There’s been a lot of changes to the federal government and to federal economic policy in the last eight months. President Donald Trump has set expansive tariffs. Congress passed a big tax-cutting bill that slices funding to programs like Medicaid and food stamps. The current administration has implemented mass layoffs of federal workers. It’s also terminated some federal union contracts and stripped other federal workers of their union rights.
WUWM wanted to know how some of these changes are affecting people in Wisconsin. We spoke with a business owner and mother living in Greendale, the owner of American Science and Surplus, and also a veteran who receives federal benefits who had been searching for jobs for a year.
George Kolintzas Jr. is that veteran. He was a retail manager until he lost his job a year ago. Recently, he was hired on as a salt packer. He also started school at MATC, studying mortuary science.
Kolintzas Jr. shares how the economy is impacting him right now and how he’s trying to stay afloat, as part of WUWM's look at how the current economy is affecting different people in Wisconsin.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Do you feel like you're in a better situation now than you were a year ago?
I'm in a situation where I'm keeping afloat. I would say not in a better situation. I was making more money before. I'm making a little bit less money than what I was, but the economy being the way that it is, I think that the tariffs have really, really affected the middle class.
I applied for 125 jobs in the last two and a half weeks and the same time last year when I had applied for jobs I had applied maybe for 25 to 30 and I probably got 10 to 15 callbacks out of those 25, 30 [job applications]. Out of the 125 jobs that I applied for these past few weeks, I got 3 responses.
So do you feel like when you budget things you're paying more for various things, whether it's groceries or rent or things like that?
My rent went up from $1040 last year to $1175 this year. That's a big jump in a year. And milk last year at Walmart was like $2.45. It's gone over $3 now. I mean, I know it doesn't sound like a lot of money, but … every penny counts.
I couldn't live without [veteran’s benefits]. I get 70% [disability], which is $1759/month. There's no way I could live without that money.
Have you been following what's going on with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in terms of mass layoffs or shift towards privatization, is that impacting you at all?
Absolutely. There was a lot of counselors that were around before for AODA [alcohol and drug abuse treatment] stuff and from mental health. They have really, really cut back on the AODA and the mental health side of things.
I know the program where they go for rehabilitation services, they have cut all the art programs. They have cut all the extracurricular programs, they have really, really stripped it down. And instead of getting 7 to 8 hours of programming where you really, really need it in rehab, they're down to like 3 or 4 hours now. And there are a lot of teachers there that I knew that had left and taking the early retirement package or early tenure package and some of them were just being forced out.
Why do you think that is? Do you think it's directly related to the cuts from the federal government?
Absolutely, it's directly affected. [The VA] doesn't have the manpower that they use to anymore, or the woman power that they used to-- anymore. There's just not enough people there to handle all the caseloads.
So would you say right now that you have economic optimism or faith that you can make changes in your life that will sustain you?
Absolutely. I still feel that I can make changes in my life to sustain me. I can cut back on smoking. I can cut back on some of the extracurriculars — going out too much — and tighten the belt. [I can] buckle up and get back to work and start saving some money again and crack the books and hope I get it done quicker.
The current presidential administration has been making a lot of changes to the federal government and to economic policy. Is that something you support? Would you have voted for it?
I think President Trump is doing a great job, especially with all those other things that he has to take into account that are going on in the world. I think that he's doing the best job that he can and it's the hardest job in the world to be the most powerful man in the world, and they have everybody, is always asking for help and having to be involved in so many conflicts going on in the world.
I think that he's doing the best job that he can and yeah, I support some of the cuts that he's made through the federal government. I think that privatizing some of it will help. But I do think that some of the stuff that's going on with the veterans, it's — I don't think any of that stuff should be cut.
And what are you watching for in the next few years?
Over the next few years, what I'm watching for [relating to] the economy is growth of business and to see where we stand with national health care.
