A segment of DU is very invested in painting a dystopian picture of the US

[frazzled]

31. You should probably be looking to your municipality or state, then

for answers, and not blaming this federal administration (which did not cause the recession and which has brought the unemployment rate nationally down to historic lows).

You should ask why your municipality is not making the improvements in job creation that so many other parts of the country have achieved. And perhaps you should consider a move. It could be that your training and skills are more in demand in another area. I know that's difficult, but many of us have moved for jobs. Here's a current list of unemployment figures by municipality:

http://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm

Finally, I think as informed liberal citizens we need to understand that our views of government should not be based solely on our own conditions and stories, which vary greatly for many reasons ... some of which are not a function of the government. We have to consider the health of the nation as a whole, the "common good": and the health of the nation is far better than it was 6 years ago.