Economically Speaking: Is America Burning?

So many here in Texas believe they are so much better off than in other states. Maybe this was true a while ago; however, the economic chaos that other states have seen is hitting Texans very hard. Texas is NOT immune. The ailing economy has become a national plague.

 So many here in Texas believe they are so much better off than in other states. Maybe this was true a while ago; however, the economic chaos that other states have seen is hitting Texans very hard. Texas is NOT immune. The ailing economy has become a national plague.

There is no light at the end of this depressive economy. Not since The Great Depression have so many Americans been in such financial turmoil.

While the U.S. economy has been on a downturn for several decades, the Bush administration propelled us into this mess and the Obama administration is not doing very much to resolve it.

The primary objective should be to provide jobs to all Americans. To do that requires incentives for businesses to hire and for the government to develop federal jobs to rebuild our ailing infrastructures.

Obama promised jobs, but has not yet delivered.

Little has changed in government and on Wall Street. What is changing drastically is increased job loss, long-term unemployment and many more home foreclosures.

To make matters worse here in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has done little to help the growing number of long-term unemployed. He could have accepted more federal stimulus and/or diverted some of our state tax dollars towards providing businesses incentives to hire more Texans. Perry likes to blast Washington for all our Texas ills, but the truth is that Perry has NOT provided much help either for hardworking and hardly working Texans.

How will people pay their rent and mortgages? How will they hang-on to their health care plans? Will they keep their jobs? How long can the government provide unemployment benefits to the already staggering millions of jobless who grow in number daily? This is a big mess that is increasing steadily.

Americans will be hurting financially for many more years to come. The level of our economic demise and return to financial health will be determined by the actions of federal, state and local governments.

Right now, it doesn’t look too good.

(Peter Stern of Driftwood, Texas, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a Disabled Vietnam Veteran and holds three post-graduate degrees.)