PAGE 8 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NEWS SECTION - A - JANUARY 27, 2010
L e a d e r Results from last week’s poll:
F O R U M The truth about the recovery
We b Po l l This week’s question: Favorite late night talk show host? 1. Jay Leno 2. David Letterman 3. Conan O’Brien 4. Craig Ferguson 5. Jimmy Kimmel 6. Jimmy Fallon 7. Jon Stewart To take part in our poll, go to www.theleader.net and scroll down to the lower left part of the screen
J o e H e l l e r
Either 2012 will be when our economy begins recovery in earnest or, according to the Mayans, it simply won’t matter any more. There is no economic recovery for most of us right now, short of a winning lottery ticket. At least not in our neck of the woods – on the ground and in the trenches. People compare our current recession to the one in the 1980s but many of us can’t remember that one. Maybe because we weathered it better or were too young to remember it. According to Wisconsin Public Radio reporter Patty Murray (“The Long Road to Recovery” on wpr.org), the actual damage to the state’s job base in the 1980s wasn’t as bad as the current recession, which economists say began in December of 2007 with breathtaking job losses continuing until March of 2009. Since December of ‘07, the state has lost 150,000 jobs, 6 percent of its base. Current statewide unemployment is at 8.3 percent. Burnett was at 9.8 percent in November (compared to 7.1 percent a year ago) and Polk was at 9.3 percent (compared to 6.5-percent a year ago). The good news? It can’t get much worse, economists say. A total of 250,000 people in Wisconsin collect unemployment insurance checks each week. The unemployment program began in the 1930s during the Great Depression (note of trivia: the first unemployment check was issued in Wisconsin) and offers 26 weeks of compensation but the federal government has stepped in to provide extensions - some can get up to 93 weeks of unemployment. Some are giving up the hunt for employment - some stay home with the kids knowing the cost of child care would eat up most of any paycheck they could secure. WPR, in its series, does a good job of balancing the story, unspun by economists or government talking heads who understandably want to spin the story on the economy to provide some hope for all of us. Job growth will begin to occur in the third and fourth quarters of this year, according to one economic analyst. But most experts are saying it will be two years to see close to full recovery. It’s all speculation - but offers us a glimmer of light. Knowing and digesting the truth first helps us decide on our own when, if and how to hope for our personal economic futures.
Giving Haiti a future More than $60 million was raised for Haiti via a celebrity telethon last week.
That’s an amazing amount to be gathered within such a short time span. That money will be added to the millions sent in by Americans and those from around the world over the past two weeks. The Haiti government is seeking $3 billion in contributions worldwide to return its country to its pre-earthquake state. Jobs are needed and infrastructure needs rebuilding. Because, according to an article in the New York Times, Haiti has had a history of mismanaging funds, there has been somewhat of a tepid response by some countries to Haiti’s request for money. The current economy worldwide may also be a factor. Rebuilding the infrastructure of a country that lies on a serious earthquake fault line might take some special consideration. And the lack of drinkable water during this tragedy was a major drawback and concern. Addressing the country’s water supply - perhaps the construction of a windgenerated, off-shore desalination station that would turn sea water into drinkable water - might be a project some of this money could go for - not only for Haiti, but for many countries in the world that find lack of potable water a stumbling block to healthy living. Will the rebuilding of the country over the next few decades be interupted by another massive earthquake? Will better building codes negate the need for worry? And what about relocation, or at least decentralization of the population and infrastructure? It’s clear the immediate needs for food and shelter take precedence and that long-range investment in the future of this country may have to consider much more than that. Views expressed on these pages or by columnists elsewhere in the paper do not necessarily represent those of the Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association management or board.
Where to Write President Barack Obama 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Governor Jim Doyle P.O. Box 7863, Madison, WI 53707 wisgov@mail.state.wi.us Congressman David Obey (7th District) 2462 Rayburn Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20515 or Federal Building, Wausau, WI 54401 (715) 842-5606 Rep. Nick Milroy (73rd District) Room 221 North, State Capitol P.O. Box 8952, Madison 53708 E-mail: rep.milroy@legis.state.wi.us
T h e
Rep. Ann Hraychuck (28th District) State Capitol, P.O. Box 8942 Madison, WI 53708 Phone: 608-267-2365 • Toll free: 888-529-0028 In-district: 715-485-3362 rep.hraychuck@ legis.state.wi.us Rep. Mary Hubler (75th District) Room 7 North, State Capitol P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708 or 1966 21-7/8 St., Rice Lake 54868 (715) 234-7421• (608) 266-2519 rep.hubler@legis.state.wi.us U.S. Senator Herb Kohl 330 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 (715) 832-8492 senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov
Senator Robert Jauch (25th District) Room 19 South, State Capitol P.O. Box 788, Madison, WI 53707 E-mail: Sen.Jauch@legis.state.wi.us Senator Sheila Harsdorf (10th District) State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882 Madison, WI 53707 (608) 266-7745 • (715) 232-1390 Toll-free - 1-800-862-1092 sen.harsdorf@legis.state.wi.us U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold SDB 40, Rm. 1, Washington, D.C. 20510 or 1600 Aspen Commons Middleton, WI 53562-4716 (608) 828-1200 senator@feingold.senate.gov
To the moon again...or not Kudos to U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and his “Spotlight on Spending” series, shining the light on examples of poor stewardship of American taxpayer dollars. Feingold, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, recently introduced legislation to reduce the U.S. deficit of $1.42 trillion, by about a half trillion dollars, legislation that includes 40 proposals to cut the budget. One of those is to postpone spending $24.7 billion to undertake a lunar mission. Feingold reasons that not only would NASA’s proposal to put a crew exploration vehicle in orbit in 2015 and commence a lunar mission in 2020 not make fiscal sense given the economy, but “rushing it through as planned could subject our astronauts to unnecessary risk.” Feingold is correct in saying this isn’t the time to spend that kind of money. There’s ignorance in saying “we’ve been there and done that,” but it wouldn’t be out of line to postpone this mission and further weigh the cost against what we’ll gain in knowledge and technology. And India, China and other countries are developing lunar missions wouldn’t it be smart to further pursue sharing the cost and science for future space adventures?
I n t e r - C o u n t y
Editorials by Gary King
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