Monday’s Wall Street Fournal had a front page article about lots of large law firms throughout the country going belly up. The Washington Post had an article announcing 45,000 job cuts by major businesses. The local paper, the Portland Press Herald, had an article about the dramatic increase in foreclosures and bankruptcies in the state.
Today’s Portland Press Herald notes that Maine’s jobless rate is now at 7 percent — it rose from 5.7 percent in October, to 6.3 percent in November, to December's 7 percent. Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.
Ouch!
So what will the Obama $825 billion stimulus package do for us? The Washington Post says that some Democrats are joining Republicans in predicting that the plan will do just what the previous $350 billion Bush stimulus did: nothing.
Many in Congress are disappointed that the package centers on the relatively small amount devoted to long-lasting infrastructure investments in favor of spending on a long list of government programs. Apparently, only about 5% of the package is devoted to roads, bridges and other public transportation projects.
The Wall Street Journal today lambasts the plan as being filled with every conceivable Democratic spending wish list of the last 40 years.
“We've looked it over, and even we can't quite believe it. There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.”
The entire country is suffering — hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and are really hurting. Most folks have already been dramatically affected by this poor economy in one way or another.
Our political leaders need to get this done right. If not, things will quickly go from bad to catastrophic.
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