We're Doing a Heckuva Job Helping Those Devastated by the Economic Meltdown

By Karen Dolan and Diana Pearce, AlterNet
Posted on December 7, 2009, Printed on December 7, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/144392/

The levees failed residents of New Orleans when Katrina battered their city. The safety net is failing Americans battered by the most recent Category 5 storm—the "Great Recession" of 2008-2009.

Category 5 storms are catastrophic: communities are ravaged; security is stolen; lives are lost. For millions of Americans, the Great Recession is just such a storm.

Unemployment is in the double digits; poverty and hunger are at record-high levels; foreclosures and homelessness are still climbing. The middle class is shrinking and many blacks, Latinos, single mothers and children are experiencing a full-blown economic depression. With such devastating conditions, our nation once again finds itself unprepared to face the ravages of an unnatural disaster.