According to this article, male blue collar workers are losing the highest number of jobs of any category. The recession is hitting them, and their families the hardest. Several aspects of this article point out problems that need resolving, such as the most glaring and obvious need for some protection for the blue collar worker, which is the back that the Unites States was built on.
At the end of the article, on the bottom of page two, an example is cited about a family where the husband worked as a heavy equipment operator making $800-$900 per week digging foundations for luxury homes. He developed a heart condition a few years back and his insurance company dropped him. Question one; why do we allow insurance companies get away with this? The government should be backing such expenses when they are beyond a threshold, allowing a man to keep his coverage when he needs it!
His wife went to work in a coffee shop to get insurance to cover him. Now he has lost his job due to the recession, and her earnings are enough to cover food and maybe one utility, according to the article.
Is this what being an American means for him and for his children? Sorry folks, but you live in the most powerful country in the world, the richest, and the most well developed in most areas, but sadly, your father will likely die because there was no money set aside in the economic stimulus package to cover the costs of helping those in need. There were no doctors willing to cut their costs to save lives. There were no hospitals that would accept him because he had no insurance anymore. What will we tell the children of people like him? “Well, the economy was crap” is just not good enough for me!