Regardless of what the economy is doing, on any given day in any given city or town in the US you can find similar stories. Is it right? not neccesarily (I know of cases where people have frustrated everyone who has tried to help them, abused the help, and wound up on the street, hence the not neccesarily). I know of several similar cases personally from the "booming" economy of the '90s. They just didn't make CNN.

It's funny how they only seem to trot these stories out into the headlines when there's an election going on.