Ain’t No Sunshine

Will the economy have a V shaped or U shaped recovery? That is the question. Vice President Biden came out last week, and basically said the state of the economy was under estimated, and a strong economic upturn, or the V, U shaped recovery will be harder to come by then originally anticipated. Republicans who back in January had no solution of their own were quick to use the opportunity to criticize the Obama administration for spending $787 billion on a stimulus plan they label as a failure. They may have a point.

I advocated way back at the start of the year if the government truly wanted to shake up the economy, they had better stimulant the American taxpayers in the form of cash payments, which would help cover the basics while providing disposable income. Reeks of socialism? I called it using logic.

Consumers are the engines behind the American economic machine. The health of the economy is always reflected by our unemployment rate. We haven’t been spending, and most of us probably won’t start until we’re comfortable with our jobs and financial situations. True, despite all the anguish about the declines in the stock market, and significant losses in home prices there are positive signs out there. Ford Corporation announced they’re beginning to see stabilization in their car sales, while this past Thursday’s job numbers showed the number of people getting unemployment benefits finally trended below 600,000. Both Ford’s car sells and unemployment benefits had been at unprecedented lows and highs respectively. However, even in this backdrop people are getting nervous the ailing economy hasn’t gotten on the fast track, and a second jolt of stimulus might be needed. If that happens will the administration again ignore ordinary Americans?

The problem I see with Obama, Geithner and congress is they pretend like the economic meltdown resulted from a bunch of unforeseeable mistakes, and have basically aided and abetted the very pirates who were the cataclysm behind this mess, average Americans be damned. In addition when crafting his stimulus plan the president ignored the sound advice of every major economist, instead opting for the political correctness of bipartisanship, while the burdens of struggling people increased exponentially.

There is a long held belief the economy is a self-stabilizing system that always returns to a normal balance. It’s disheartening to see such a fundamental naiveté still prevails given the mounting foreclosures and widespread permanent unemployment. Right now a checkbook couldn’t be balanced in this economy. The government is broke printing a trail of money that’s got inflation written all over it, the value of the dollar is literally down the tubes, and China has already suggested a new world currency is needed to replace it. To me the stimulus is quickly turning into a flop. The number of jobs projected to be created for our crumbling infrastructure, sustainable energy, and green projects seems more of Washington’s fake statistical rhetoric. Obama has asked Americans to be as patient as possible and now says “We must let it work the way it’s supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity,” I think Obama clearly has become out of touch with one of the biggest economic crisis facing main street.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_stimulus