Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,
The economic pain that we are witnessing right now is far greater than anything that we witnessed during the last recession. U.S. GDP declined by 32.9 percent on an annualized basis last quarter, more than 100,000 businesses have permanently shut down since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the United States, and more than 54 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the last 19 weeks. Up until just recently, a $600 weekly unemployment “supplement” and a federal moratorium that prevented many evictions had helped to ease the suffering for millions of American families, but both of those measures have now expired.
As a result, a tremendous amount of economic pain which had previously been deferred will now come rushing back with a vengeance. Millions of American families are no longer going to be able to pay their bills, and experts are warning that we could soon see an “eviction crisis” that is absolutely unprecedented in American history.
48-year-old Thomas Darnell of West Point, Mississippi never thought that he would be in this position. He had been a factory worker for over 20 years until he lost his job in May, and since then he hasn’t been able to find another. And then on top of everything else, everyone in his house caught COVID-19…
First, he was furloughed for three weeks in April and then laid off in May. Then things got worse: His entire household of seven, including himself, his wife, three kids and daughter-in-law, along with his baby grandson, contracted coronavirus after they saw their immediate family over the Independence Day weekend.
“I’m tired and shaky. Even after a few weeks, I’m still trying to recover,” Darnell says, who has since been cleared of the virus but still has lingering symptoms.
He is concerned that employers will be scared away by his recent illness, and he is becoming desperate because he is running out of money.
With no health insurance and no paychecks coming in, Darnell and his wife have gotten to the point where they have to make a choice between buying insulin or buying groceries…
He can’t afford health insurance, which has added to his anxiety because he and his wife are both diabetic, he says. Like Bolei, Darnell and his wife have been forced to make a grueling decision between either paying for their medications or keeping food on the table.
“Do we buy insulin or groceries? It’s a hard juggle,” Darnell says. “I’m willing to make less money and start working again to get health insurance, but no one is hiring.”
The weekly $600 unemployment supplements from the federal government had helped to keep them going for a while, but now those payments have ended, and the immediate future is looking quite bleak.
In Richmond, Virginia, a mother of eight named Shamika Rollins wasn’t sure how she was going to make it when her hours as a home health aid were reduced. Unpaid bills started piling up, and then she got an eviction notice a few weeks ago. The following comes from CBS News…
Shamika Rollins’ eight children share two bedrooms in Richmond, Virginia. But she’s worried about losing their home after she says she received an eviction notice in June.
“First thing, I panic, and then next thing, I look, and I’m like, I got my kids. And it’s like, okay, now you gotta figure this out,” she told CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz.
If a miracle does not happen, Rollins and her eight children will soon be out in the street, and this is causing her to have “a lot of sleepless nights”…
“I have a lot of sleepless nights,” Rollins said. “My mind is constantly racing, you know, what’s your next move?”
Sadly, there are millions of other Americans in the exact same position.
In fact, experts are projecting that up to 40 million Americans could be evicted from their homes during this pandemic.
Many small business owners are also facing heartbreaking choices during this downturn. A restaurant owner in Delaware named Alex Heidenberger “hasn’t paid the mortgage on his home the past four months” as he desperately tries to keep his once profitable restaurants alive…
Heidenberger, who typically draws about $20,000 a month in profit from the restaurant, now receives nothing. He says he hasn’t paid the mortgage on his home the past four months. He served lifeguard duty for a couple of weeks, mostly to help a beach crew depleted by COVID-19 quarantines but also to make some cash.
“I’m working harder than I have ever worked in my life,” he says, adding that he puts in about 80 hours a week at the two restaurants. Yet, “I have no money… This is all I think about. I don’t sleep.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the restaurant industry particularly hard. Americans are not eating out as regularly as they once did because of the virus, and it is probably going to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
In Massachusetts, a restaurant owner named John Pepper once had eight thriving locations, but at this point only two of them remain open…
John Pepper used a PPP loan to pay employees and reopen four of his eight Boloco restaurants when Massachusetts lifted its shutdown order in early May. But with the money spent and business at the restaurants down as much as 70%, Pepper had to again close two locations. The staff of 125 he had before the virus outbreak is down to 50.
“A lot of this is out of our hands at this point,” Pepper says. “At this moment, I don’t see getting my full payroll back.”
Overall, we are facing a “restaurant apocalypse” in the U.S. that is unprecedented in size and scope.
According to one estimate, we could lose more than a third of all of our restaurants by the end of this calendar year…
As many as 231,000 of the nation’s roughly 660,000 eateries will likely shut down this year, according to an estimate from restaurant consultancy Aaron Allen & Associates provided to Bloomberg News. This will bring the industry’s steady growth to a halt and mark the first time in two decades that U.S. restaurant counts don’t climb. Restaurants have already shed millions of jobs this year, economic data show.
What we are watching is truly horrifying. So many hopes and dreams went into each one of those restaurants that are shutting down, and countless restaurant owners are going to be completely financially ruined by all of this.
For other Americans, this economic downturn has put their very lives at risk. In Colorado, 70-year-old Catherine Azar was already dealing with heart problems and diabetes, and now she is in danger of being thrown out into the street…
“It’s hard for me to conceive of someone being willing to put another person out in the street in the middle of a deadly pandemic, and I’m high risk. I’m 70. I have heart issues and I’m diabetic,” Azar said.
Rollins and Azar are just two of the 43 million Americans at risk of eviction in the coming months. For context, about 1 million Americans were evicted in 2010, the year after the Great Recession.
How long do you think that a 70-year-old woman with heart problems and diabetes would last on the street or in a shelter?
And as millions upon millions of Americans get evicted during the months ahead, the shelters are all going to fill up really fast.
America simply was not prepared for an economic downturn of this nature, and the truth is that much bigger challenges are still ahead.
So please do not look down on anyone that needs help right now, because soon you may find yourself in the exact same position.
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If the restaurant owner truly was bringing in 20k in profit, not revenue. I have no clue why he was not saving for a rainy day. And as far as baby momma “Shamika” with her EIGHT kids, tough shit. These peoples definition of “poverty” is about to change substantially.
My heart goes out to all my fellow humans in this time of utter despair. This economic collapse and the resulting hardships, was all part of the plan of these evil NWO operatives , to usher in their total control agenda , dystopian future and depopulation criteria
Are you from St. Louis?
Informative article. Brings out the real life effects of the politicians’ actions. Which brings me to my one criticism, namely, blaming the adverse outcomes on the virus and the pandemic. The COVID-19 virus and the pandemic didn’t shut down businesses or cause people to lose their jobs. It was the actions of politicians and their minions that did it.
Going forward those who are concerned about the effects of these actions on people’s lives, the larger economy and freedom have to work to change the narrative. It’s not the virus that caused all of these problems though, clearly, by itself it would have some affect on societal functions, just as an influenza pandemic would.
However, the lock downs and their knock on effects were the result of politicians’ decisions, seemingly motivated by a combination of arrogance, fear, narcissism, ignorance and cowardice as many didn’t want to be seen as swimming against the tide
By changing the narrative maybe, just maybe we can slow down this evolving disaster.
Exactly right.
“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
T Paine.
Amen, brother. One only has to look at Sweden and South Dakota to see that not shutting down resulted in no massive problems. SD reported a small budget surplus for the last fiscal year. Can NY, PA, MI, NJ or CA say the same thing?
We definitely need to put the blame where it belongs, on the politicians who do not give a rat’s a$$ about the general public.
Remember the politicians are owned by the corporations which are owned by the banks.
This Scam-demic is a NWO gambit for global control and politicians are merely their donkeys.
Deagel’s prediction of a US population of 100 million by 2025 is on track.
In part, the surplus came from Noem’s directive to the state agencies to tighten their belts. If the agencies can tighten their belts now, they can certainly keep them tightened in the future.
Sales and use tax, which is the state’s largest revenue source, was $11.8 million below the budget projection.
Good leadership, rather than hysterically closing down 1/2 of your economy because of the fear porn coming from the “experts”.
Speaking of “experts”. Isn’t it amazing that Dr. who are treating patients on a daily basis rely on HCQ while the experts who do not treat a single patient claim it doesn’t work? Brings back an old axiom, updated – Those who can, do and those who can’t, work for the government.
Noem said, under the state constitution, she couldn’t lock down the towns and cities. Would she have locked down the economy if she was allowed to? Idk.
Anyway, she left it up to the mayors. This action upset some of them. In my view, it appeared they didn’t want to take the blame for locking down the economy. But it didn’t stop them – they promptly enacted lockdowns. I know of three local small businesses that will never reopen.
Agree on the HCQ. Lol. I enjoyed your updated axion.
I’ve never called government employees and politicians, leaders. Even more so, now.
An example of one form of leadership in a small town: The Sturgis Rally officially starts the 7th. The city of Sturgis polled its citizens. Over 60% were for postponing the rally, but the mayor and council disregarded the poll results. There were excuses, of course… The main excuse was if the Rally didn’t occur, property taxes would have to be raised. It’s all about the money.
After the Rally, Sturgis will use a portion of its CARES Act funding for “free” COVID tests for city employees, frontline employees, county and school district employees, and lastly 550 general residents of Sturgis. Up to $195,000.
OT. The bikers started arriving early this year. I live off the highway going to Sturgis. This morning, I saw about 50 bikers with roughly 97% (men and women) morbidly obese.
Thanks for the on-the-ground report. I only heard her speech saying she did not have the authority to shut down the economy and then the report about the budget surplus. SD still did better than any other state, budget wise. BTW – I find Noem to be quite easy on the eyes and like the way she presents herself.
Many of the TN counties, mine includes as of yesterday are requiring face diapers. I have to take my wife to the Dr. regularly and walk her to the office, so must wear one while in the Dr. building. I took the 3-ply mask and removed the 2 inner plies. All that is left is the blue mesh, but it works, as it is about obeying the rules, not the effectiveness of the mask.
I voted for Noem. I will again… as long as she continues to use common sense. The state constitution requires a balanced budget.
Many of the local governments demand face diapers in the courthouses, admin buildings, etc. As do many of the stores.
You are correct! It is about obeying the rules – the indoctrination continues past school age.
The Rapid City School District unveiled their back to school plan. Of course, masks are required under the different levels of the plan.
To quote one of the school board members, “The only ones who won’t get this are the ones who are being sabotaged at home with this idea of surrendering our freedoms with these masks.”
For the parents who continue to send their children to government schools, their morals and values will be undermined. (I have and will continue to homeschool my children.)
Thank you for the civil conversation. It’s been a pleasure.
The Memphrica school system will use “distance learning” in the coming semester and are in the process of distributing laptops and mobile hotspots to parents. I’ll be the schools never see a single one of them returned and there is no telling how much porn will be viewed on the hotspots. One thing I did not hear was if it was one laptop/hotspot per household or one per student. Lakesha could end up with a few grand worth of electronics if it is 1/student.
They also have a suggestion from a board member that students be required to wear their uniforms when taking their classes. Next thing you know, they will require the kids to wear masks while taking courses on-line.
Yes, very nice conversation, which I have come to mostly expect here on TBP.
One sector has not lost salary and benefits , those in government employ ! Time for some serious shared pain !
When the steel industry collapsed along with a huge percentage of manufacturing tax bases were hollowed out across the nation . We were told to retrain earn less pay more in taxes and now cover our health care and retirement on less money too .
I believe this was all contrived with the Covid 19 to allow political cretans to scurry about like cats covering up shit .
Pre 1980 there were 10 or more high paying jobs for average Americans and their taxes covered one teacher or policeman or other government employee .
Now it’s debt piled on debt and the BIG THEY want to hand me the bill so government employees can continue unmolested by government actions and bail out Shamika’s all over the country . Shamika you have some “BABY DADDY’s” out there somewhere ! Sure there are some single moms out there victims of unfortunate circumstances and those we help but the ones that lay with dogs and can’t figure out where the fleas came from ? BULL SHIT !
8 kids. Eight fucking kids.
Shall we guess on her skin color?
Oh please. There was a dumb “bipolar” white twat down in Murfreesboro that was recently arrested for fucking her pit bull in broad daylight.
Americans in general are mind-numbing retards these days, and they voted for it. Skin color has little to do with it. In fact, I’ve seen by far more undiapered blacks than whites. It goes back to r/K and the fact that abundance creates a disproportionate number of r’s, and lean times weed them out.
Like was stated above, Deagel stats will be proven out. Look around America and tell me it’s a nation of high achievers. It’s the “can’t dos” from either the blacks or whites who immediately jump on the other group. They suck, they know it, they’re jealous, and they’ll be culled. 🙂
There are so many people now that almost all genetic possibilities of humans are walking the earth at the same time. Many of the possibilities would already be dead if not fed by others.
How many Daddys? Where is the father(s) of these precious children? We all know that she cranked out these kids for the welfare money…..what happened to that?
Even though this may sound harsh, some people are in financial trouble because they fell into the consumer trap of spending more than they made or all they made, month after month. They may have had the additional burden of huge credit card debt.
The government can run up outrageous debt and print money but Joe American can not.
Some readers here may be like me and have parents or grandparents who knew about the Great depression. Consequently we made different financial decisions. We realized that stuff did not make us happy, but fear and worry would make us miserable. We tried to live within our means, pay our bills, and save for a rainy day.
While the current situation is entirely the result of stupid government actions, the way some people are affected is because of their own stupid choices and behavior.
Craven Warrior you know we cannot fix stupid !
Remember the women profiled by Obama during his state of the union . Her home was foreclosed on and she was portrayed as a victim .
Victim my ass : she took a mortgage she could not cover without her sister kicking in each month then came her refinance game and she bought a Lexus then another refi and she took the family on a cruise !
Then the sister lost her job and the ARM ballon payment came due !
Oh my a victim of stupidity that I must help …LMAO
Save for a rainy day only to have the interest rate set to 0% and threats of it going negative.
The low interest on saving is the big club of top 1% and government reps rattling around in the wealthiest of all in this worlds back pockets assisting organized theft upon the middle class of America and they know they are doing it and will never be held to account for their treasonous actions
Cue the mask retards…
“I’m old and have a comorbidity…wear your mask so I can live in a wheelchair for another 6 months and die of something other than Covid”.
Don’t tell me you care about other people. At this point, it is obvious…you only care about yourself.
Whoever picked the ‘hardship’ examples for this story did a piss poor job. Shamika the (obviously Irish) single mother of eight and the Darnell’s whose combined weight I’d bet is upwards of 700 pounds. Yes, life gets hard when your country collapses. It’s going to be harder for people who led life with their appetites. There’s a reason lust and gluttony are some of the seven deadly sins.
most people won’t catch it except 4 guys on sites like this but shamika is in a blue state,likewise the guy in massatusets–
Kad.
(obviously Irish) Black Irish.
We have an economic downturn but people are not concerned because it is not MSN.
More discussing the symptoms ad nauseam.
Lets change the narrative my ass… Lets change tactics.
it’s not hard to find families sleeping in their car. head to a strip mall or a walmart after like 1900 or 2000 and you’ll find them. i’ll never forgive ‘them’ for what they have done to my people.
Yeah I have seen a couple of RV campers that look like all over their belongings in the the trailer but no cars yet.
This is going to end bad. There are no jobs out there to replace the jobs being lost. We have not yet seen the second wave of this tragedy when government workers will be laid off in mass. Ever ask yourself why when our leaders allowed businesses to partially open the government did not do the same? It is very obvious. Government is hurting for revenue to operate it’s functions. So what can be done is done online. Saves money.
Many people are thinking the federal government will save the day by bailing everyone out, ie. the people, the corporations, the State and local governments. But I don’t think so. I think the problem is too big for government or the FED to handle.
All the gold bugs say buy gold. But this is not possible for the average Joe who has been living from paycheck to paycheck. Faced with no job prospect in one’s area and no government help because government is broke then the only remedy possible is to immigrate to areas where jobs are available. Not all parts of the country will feel the same effects of this depression. And even if one has to live in a tent for awhile; it is still summer, there is employment if one is willing to relocate.
For those that are to will-less to make a change in their life; and there are many of these people, then you will have to suffer your fate. I think this depression will strengthen many people which will be a good thing since many have become so childish in their thinking and doings.
The economic crash unfolding is not yet being seen by many in retirement and the ones who still have a job. But soon even these people will experience the full force of this reality when their pensions and pay are cut or completely lost.
I’mhoping and waiting for door number two to open: “when government workers will be laid off in mass.”
Don’t hold your breath.
The Dustbowl was one of the causes of the Great Depression but it wasn’t the only one. Piss poor farming practices combined with government ineptitude created the conditions for the dust bowl. The Great Depression was also engineered and created to transfer (steal) wealth to the 1%. What made it last as long as it did was FDR’s meddling and promotion of collectivism.
We are going to see another Great Depression, and this one will also be a manmade government creation. The virus is an excuse, the government is the inherent evil here. The Federal Reserve has long been in the business of creating depressions and manipulating economies and wealth.
Sadly, the people who should swing from lamp posts scamper off free and rich while the hoi polli scrounges cardboard and practices the joys of car camping on a permanent scale.
Go long tents and plastic tarps.
It took 0bama and Bernanke to turn a bad recession into the “Great Recession” through their policies.
The states are operating on stop-gap measures which will change nothing in the end. Massachusetts has an eviction and foreclosure moratorium good through October 15 and there was a bill introduced to extend it until next year.
This will prevent non-payers (whatever their reason may be) from being kicked out, sure, but it WILL NOT STOP THE TIDE OF DEEDS IN LIEU AND FORECLOSURES.
When property owners become tired of providing free housing for people for months with no end in sight, when they have exhausted all their reserves to pay the property taxes, insurance, water, sewer, trash, and maintenance, they will walk away.
When the owner walks away, there will be several things that happen:
There is a lag time between when the foreclosing bank takes over the maintenance and bills (and given the moratorium on foreclosures, that will be even longer)
The cities are broke as shit and they cannot pick up the slack as they usually do through board of health actions
The cat is away and believe me, the mice will not only play, they will RAMPAGE. Bad tenants will get worse, and the good ones will flee. This will leave partially vacant or totally vacant buildings, which will now be filled with squatters, heroin use, prostitution, drinking, vandalism. Buildings with only a few tenants left will be much more vulnerable to home invasions and theft of property. Buildings will be stripped of copper, boilers, hot water heaters, and AC units.
Arson will rise as the more unscrupulous try and recoup insurance money, as well as people that just want to set shit on fire.
Tax revenue will dry up completely, because of the foreclosure moratorium, the banks cannot foreclose and so cannot be held liable for taxes.
Trash will pile up all over properties, inviting rats, mice, skunks. Trash and vermin will lead to disease outbreaks like typhus, dysentery, and yes folks, possibly bubonic plague. It will make this Covid nonsense look like a sunny day in the park.
Tent cities will pop up in previously unheard of areas.
Gangs will rule the streets. Murders will be in the triple digits
Less tax revenue=less city services. No EMS, no Fire, definitely no police.
This will spread like a cancer until this country looks like Venezuela.
In 2014, zombie properties in Chicago numbered 11,700 or so. This area has never really recovered.
Now imagine being a bank in Minneapolis, with zero police support, looters and rioters that will, without hesitation, bring down destruction. Business move away, never to return. What is the incentive for the banks to even bother? There isn’t one.
There is one solution, and one only: Reopen the country completely, and immediately. Let businesses get back to work. Cut payroll taxes to the bone so people can start saving and yes, spending.
Loosen or get rid of regulations to new start ups, manufacturing, etc.
The democrats think they are going to win by destroying everything, but they will in the end, be the Kings and Queens of nothing but a smoldering pile of shit. All the taxes they depend on to pay their cronies will be gone.
People will be fending for themselves and Nutty Nancy, Big-Pants Nadler, and all the rest will be SOL as the masses turn on them.
Actions have consequences folks.
Pup,
Your writings match your profession….foreclosure specialist. Gloom, doom and boom reporter should be your next career. 🙂
Pup speaks the truth.
You probably rent a single wide.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t think such a thing exists in Northern VA. In fact, I don’t think there’s much in the way of <2500 square feet anywhere outside historical districts like Old Town Alexandria.
I live in McLean but I’d gladly trade it for a double wide and 10 acres in TN or KY.
AOC,
I’m a real estate photographer by trade. I took photos of this house in Old Town Alexandria years ago. It’s 7 feet wide. I believe the original owner got special permission to purchase the alley between 2 houses and then built it.
I’ve also taken photos of Lee’s home as well as the oldest home in Old Town and the tavern that Washington used to haunt. The tavern was converted to garden style townhomes. Big $$.
Dude, I bet everything off Duke and King Streets is all 7 figures at this point. I can’t even imagine. Good times used to be had by all at Murphy’s Irish Pub. One hell of a great bar to get in a brawl.
Can you believe that place is still there? I still like to take the wife to the Chart House on special occasions, not too many places left with great salad bars.
If you can shrink govt. down to 1/3 of its size and you kick out all of the NOVA Yankees, I might come back! Oh, and make Braddock Rd. a two lane country road meandering through the Centreville woods again.
I was just thinking yesterday, make a 50 mile circle around the Capitol and turn it into meadows and forest…and then I woke up.
Gaz,
Where did I say I didn’t agree with Pup? Not too many people on here can give a good doom rant like her. The smiley face should have given my feewlings away, no? Not too bright are ya?
People will be fending for themselves and so will the landlords. This does not end well for anyone owed money.
when they talk about the # of businesses & especially restaurants that are closed i’d sure like to see it broken down by chains vs mom/pop operations–
As soon as I saw the work “Shamika” I visualized a 350lb black woman with 8 kids.
…and sure enough…..
She was damn ugly.
This whole thing is being created and orchestrated by the state. They will use this fear to make the vaccine mandatory. Lord but how I hate the damnable, evil govt.
cohnflake,
read this about the 100% of guinea pigs,er test subjects who have had side effects from the fast tracked wuhu vaccine–
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/08/04/side-effects-of-fast-tracked-vaccine.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20200804Z1&mid=DM614275&rid=932507315
Everybody has a story.
I love this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSpW6MePb10