2013-01-01/America goes to the brink, but millions already fell into poverty

title/short::America goes to the brink, but millions already fell into poverty The biggest failure of the fiscal conscience is the disregard for those unemployed Americans. Some of those 2.1 million Americans who stand to lose their benefits tonight only started collecting unemployment in July. Those who have been out of work for more than six months make up 40% of all the unemployed people in America.
 * when: when posted::2013-01-01
 * author: author::Heidi Moore
 * source: site::The Raw Story
 * topics: topic::economic disparity/US
 * keywords keyword::fiscal cliff keyword::unemployment keyword::social conscience
 * link: URL::http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/01/fiscal-cliff-america-goes-to-the-brink-but-millions-already-fell-into-poverty/
 * title: title::Fiscal cliff: America goes to the brink, but millions already fell into poverty
 * summary: Whatever the outcome of the political haggling, Congress has failed the 50 million Americans below the bread line.

The predicament of the long-term unemployed only has a passing relationship to the fiscal cliff. There happens to be no one in the government who can put their hand up and protect the unemployed. As Congress goes about wrecking confidence in the economy, there are other agencies that can pick up some of the slack.