DAY EIGHTY:Nov. 29:
Hurrah! We have precipitation. I don't want to go overboard here; it's not exactly rain. It's more like wet air that sometimes forms gravitationally challenged droplets. But at least it's water, with our arid New York desperately needs.
Unfortunately days of rain are gray and dreary, made worse today by thick fog.
Against that background more bad news hit New York today. Further economic analysis reveals that in addition to the 100,000 people who lost their jobs as a result of September 11 (and at least 3600 who lost their lives) some 75,000 people who work at the marginal corners of the service industries became "underemployed". That means they now work, but fail to earn sufficient funds off their labors to pay the rent and make ends meet. They are limo drivers, waiters, domestic workers, beauticians, dog walkers and others who cater to the luxurious needs of the rich. It seems there are fewer "rich" in Gotham today, and those who have retained wealth are cutting back on their beluga lunches and $500.00 dinners.
Last night I enjoyed a lovely evening among friends who cooked up a turkey for a sort of neo-Thanksgiving in Park Slope. I called a local car service for a ride home, expecting the usual half-hour wait for a driver. In less than five minutes the car arrived, and on the way home the driver moaned about the long queues of cars waiting for clients. This, mind you, is for $8.00 rides in rundown American sedans that reek of pine-scented air fresheners. It seems New Yorkers of all walks of life are opting for subways, or simply staying home. Subway traffic is down about 8 percent - less than expected given local fears of anthrax and terrorism. As one transit official put it today on WNYC radio: "Hey, people have to get to work somehow."
Further cheery news came from the White House, which acknowledged that the national deficit was cutting much deeper than previously announced, and the federal budget would putter along on deficit spending for at least three more years.
Meanwhile, in addition to the monies needed to rebuild New York everybody is clamoring for cash to build defenses against future terrorism. In the case of bioterrorism, that means demands for funding for hospitals, public health systems, the CDC and so on. Today the largest medical organization in the U.S., the American College of Physicians (which represents 115,000 primary care doctors) called for billions of federal dollars to upgrade health systems nationwide.
With each passing day I find myself wondering more intensely where in the world the money is going to come from. We are in a recession: It's official. We are running on deficit spending, both nationally and here in New York. Hundreds of thousands of people nationwide are suddenly either jobless or "underemployed". The stock market is volatile, but generally heading south. Huge amounts of money are being spent on the war in Afghanistan. Every department, from Defense to the US Post Service is seeking other mind-boggling sums; to combat terrorism or offset the costs accrued dealing with this fall's anthrax attacks.
If fewer people are employed, consumer sales are down and business sales have plummeted, where is the tax base?
This afternoon these thoughts were on my mind as I stood at La Guardia airport security, trying to understand why my eyebrow tweezers were being seized as potential weapons. Yes, security has improved. But my goodness, how would these dinky tweezers inflict harm?
Oh America, are we scaring ourselves into bankruptcy?
Be well. Stay safe. Stand defiant.
Laurie Garrett
