INFRASTRUCTURE? WHAT'S THAT?

Rebuilding roads, bridges, waste-water treatment plants, and school buildings is not going to "spark" the economy in the manner in which it needs. And the service industry can not take-up the "slack" to drive the economy in the manner it needs! Manufacturing jobs - textiles, durable goods (furniture, houses, cars, etc.) - are the "cure" for what ails America.

Just like I guessed!

Of the $77 million that the state of Virginia received as part of President Obama's wastewater stimulus package, NONE of it is going to be used here in Martinsville and Henry County. I feared that something of this sort would happen - that there would be areas of the country that would not benefit from the economic "stimulus" plan as proposed. I propose that $1 million dollars for each of the country's unemployed will have a much more widespread and immediate impact than the president's plan.

Unemployment rate rises dramatically!

In February 2009, the unemployment rate in the city of Martinsville, VA shot up to 20.6% - that means 1/5th of the local workforce is out of work. In surrounding Henry County, the unemployment rate went up to 14.6% - making the total unemployment rate fo rthe area a "whopping" 15.7%. In nearby Patrick County (VA), the rate went up 1.8% - from 11.5% to 13.3%! Yet all that's being done is a lot of people are "empathizing" and "sympathizing" with everyone who's lost their job or is about to lose their job. Something tells me that the rate is even HIGHER THAN IS BEING REPORTED - 30 or even 40%!

And from where did this increase in unemployment come? There were NO new layoffs in the area - heck, they are very few jobs here as it is! What aren't we being told?

Enough already! How about some help here? I've been out of full-time work since August 2002 and have long since exhausted my benefits. But I certainly don't hear anyone offering me any assistance - unless you count the local office and their "demands" that I use my TradeAct benefits package to RETRAIN myself for a new job. RETRAIN? I didn't know that I needed new skills to find a job - there are lots of openings for inventory clerks out there but I can't get to them.

Comments on the Secretary of theTreasury's statements-New York Times!

Mr. Paulson states "our financial system seized up and severely damaged the economy". I hate to inform the Seceretary that the economy had been damaged - by the massive number of unemployed people - for quite some time. It is just now that the extent of the damage has become so severe that it is beginning to impact how we live our lives and how we work. Yes, we do need" to stabilize our financial system and to get credit flowing again" but instead of bailing out American International Group (AIG), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the rest, what is the problem with "bailing out" the people who TRULY need a financial revitalization program aimed specifically at THEIR problems? Or is it just the rich who get the "bailouts" while the rest of the American people get the "shaft" - again?

On the Economy

I've got to ask this question - besides extending benefits - which only affects about 80% of the total amount of this country's unemployed, what's being done to help them? My answer to you - NOTHING! There are unemployed people out there in the heartlands of America who've exhausted their unemployment benefits - as has yours truly! - but I don't hear anyone "trumpeting" our cause. In these days of giving BILLIONS to people who truly don't need or deserve them, what would be so difficult about helping the millions of those who've lost - or are about to lose - their residences or have lost their means of transportation or their ability to communicate with anyone?