Hi All,

Well we just past mid-January and the markets have been so quiet people are getting nervous. After all the volatility last year it seems eerie to have stability. Is this the clear sky after the storm or the eye of the hurricane. No one seems sure if we are out of the woods or if there is an ACT 2 to come.

 Most of what I see on the economic side appears to suggest neither good news nor bad. We seem to be adjusting to a new normal.

I listened to a talk given by Woody Hall a PhD Economist from UNC-W today and he confirmed my idea that unemployment isn’t going to get better for several years.

On the political front, the President is building an enormous war chest for his re-election campaign. It is making the conservative talk show hosts uncomfortable.  On one hand it seems ridiculous to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a campaign, even a Presidential one. On the other hand it is truly effective at putting money into the hands of staffers, hotels, restaurants, print shops and a myriad of other businesses around the country. In the meantime the various Republican candidates are busy crisscrossing the country trying to win their primary. Pumping some money into local economies everywhere they go and that spending will leap 100 fold when the eventual nominee hits the trail in earnest.

Who will win is anybody’s guess. Will it matter? Will either candidate, Democrat or Republican lead the country? Will they be a Harry Truman with the idea that the “buck stops here”. Or will they just be more of the same? I heard a local political candidate say “does anyone here think that politicians make too few promises they can’t keep?”  His point is well taken. It doesn’t matter what they promise, we need to elect someone who is more interested in doing the job well than making friends or getting re-elected.

Picking the right candidate is our job-1. We need to “hire” the right person who will lead from the front. Who will take the flack. Who will not waiver once committed to a course of direction.  

In the Great Depression we introduced Social Security and make work programs but we didn’t recover economically until we spooled up the military for WW II. That put everyone to work. We drafted able bodied men to the Army and stay at home mom’s went to the factory to build planes and ships and all the material needed. Everyone had work BUT we also added a lot to the national debt. The cost of resolving the economic crisis of the 1930’s was enormous not only in financial terms but in loss of life. We forget that while the loss of one life is regrettable, we lost more on one day at Normandy that we have lost in Iraq, Afghanistan and any other small actions around the world. We, you and me, have not done without anything during this recession and the two wars. We are building new cars everyday (no cars were made from 1941- 1946). Tires, gasoline and food stuffs were rationed during WW II. Have you had any problem getting what you need?

So far this recession has been, in large part, an inconvenience for most Americans and a real hardship for a relatively few. Now don’t get me wrong, it has been hard for some and we should all do what we can to assist them. At 9% unemployment, about 5 million more people are looking for a job than in 2007, before it all began.

Who is to blame? George Bush? Barrack Obama? Nancy Pelosi?  Harry Reid? Barney Frank? Chris Dodd?  The Bankers?  The heads of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac? Probably dealers choice but I don’t really care who is to blame. I care about what we do next to fix it without leaving the bill to the grandkids. We, the people of the United States, elected each of those I named (and their appointees) and WE are responsible. We need to clean it up. We need to fix it.

We need to limit our borrowing, we need to live within our means. We need to move forward as one nation; black, white, yellow, brown and red. We need to assure that Grandma isn’t denied health care and that our grandkids aren’t denied opportunity. It is a tall order but it is our responsibility. We need to make it happen.

That is what Americans have always excelled at. We find a way to make it happen, to achieve the goal and to do it without complaint.  We have one year to send the word that this has gone on too long and that we expect it to be fixed by November 2012. In November we take charge by electing those we believe can and will make a difference. It is up to us; "We, the People".