The labor market is actually shrinking before our eyes. Of the American population aged 16 and older, 59.2 percent has a job, according to the Labor Department, down 3.5 percentage points since the recession began in December 2007.

Face it: It's a job market unlike any you've probably seen in your lifetime - especially if you are generation X or later. The jobless rate has not been this high since 1983. (The Police had the top single, "Every Breath You Take") It's taking longer to get a new job, you're taking a pay cut to keep the old one or you're doing the work of two others who have been laid off.

Where there is good news in the labor market, it is that mass layoffs are slowing. But many think the jobless rate will certainly touch 10 percent.

There are millions of people not even counted in the 9.7 percent jobless figures who are having a very difficult time trying to re-enter, competing with the throngs of newly laid-off. Not even counted in the official jobless statistics are stay-at-home moms who need to go back to work to feed their families. And there are discouraged workers who have struggled to find employment since the last recession ended in 2003.

There are hundreds of thousands of uncounted older workers, people who have already retired and have not worked in several years but now must go back to work because their home values have dropped and their savings plans have taken a hit.

You are not going to "hope" yourself to a new job. Advice to "stay positive" is pretty much meaningless when there are almost six qualified applicants for every job opening in this country. So we're going beyond the cliches and the official statistics and help you survive this grueling jobs market.

Which areas offer the best chance for getting a job? How to get a job in health care that is not low-paid but offers opportunity for growth? How to position within your shrinking company for a better job once the economy turns around? CNN's Christine Romans is in for Ali Velshi to answer all these questions and take your calls about the job market on CNN Radio Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. E-mail us all your questions and concerns about the jobs market. It is, after all, the backbone of your economy.

Call us at 877-266-4189 or email at Ali@CNN.com on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET.

Are the best days of this country behind it? By the looks of the projected budget deficit numbers, your government is spending like crazy to make sure that is not the case. The White House projects a budget deficit totaling more than $9 trillion dollars (that's 12 zeros) over the next ten years.

The math is pretty simple. Government spending is skyrocketing and government tax revenue is plummeting. That equals red ink. The calculus here is that investments and spending in the economy today will nurture an economic recovery that will grow tax receipts in the future.

Fiscal conservatives fear mountains of debt on our children, an unhealthy reliance of foreign governments to buy our debt and finance our spending, a growing portion of the nation's wealth going toward interest payments rather than investment, a weak dollar and hyperinflation down the road.

The president's supporters say a whole series of crises was foisted on him, and he has no choice but to spend big to make sure American living standards grow in the future. (Think energy, health care, banking regulation, consumer protection...) In his announcement of his re-appointment of Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, he hailed a strategy of "bold, persistent, experimentation." It's a phrase first used by FDR in 1932, when he promised to try, and abandon, and try again, whatever it took to rescue the American economy. It shows how high the stakes remain today.

At what price? You can see for yourself on a telling chart provided on homepage of the Congressional Budget Office. A chart there shows the size of the budget deficit in relation to the overall economy. (It's approaching 12 percent of GDP, the largest since World War II.)

The CBO says the deficits reflect all the measures to rescue the economy, including bailouts of banks and lenders and automakers. So where's YOUR bailout? Cash For Clunkers is over, so no more free money for you there. (And, might I add, you had to take on a new car payment and probably extra insurance, so it's not so free after all.)

Plans are under way for a sort of Cash for Appliances stimulus program. You might not have noticed, but there is a tax break in your paycheck, if you don't already make too much money. And if you didn't have a clunker to junk, you can still write off the state, local and excise taxes for a new car (up to $49,500) on your 2009 tax return. and don't forget the piece de la resistance - the $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers (under a certain income limit, of course) is good until the end of the year.

Which brings me back to the original question: Are the best days of this country behind it? I want to hear your thoughts, and answer your questions about America's great financial experiment. Do you think American living standards will continue to rise? Why or why not? In what ways are you benefiting from all the bailouts and stimulus?

Tell us what you think. Email me at CNNRadio@CNN.com. Then call in on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET at 877-266-4189. I'll answer your questions on health care when I fill in for Ali Velshi this week and next week on the Ali Velshi show on CNN Radio and CNN.com.

Forget the town hall shouting and screaming, how about some answers to clear up the confusion over the direction of your health care in America?

For almost two weeks now, the noise around health care reform has been dominated by, well, noise. And Americans are more confused than ever about what all this means for them. We need clear language and no flip-flopping from Washington about what's in the legislation and what will it mean for Americans.

The challenge is for the president and his team to clear up some significant questions and take back the debate. Somehow health care town halls became a place to show support for gun-ownership rights.

Here's what Americans want to know: Where does the president stand on the public option for health insurance? Does he support the government-run plan, or a non-profit cooperative and what would that look like? What are the differences between what President Obama actually wants, and what he thinks he can get through Congress?

Some days, it looks like the debate been dominated by the "no" crowd, who are opposed to any change whatsoever. Democrats and the president seem to be losing the public relations battle on health care. There's not much time for them to take it back, if reform is what they really want. For those opposed, let’s have a full discussion of their proposed alternatives. What are they? How will they help? And how will it affect you?

It all sounds like a lot of politics, but it matters to you: whether you have company-sponsored insurance, no insurance at all, or you fall under one of the current government health care plans. For more almost two weeks, information about health care reform has been replaced by opinion, rumor and fear. We need to get back to information. Solutions. Strategies. Now.

I want to hear your questions. Have you read the bill HR 3200? Tell us what you think. Email me at CNNRadio@CNN.com. Then call in on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET at 877-266-4189. I’ll answer your questions on health care when I fill-in for Ali Velshi this week and next week on the Ali Velshi show on CNN Radio and CNN.com.