THE OBAMA MALAISE

By Helaine Chersonsky

I have worked consistently during the past 30 years as a journalist, corrections officer for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, and for an airline. Each time I was out of work, I quickly found another job within various professions and organizations. Not this time; not during Obama/Time. For the past five years I had a job I loved- working for an airline. I loved wearing our new, classy uniforms, loved helping people get to their destinations, both domestic and internationally, loved the customer interaction. Now I am on furlough from my job at the T. F. Green Airport in Providence, R. I.; a product of the general malaise throughout the economy; not as many people are flying, and business travel has dipped way down. So, I am laid off , along with the other 14.5 million Americans. (This figure was published in the September 27th issue of the New York Times, under the article “U.S. Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio,” by Peter S. Goodman.)
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Yesterday, was the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur; I observed the holiday by going to services at conservative Temple Beth Israel and visiting my cousins, who have a jewelry store in Waltham, MA on Moody Street. My two uncles started the string of medium-priced jewelry stores over 60 years ago, after they came back from serving in the Pacific Theater in World War II. I know the business struggled at first; their first store in Marlboro didn’t do as well as their second larger store in Waltham. The Moody Street store took off, and served as the launching pad for other stores on Arsenal Street in Watertown, Burlington and Peabody.

The Waltham and Arsenal street stores are holding their own, but my cousin Bobby, who manages the Waltham store along with my other cousins said when ObamaCare gets passed, that will mean a tax increase for the store, plus added insurance costs. Think more layoffs throughout America, especially in small businesses, once the ObamaCare Express begins in earnest.

There is a general sense of unease now that some people can't put their fingers on similar to the Carter year’s misery index throughout the 1970's. We‘re not through yet because Obama/Management hasn't yet hit . I have a sense that the recession/depression hasn’t dropped yet. It’s as if the country is holding its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The real effect of the recession is holding off, I guess, until Obamacare is passed, then businesses will take a look at the tax bite the health care bill will take out of them and lay off more people. Then the malaise index will rise; the middle class will again feel the squeeze of recession and Massachusetts liberals will blame the last eight years of the Bush presidency for it all.