More grim news — 467,000 jobs lost in June, with unemployment hitting a 26-year high of 9.5%. Some people are rightly starting to wonder: Where's that stimulus we were promised?

The stock market's reaction on Thursday said it all — with the major indexes plunging 2.4% to 2.9% on the news of a continued job hemorrhage. Despite some economic green shoots here and there, no one's sure when jobs will start growing again.

At this point in a normal downturn lasting 11 months, the economy should be booming — with big jumps in GDP and 300,000 new jobs each month coming mostly from the private sector.

But 18 months into this downturn, we're still losing jobs — with 2.7 million gone in the private sector just since January, when the Democrats took full control of the government.

Shrinking GDP has crushed investment. First quarter gross private domestic investment — a proxy for business investment — plunged 20%, or nearly $450 billion, annually. The outlook is grim.

Worse, the June jobs data mark a milestone of sorts: Our unemployment rate equals that of the no-growth Eurozone nations.

Why is this job decline happening? The private sector — the real engine of economic and job growth — won't hire because it's scared of what it sees coming out of Washington.

On the horizon, as far as the eye can see, are higher taxes, uncontrolled spending and layers upon layers of new regulations.

Who would hire new workers faced with that?

Also, the federal government is meddling in the private sector as never before — in essence, nationalizing two of the three major carmakers with $200 billion in subsidies and capital infusions, turning our banking system into a fourth branch of government through the $700 billion TARP program, spending $200 billion to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and put them back in the business of lending to people who can't pay their loans — which is how we got into trouble in the first place.

And that's only what's been done in the last half year or so. What really scares private businesses is what's in the pipeline.

• Health insurance reform: Estimates for reforming our medical care range from $1 trillion to $3.6 trillion, with much of the bill footed by businesses. All to take care of 46 million uninsured.

But 10 million of those aren't citizens. And according to former CBO chief June O'Neill, 43% of the total could afford to buy coverage but don't. So the problem is much smaller than people think.

As for current plans to take over our health care system, they'll barely help. According to Congress' own think tank, spending $1 trillion will only remove 16 million from the 46 million uninsured.

• Cap and trade: A major reshaping of our nation's energy policy will include massive new taxes, mostly on businesses, and cause our economy to crater. Most depressingly, despite taxing businesses and consumers to the hilt, the Waxman-Markey climate stabilization act will not remove one ounce of carbon from our atmosphere over the next decade.

It's nothing but a huge scam that will bankrupt any business that relies heavily on energy, boosting fuel prices by 22 cents a gallon and socking the average family with an $1,800 a year tax hike.

As Robert Zubrin of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote last week, "(Waxman-Markey) proposes a massive and highly regressive tax on the U.S. economy, and could potentially cause not only extensive business failures, unemployment and privation within our own borders, but starvation among poorer populations elsewhere."

• Stimulus II: As if the first $787 billion tranche of "stimulus" wasn't enough, some in the Democratic Party are suggesting a second stimulus bill. Are they joking? The first stimulus has failed spectacularly. Personal incomes rose briefly after "stimulus" checks were handed out, but have since resumed their decline.

Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars went to strapped state governments. But according to the National Governors' Association, states are still expected to show $183 billion in red ink in the next two years. Stimulus clearly hasn't worked. Why try another?

Taken together, all these new programs would mean sky-high new taxes, more regulations and the biggest expansion of government since FDR's New Deal.

That's not a good thing. Unemployment during the New Deal averaged 17%, and government meddling turned what should have been a garden-variety downturn into a 27% collapse in GDP — the Great Depression.

Washington seems desperate to duplicate that failure.

For some time we've heard we need to have "hope" for "change" to come. But hope is fast disappearing, and polls show that Americans reject the change the government has in mind for medical insurance and energy. The grand experiment of government control is failing, and people want their economy back.

As for more jobs, it may be a while. Shortly before the new administration opened for business in January, Americans were told by the incoming administration's advisers that without the stimulus, unemployment — then at 7.2% — would peak at 9% in 2010. If the stimulus was passed, they added, the peak would be 8%.

Well, it passed — and today unemployment is 9.5% and likely to go higher. A question arises: Given the obvious failure of the stimulus to stimulate anything, why not dismantle the whole thing?

This isn't so crazy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the current stimulus plans will blow a $9.3 trillion hole in the nation's budget by 2019. That will boost taxes on us and our children for decades to come.

Won't it also boost the economy? Guess again. "The projection for nominal GDP has decreased (since the end of 2008) by more than $7 trillion, or 3.9%, over (10 years)," says the CBO.

In other words, all this spending and taxing will crater the economy — and the estimate doesn't include the spending planned for medical insurance reform and cap and trade.

Nor does it include the dizzying array of new taxes the White House and Congress are considering. They range from a European-style value-added tax, which helped turn the EU into a stagnant mess with virtually no job creation, to new taxes on health care, energy, incomes and a slew of other things.

In the coming weeks, we will tell you how we got into this mess — hint: Government played a key role — and how we can get out of it. It will take huge cuts in spending, a willingness to let bad businesses go bust, and broad tax cuts to get our economy moving again.

This, by the way, worked in the 1920s, it worked in the 1960s, it worked in the 1980s. It even worked after 9/11, and it'll work again.

America needs jobs, but its businesses can't create them as long as they remain under the thumb of a high-taxing, runaway-spending, overregulating, entrepreneur-smothering Big Government.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=331426820577468&src=ADARTCL

It takes a while to get the stimulus money into action.
I am sure your State has many project that will start soon.
Everyone needs to just chill and be patient.

I hate to read these things....it makes me want to grab a soapbox.....history does repeat itself...we need,as a nation,to act upon this...if we're expected to live by the almighty dollar then let's
Get govt. out of business
Get business out of our government

The next few weeks are critical for capital. The optimism that the economy is starting to turn around bringing jobs back is fading. Private capital investment that brings the jobs back remains on the sidelines in a defensive position. The programs provided by our government are being paid for with future IOU's. Collections of revenues by our Treasury because of the economy will drop significantly this year. The solutions are basic - raise taxes or cut spending. Maybe it is time that Americans realized that we can't have all these programs cause we really can't or never will pay for them.
That's a sobering thought but probably the truth.

The stimulus that we needed so badly has hardley been used. Most of the so called "shovel ready jobs" were all ready in state budgets. The stimulus is not going to be used till 2010 go figure an election year. Just a way to buy more votes!

LONG POST....

But ultimately, I don't think the problem has anything to do with the so-called stimulus stuff working or not working.

Personally, I never thought it would work. Thought it a huge waste of money. Lots of tax money down the toilet.

I think the issue is one inherent to an economy totally based on spending and getting people to spend and a period of people being stable enough and secure enough that business pushed the envelope trying to see how far they could raise prices and still have people buying.

While sales are recovering slightly, showing that the general public is no longer in a panic of worry, the damage has been done and in a way the damage started before people stopped spending.

I don't think we will see the return to such spending abandon as we used to have. People can't get the credit anymore and people have realized they can get buy without as much and we have realized we DON'T need those frivolous "have to have" items that end up sitting in the closet anyway.

But since our economy is based on getting people to buy things they don't need, and spending more than they have, and not saving money, we will continue to see job losses for a while.

I thought Obama had far more potential to become the next Roosevelt than McCain. But politicians are advised by economists that were far more shocked and taken by surprise by what happened than average people who saw it coming years before hand.

So it really isn't any wonder that these stimulus ideas either flopped or had a very minimal impact. All that money would better have been spent if they did more to focus on job creation than anything else.

Look at how many of the Depression era bridges have started to collapse. Some states have great road systems and some have horrible upkeep. If they had actually taken a page out of Roosevelt's handbook and put together a plan to repair and update much of the stuff that has languishied since Roosevelt's 'job stimulus' packages, many people could have been put to work in many states.

It's strange how this isn't a Depression with a capital D, but it still seems that some of Roosevelt's solutions would have had a far more positive impact that what the government has tried to do so far. And I'm including both the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama one.

The political side is relying too heavily on advise from the very "experts" who helped create the situation and who were utterly blindsided when average people saw it coming 2 years before it happened.

I never understood using big words, statistical talk and all this about private sector, blah, blah, blah. WAKE UP! IT ALL STARTED WITH THE GAS PRICES! People stopped spending their extra money on buying cars, and other luxuries because they had to start paying nearly six dollars for one stinking gallon of gas. Ever stacked dominoes??? SAME CONCEPT. So, with gas prices entirely too high for almost 2 years straight (and still are too high for unjustified excuses) car manufacturers began to make less money, other luxury type companies began to make less money. So what happened? Just like consumers, big companies had to make cuts somewhere and then people began losing their jobs. The less spending and budget cuts happened with consumers and businesses alike. Some of you have also forgotten the old addage: SUPPLY & DEMAND. High demand, low price to keep a profit.........demand suddenly goes down, now prices go up to try and keep the profit, cut are made. So with all this domino effect spanning two years and going, you can be sure it will take some time to get turned back around in the other direction. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Sure, history repeats itself, but back then you could buy a candy bar for 15 cents.............today it's at least 60 cents............BIG DIFFERENCE.

Now let's all get together, go over to the white house and get the president and congress together and ask them this:

WHY ARE YOU SENDING OUR MONEY TO COUNTRIES WHO HATE US? WHY ARE YOU STILL FUNDING THE WAR YOU VOWED TO END?

Look it up, they sent 106 BILLION dollars to IRAQ just last month. hmmm, that's 106 BILLION dollars that our failing economy could have used.

Don't point fingers at at either political party. It's no use. And don't reply to my post wanting to get a debate going. Politics and religion can be argued until the day we die. I'm just sharing my opinion.

The problem is that most of our "Law Makers" do not have to live the nightmare the rest of us do. Destabilizing and defunct our government is all part of the plans of the NWO.

One good start to show our lack of confidence with banks is to take business away from them. Loosing clients costs them money. If enough people flee to credit unions the banks will take notice. If enough people run the banks and go to credit unions then the banks will fold and the a@@holes running them and robbing the American coffers and stealing from us will go broke.

The answer is simple but people are not organized enough to act or smart enough to see what needs to be done.

Simply put we are misrepresented and taxed without appropriate, constitutional, or qualified representation.

We are starting to see projects get off the ground here in Arizona. Hiway projects seem to be the first ones to begin as they have been planned or on the drawing boards for some time now.

The thing people need to realize is that it does take time! The stimulus money was approved only a few months ago. It takes time to get the funds flowing then for the engineers to complete Construction Documents and then the States to get bids on the projects.

I have been around construction industry in my previous life and I know the time it takes to get a project moving. It's not just a snap of the fingers.

I think once it gets going, we will see a great benefit for years to come. Most of the projects slated for my State are infrastructure related that we will be needing well into the future.

We are seeing housing bottom out and it is starting to up tick slightly as well.

One of the things that I believe is causing the recession to continue is that people are still not spending in a normal fashion. People are saving money instead of spending as they are still scared. Seems like our economy is based on people spending and if they change their patterns, it hurts, especially in retail. You can also see the impact it has had on the auto industry when people quit buying cars.

People need to chill out and go back to normal.

People need to chill out and go back to normal. drinker

Try giving that advice to someone that has lost their job and consequently their home....

We are to the point where we just can't continue to have all these programs on government IOU's. Look at the fiscal condition that some of our states are now in. The stimulus will be just a band aide when multiple stitches are needed. Government needs to go back to legislating and not trying to provide jobs that are adding to our deficit.

Sh*t canning unions would be a good start. Productivity would increase and all the outrageous minimalizations of work responsibilities coupled with undue wages (compared to non-union) would certainly help level out the job market and actually require (gasp) a work ethic and personal responsibility.

To the union people...don't get too ticked off at that statement...my brother is union in an admin position and he agrees with me.

Unions have FAR overstepped their power.


The TEAMSTERS union is the one that has done the most damage to business in this country. Many small businesses fold after the teamsters are voted in. They lie and also have no interest other than strong arming business to pay them for basically nothing. They are one of the greatest contributing factors in businesses going to other countries. Notice they do not pull their sh*t in China? Why? China would not put up with them. There needs to be oversight but in many instances Unions are more counterproductive.

Heath benefits are NOT the responsibility of employers. WE are only responsible for America, not the illegal aliens coming here for whatever reason. If they are not paying into the system they deserve nothing! We need to end their free heath care, free education, and loaching off of WIC, welfare, and other social programs.

I am sick of this whole "Starving Children" PC crap the bleeding hearts keep feeding us. We are supposed to feed illegal immigrants' children while ours starve? many illegals come here TO have kids so they can have American Anchor Babies. This also has to end.

Where is all this money coming from? A Printing Press? Does the concept of inflation mean anything to anyone any more???



This was how worthless German Currency was in 1920. It took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. People used the money for starting fires, and insulating their houses. Anybody notice the rising prices? WELL... When Obama ordered more money printed (or at least allowed the Fed to do it) the value of the dollar dropped. If this trend continues the Dollar will loose more value and lead us into the same Hyperinflation cycle Germany got stuck with in 1920.


So who regulates the regulators???

I would think that someone that lost their job would say that was good advice....for people to get back to normalized consuming.

If they were working in the auto industry, they lost their job because people quit buying the cars they were producing.

If they were working in retail, they lost their jobs because people have cut back on spending and shopping.

Our economy is consumer based and that's what will turn us around again, when people start consuming in a normal fashion.

There are those that continue to spread fear among the people which causes people to continue in this downward spiral.

People do need to chill and get back to normal.

Don't be scared. Don't worry about inflation. Don't buy in to the propaganda that is being administered in this country that invokes Fear!

there is a difference between fear and trepidation.

I am trepidatious. the facts are not a slippery slope. They are repeats of past mistakes. This is a situation that very well could fall flat on everyone. What happens if the dollar becomes worthless?

There is a cycle that has to be faced and just sitting back in a beach chair with a beer watching it happen isn't going to fix the issue.

Granted this is no "collapse of Civilization" BS but it is pretty frikken rattling having to see the American dream stripped from me by illegal immigration, irresponsibility, and greedy corporate bankers and big energy.


So what is the answer? Make sheep sounds while Obama makes serious tactical blunders WE have to pay for? Like wise what about Congress?

I hear "Grass Roots" used a a buzz word a lot. Who the FUQ are these "Grass Roots" a@@HOLES? I think they are smoking too much Grass! Is a Grass Roots Movement when a dog eats grass and poops green?

Frankly I see us getting dragged right into a depression sooner than later thanks to short sighted quick fix band aids randomly throwing titanic sums of money at the problems and issues the wrong way. Socializing industry (Auto makers hint hint!) and health care? Talk about a collapse of Economy in the making!

A steel plant across the river from me has been closed for awhile.

They called back over a thousand workers.

So you ask "what happens if the dollar becomes worthless?" It's not going to happen. The world economy is based on the US Dollar. If our dollar collapsed, China would collapse and so would Europe, Middle East, and on and on.

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury are trying everything in the playbook to prevent this from happening. Ben Bernanke is probably the most knowledgeable person to have up there as he is very well studied in the Great Depression.

Fixing the issue is a very complex problem.

I really think people need to quit listening to people like Glenn Beck who spread fear. If you listened to him, he would have you pull all your money out of the banks, pull all your money out of the stock market, buy gold, store up food and ammunition.

He is the 3rd most listened to talk radio host and preaches nothing but Doom, Gloom and Fear.

If everyone followed his advice, this economy would be in total collapse and we would be facing complete anarchy.

The thing that keeps us going is many people are still going to work every day and acting normal.

Everyone needs to chill out and act normal.

Ultimately the answer to ANY business that is in trouble is to address WHY there is a problem in the first place. Instead the current administration chooses to follow the advice of the people responsible for this mess in the first place. Chill out??

Sure...


When congress gets its act together and big business quits bleeding us dry for every penny they can squeeze out of us. Big business has indeed infiltrated our government. they make policy... that favors them. On top of that more social spending and twisting small business and self employed and others to eat a greater tax burden for "the poor."

First of all this whole "the poor" thing is a crock of bull poo. Some of these losers need to put down the bottle and glass pipe and get a job. Most of America's Hard Core poor are poor because they choose to be so. People like me are poor because my money goes into paying my rent, utilities, feeding myself, paying ALL of my own bills without any government help or hand outs. I sure could use help but the fact is there are some poor people out there who really need the help. I am not going to make it seem like my needs outweigh the needs of others but what about when I can't pull my own weight? I have to give up the help I am ENTITLED to as an American to an Illegal Immigrant?

Yeah, I also own beach front property on Mars!

America, Congress, Obama, and I mean ALL of America needs to get it in its head we need to live within our means and get off of this whole Credit and Mandatory everything. Auto insurance is a JOKE and super expensive and they don't obey the laws we have to like pricing according to zip code!


If anything the time I will chill out is when the bubble really bursts once and for all then I will drink a cold one, salute the chaos going on around me, and shoot all looters.

How do you have normal consumption when almost 10% of the people no longer have income to consume as they did before this high unemployment? And another percentage of the people see that their jobs may be next and are smart enough to save? Facing the realities of today's economic environment is not spreading fear.

"Why is this job decline happening? The private sector — the real engine of economic and job growth — won't hire because it's scared of what it sees coming out of Washington"

What's normal? Our pre-depression spending was outside of our means.