Putting Human Faces and Stories to GOP Slashonomics

It’s all to easy for us - on either side of the philosophical aisle - to think in abstract terms when it comes to policy and budget on a state level, not to mention a national level. The problems are so big and so incredibly diverse.

Perhaps that’s one reason Half In Ten is trying to put a face … a name … a story in front of the abstraction. Half In Ten is a collaborative project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Coalition on Human Needs and the Leadership Conference. They are committed to cutting poverty in the United States by half in ten years.

To this end, they are collecting videos and written testimony from individuals, families, business and entire communities to illustrate just how cutting federal programs - built up over decades, and in large part responsible for the greatest story of shared prosperity in history - affects real people.

Here’s an example:

March 11, 2011
by A Husband of Brighton, CO

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I contacted the Workforce Center where an assigned Case Manger provided me additional information on the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program. It allowed me to pursue a career in a new field. I am currently attending Emily Griffith Opportunity School to help reach my goal as a Mechanical Tech. Currently, Emily Griffith provides assistance with job placement, a free resume writing course, and registers all students to receive emails for job postings relevant to their field. I will complete my education in January 2011 and be ready to enter the job market.

I was given the opportunity to seek a career of my choice, get a sense of the current hiring market in my field of interest and investigate how my choice would impact the market. Thus I was able to navigate through the Workforce Center to find myself on the road of a new career path. The process took about one week, and I am now currently on the road to a new job opportunity.

If I had not been receiving unemployment insurance, there would have been no options for sources of income besides leaving school to help my wife pay the bills or attempting to obtain a night shift. I am now on my last tier of UI extended benefits, so I have the dilemma of choosing between leaving my schooling to assist my wife in paying our bills or staying in school to hope for a better career while continuing to struggle to pay for our basic necessities such as food, shelter, and fuel.

You might also consider this an object lesson in why it’s so important to continue Unemployment Insurance benefits and Cobra benefits - depsite the objections and delays by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-GA who tried holding the $10 billion package hostage until a way to ‘pay’ for it was found.

A Husband of Brighton, CO should receive another six weeks of benefits.

Stay tuned to Half in Ten for more. If you know someone who might have a story to tell, turn them on to Half in Ten.

-maven