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Our economy is not doing very well. Comparing three states, the unemployment average was 5.4% in May of 2008 and jumped to an average of 8.3 % by May of 2009. Unfortunately the predictions going into 2010 are averaged around 10%. Of the 8.3 current average about 17% are stuck in the middle.

Stuck in the middle means you are too young to retire and to old to qualify for the current new job openings. Even though some companies would prefer to hire people older than 19 or 20, they will opt for people in their 30's and 40's before hiring people in the 50+ range.

The reason for this is simply that they know from the statistics, that when you are on the down side of 50, your body starts to show all the wear and tear. Medical problems arise, joints and appendages begin to slow down, the mind may show signs of aging, and your organs start to have some problems. It is good business for them to try and find people that they know will be around for awhile.

As I was growing up, we were taught that you graduated high school, went to college if you could afford it, if not you went to work. Most of the people around my age had to have both the husband and wife working to make ends meet. We were also taught that you retired around 55 and collected Social Security.

This was supposed to be the time of your life where you relaxed with the grandkids, traveled, spent your senior years together, enjoying the benefits of all your hard work.

As I got close to the age of 50, I started getting notices from Social Security that my retirement age had changed. I could no longer retire around the age of 55. My early retirement was 62, full retirement was 67, but if I worked until I was 70, I would get more benefits. I looked into this and was told that the ages were changed because people were living longer.

I don't care what anyone says. You can be the biggest health nut out here, eating right, exercising, taking vitamins and supplements, reducing your stress, and planning amply for your retirement, after you hit the 50 mark, certain parts of your body are going to change in their functions.

Your bones may start getting thinner, your memory may not be as good as it was, you may have hereditary medical problems that start showing up, such as Rheumatoid and Osteo Arthritis, heart valve problems, cancer and other malfunctions.

There is no plan for those of us stuck in the middle. I was laid off a little over a year ago. It was a job, that I myself created, proposed to the company, and they accepted, that enabled me to continue working even though the degenerative bone disease in body was getting worse.

So, now I am stuck in the middle. I cannot find work that I can do because of my declining health, I am too young to retire, and I have been refused disability. Where are the concepts I was taught as a child. I have been paying taxes, and paying into my Social Security for over 40 years, yet I have not options to help me out.

Social Security/Disability says I can work, yet they have never sent me to see one of their doctors, nor do they live inside this body of mine, so how could they possible know if I need it or not without an examination. They have a board of people who look at some of your medical records, not all of them, and decide if you qualify for help. Now to me that just doesn't sound fair. If I can't get help, and am stuck in the middle, then why did they always make sure they took out my taxes and Social Security, the things that were supposed to cover me in circumstances like this?

I've recently been e-mailed a lot of articles about the health care bill that President Obama is trying to push through. I have been told that once you are on disability or Social Security, you will have to got o counseling every 5 years on how to end your life. I read that part of the bill, and thats not what I understand it to be.

However, there were also e-mails saying that they were going to cut Medicare back by 40% and that certain procedures, including joint replacements would not be available for the elderly anymore. I certainly hope this isn't true, because, they paid their taxes too, and I may eventually end up needing a procedure such as that.

Regardless of the changes that take place, they still don't apply to those of us that are stuck in the middle. People, who like myself, that are stuck in the middle are losing their homes, their cars, their retirement savings and their belongings because there are no programs to help those that are stuck in the middle. Many of them will end up homeless and on the street.

If the government wants to take care of Americans, then they need to take a step back, a big step back and look at their finances. Congressmen, State Represantives, White House employees, the President and all elected officials are people too! If we appoint or elect them, then they are actually hired by us to take care of us, not to leave us out in the cold to fend for ourselves.

Of course, they have a medical and retirement plan that sets them up for life. Thats why you never see any of them losing their homes, cars or belongings, or their retirement savings. If they can create a plan that takes care of these people, then shouldn't a plan like that be available for all Americans, after all, we are people, and so are they. They are not Gods, or Royalty. Doesn't say somewhere that “ all men were created equal”. Where is that equality now?