"Sacrificing Left and Right"

I missed president Obama's press conference. (Probably because it took place during the 2.5 hours of family time we have — including dinner — before the kids go to bed, and because afterwards I was either too busy catching up on reading and/or writing, or too tired to remember to turn it on.)

Thankfully, the blogosphere brought me up to speed, so I know what I missed. And, thanks to Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, I know I missed a moment that would surely have had me yelling, "Are you kidding me!?" at the television screen.

The strangest question from President Obama's press conference last night came by way of NBC News' Chuck Todd. Twelve hours later, I'm still not sure what he was thinking.

"Some have compared this financial crisis to a war, and in times of war, past presidents have called for some form of sacrifice. [...]

"Why, given this new era of responsibility that you're asking for, why haven't you asked for something specific that the public should be sacrificing to participate in this economic recovery?"

When the president responded by pointing all of the many ways in which Americans are already sacrificing in the midst of an economic crisis, Todd wasn't satisfied. In a follow up, the NBC White House correspondent asked why Obama has called on "specific" sacrifices from Americans. And again, the president explained, "[T]he American people are making a host of sacrifices in their individual lives."

The transcript doesn't quite do it justice, though. Let's go to video. shall we?

And there you have reason #1,674,395 why I could never be president of the United States. Because my initial response to that question would be, "You're kidding me, right?", followed by "Do you have a real question?"

I know of no other appropriate response to anyone who doesn't know, or has managed not to know, how many different ways Americans are sacrificing in this economy, in ways both large and small.

That's just a sampling of American "sacrifice," culled from headlines going all the way back to January 2009. A more comprehensive complication would require reaching all the way back into 2008 and possibly 2007.

And, yes, to be fair, the rich have sacrificed too. Millionaires have seen their assets shrink, leaving them pretty pissed off at their financial advisors. Even Forbes' "rich list" reveals the world has lost a few hundred billionaires. Even the guy at the top of the new heap, Bill Gates, is worth a mere $40 billion, down $18 billion. And Warren Buffet, number two on the "rich list" is down $25 billion, to just $37 billion.

So, sacrifices have been made all around, though the sacrifices listed above were made by people without hundreds of billions to fall back on. Plus they were made even in the midst of a bank bailout costing over $4 trillion, and bonuses paid to 80% of Wall Street.

I probably shouldn't get into "sacrifice oneupsmanship" ... But then again, why not. Nothing I've heard so far about the "sacrifices" farther up the eocnomic food chain don't add up to anything near the ongoing sacrifice of which I've offered just a few examples. 

More of those kind of sacrifices are coming — and likely to your community, or one near you. In fact, there may be a "tent city" coming to your area, if you don't already have one. They're spreading, and filling up with people and families who are still waiting for help. (But at least there's $134.5 billion left to continue bailing out the banks.)

As the Congress tries to throw more "good money after bad money" in a series of bogus corporate bail-outs, America is filling up with more families with children who have lost their jobs and homes.

They have no options in sight. According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, there is a great increase for housing aid, especially for families, in every region of the country, due to the spike in job losses, foreclosures, and returning disabled veterans.

The crushing economic pressures are straining the emergency state and municipal budgets of every state, most notably in cities like Atlanta, Boston, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Washington.

Rising food, fuel, and transit costs batter families, who are stretched to their financial limit, and now they are wondering whether they can juggle the rent with their essentials of food and health care. Recent official counts now show more than 1.5 million people are living on U.S. streets or in shelters. Some analysts place the number of homeless Americans at 3.5 million, with 1.4 million being children.

More of those sacrifices will be made by every day American families, and — more importantly, perhaps — by American children who are sacrificing and will sacrifice their most important developmental years. For the fortunate, children will merely live with the heightened anxiety of parents who are worried about their jobs and how their family will fare in this economy, as those anxieties intrude upon their childhood.

In our own home, our six-year-old, in the course of listening to our conversation during a family dinner, added the word "furlough" to his already-impressive vocabulary. And even as I turned to tell him what it meant, immediately followed by reassurances that our family would be fine, a look of worry flitted across his face that shouldn't appear on any child's face. (And the reassurance of his parents that our family would be ok, was probably undermined by the look we exchanged, that added an unspoken "At least, we hope so," to that reassurance.)

If that's all the  economic reality that toughes our son's life, he'll be one of the lucky ones; luckier, by far, than the kids who follow their families into America's new "tent cities."

A look into the data indicates how much these communities will be negatively impacted. Over 42 percent of homeless children are younger than age six, the center’s report says. It adds that nearly 1.16 million of homeless children today will not graduate from high school due to this major recession.

"The consequences to our society will play out for decades," Ellen Bassuk, president of the center, says. "Homeless children have poor health, emotional problems and low graduation rates. As we bail out the rest of our nation, it is also time to come to their aid."

National media have discovered Sacramento’s "Tent City," as well as those going up in the Midwest, South and Northwest. Estimates of the total number of homeless living in these modern "Hoovervilles" put it at 15,000 to 20,000.

Last year, 3.2 million foreclosures were filed across the nation, forcing a majority of homeowners to live in their cars or bunking with relatives before giving up and living in shelters, sleeping under bridges and in makeshift camps in the woods.

He's also more fortunate that we aren't among those parents who must give up their kids temporarily, while they try to gain a foothold in this economy. [Via SusanG @ Daily Kos]

In a desperate but loving attempt to get their lives on track, Samer and Yvette Assaf handed their children to strangers nine days ago.

The overwhelmed young couple—both 19—plan to spend two months saving money from their retail jobs, moving into an apartment and buying a car. Then they will return for their children.

In the meantime Baylee, 2, and Julian, 2 months, will live with different families in Des Plaines who volunteer with Safe Families for Children, a rapidly growing non-profit. The network places children with host families while their parents try to mend their broken lives.

"We both cried," said Samer Assaf, 19, who lives with his in-laws in Westchester. "It was like we lost everything ... but we know it's not forever. In a good way, it motivated us to get out and get a job and concentrate."

Anyone who thinks Americans aren't sacrificing, or that Americans need to be asked to sacrifice, just isn't paying attention. It's no surprise that too still aren't paying attention. But when it's your job to pay attention, well...

Oh, and one more thing.

Like I said. I can't think of a more appropriate response than "You're kidding me, right?" But that's one of many, many, reason #1,674,395 why Obama is president and I'm not.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future