"YOYO" economy

[liberal N proud]

NEW YORK - According to economist Jared Bernstein, the United States has entered the brave new era of the "YOYO" economy -- i.e., "You're On Your Own".

And if President George W. Bush gets his way in the five-year budget proposal now before Congress, those at the bottom of the economic ladder may be more on their own than ever before.

From senior centres to soup kitchens and housing for the homeless, millions of people have come to rely on the services provided by the nation's more than 837,000 nonprofit organisations.

But a recent analysis by Alan Abramson, director of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy programme at the Aspen Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, finds that Bush's 2007-2012 budget would cut federal spending on programmes of interest to nonprofits, outside of the massive Medicare and Medicaid programmes, by 78.6 billion dollars after inflation.

Spending on social welfare programmes, such as job training and community development, would be slashed by 13.6 billion dollars, and a total of 27.2 billion dollars would be cut from a wide array of housing, cash, and food assistance initiatives.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0611-07.htm