamic prayer centers, and Buddhist temples need to help provide input. Towns, cities, counties, and states need to stop political maneuvering and come to the table to look at ways to help solve problem. Congress and political candidates need to quit distorting the facts and once in the history of this country and tell the truth on their ideas in solving these issues, not political rhetoric.

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”  Confucius  

The American Addiction

     In this country, my country, the United States of America, we Americans have an addiction. For those of us who oppose this addiction, we are called unpatriotic, unAmerican, even cowards who support terrorism.  It is glamorized in television, movies, video games, and in music. It is such an epidemic that the pushers of this addictive agent hire lobbyist to coerce and donate money and other trinkets so that our legislatures in Washington, DC and Tallahassee, FL  and other state capitols will support their idealistic principles in the pretext that Americans need this drug. Our lawmakers have determined it is morally, ethically and even legal to shoot and kill someone, a child no less, by claiming he (the shooter) feared for his life. 

     Many Americans feel that the 2^nd Amendment allows citizens to own and carry firearms of their choosing. Our country was built on the premise that might makes right, not the teachings of Jesus, Mohammed or even Buddha. We Americans even have a dichotomy in contradiction involving the value of life. Many branches of American religions find it their ethical and moral obligation to fight against, threaten and intimidate those women who want to control their own bodies. These same beliefs are carried over into other areas, by raising the Holy Bible in their hands, they can all condemn those that oppose those who have other beliefs. This minority of outspoken individuals also support the death penalty and their right to use deadly force. OMG, I get it; ensure that no unwanted fetuses are aborted, so that many who would grow up in areas where crime is tolerated commit those crimes and end up facing the death penalty, while others may end up as target practice for those who are morally challenged.

     The American addiction is violence. We love it. We applaud the survivor, and denigrate the loser. The 2^nd Amendment is a right guaranteed under our constitution; the right to bear arms and provide for a well-armed militia. The first Amendment guarantees my right to say this, to have religious beliefs different from the mainstream, and to read literature uncensored. I am an American, a Patriot, a veteran who served his country honorably, and believes that God is the same God for everyone and is really starting to hurt because his Children on Earth can’t live in harmony.

All Military Deaths Should be Treated With Honor

As of September 25th, 1,995 fellow military members have died in Afghanistan; 17644 have been wounded. To most Americans it is just a number, for those who have served it is more than that. It is real people, real loss, and real grief.  One more injustice to military members was corrected by President Obama in July of 2011:

"As Commander in Chief, I am deeply grateful for the service of all our men and women in uniform, and grieve for the loss of those who suffer from the wounds of war  seen and unseen. Since taking office, I've been committed to removing the stigma associated with the unseen wounds of war, which is why I've worked to expand our mental health budgets, and ensure that all our men and women in uniform receive the care they need.  As a next step and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the military chain of command, I have also decided to reverse a long-standing policy of not sending condolence letters to the families of service members who commit suicide while deployed to a combat zone. This decision was made after a difficult and exhaustive review of the former policy, and I did not make it lightly. This issue is emotional, painful, and complicated, but these Americans served our nation bravely. They didn't die because they were weak. And the fact that they didn't get the help they needed must change. Our men and women in uniform have borne the incredible burden of our wars, and we need to do everything in our power to honor their service, and to help them stay strong for themselves, for their families and for our nation."

Being on an Air Force Base the day a KIA soldier arrived and the turnout of the public, I wrote this prose:

Why Memorial Day

 There were eight in all

 Dressed in Uncle Sam’s Sunday best,

 Worn with pride and standing tall.

 Representing the finest of America

 Seven, not quite adults but no longer children

 And one older, hair of gray, face cut like stone,

 Who had been here one too many times, way too often,

 Served as their leader, mentor, and father for those without one.

 Their duty was important, but with little fanfare,

 They stood watch over a container holding priceless contents.

 Covered by the most sacred of national symbols

 Inside was Private First Class

 Name, gender, race none of those labels important except

 Private First Class was an American whose life was given

 While wearing a military uniform,

 And represented all those who have in the past discharged or retired.

 The Death of this young American

 Insignificant to most Americans, even most of those in the area.

 Reported on Page 3, Section B of the Newspaper, No Front Page!

 Only a small crowd gathered, no dignitaries, no motorcades,

 For you see Private First Class died overseas in war

 But not by an enemy bullet or bomb even by mistake of friendly fire,

 No one knows how Private First Class died, but, alas no purple heart.

 No medals, no stories of heroism, just a good warrior.

 The skypilot looks towards the clouds as if

 To guide the soul of Private First Class to heaven.

 As the gun salute commences,

 Friends and Family startled by deadly noise of the rifles

 Display their grief and loss by tears, quite sobs, a heartfelt prayer.

 The eight men and women with exact precision remove

 Our Country’s National Ensign from atop the coffin,

 Ceremoniously folds into a perfect right triangle.

 Three spent round rifle rounds in the flag are placed,

“For God”, “For Country”, “For the Corps”.

 Saddened, the grayed hair battled weary Marine steps forward

 Takes the folded flag and the sounds of taps is heard.

 About face, and he faces the mother of Private First Class

 And as places the folded flag in her shaking arms

 He hears himself say “On Behalf of a Grateful Nation”

An extra tear falls on the folded flag,

 Private First Class was one of his warriors and

 Almost twenty years of life summarized in less than forty minutes.

 No fanfare, no outpouring of community support,

 No one cares

 Except the Private First Class’s family, friends, and the Gunny.

Copyright by R Long, 2012