Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lately, Mr. Dow and Mr. Jones seem to be so sad.

Hello friends and neighbors, it's Thursday, February 19, 2009 and I am doing my best to get my day started here in these parts. It's actually 4:40 a.m. as I begin writing this blog. The time stamp from the utility provider of this blog is based on west coast time, therefore, it's marked as 2:40 a.m. I wanted to clear that up because some see that time stamp on my blogs and wonder if I ever sleep at all. While I am not one to lay in bed for long periods of time I do my best to get my six hours each night, or at least five. I'm very thankful that usually I can sleep and typically it doesn't take long for sleep to take hold, therefore, I am able to milk the clock for a little more waking hours each day. I started to say more productive hours but that would be a stretch because having time, using time, and having it count for something at the end of each day is a whole different subject.

I see where our economic experts are now revising their estimates and downgrading their predictions about progress in the coming year. They now say that the economy is going to do much worse than anticipated and that unemployment will likely near 9% by the end of 2009. That's a whole bunch of folks without a job. That's a whole bunch of families who will be struggling to make it. That's a whole bunch of pressure that will come to moms and dads as they try to muddle their way through until we can some how begin to see things pick up again. This means that if you and I have a job today, we need to be thankful to God and to show Him that we are thankful by doing our very best in the work He has given to us. We need to do all we can to help those who are not employed in whatever way we can AND we also need to prepare ourselves and our families for the turbulence we may experience before this is over.

We are blessed to live in a region where our state is actually one of only six operating in the black. I heard that our Governor and state legislators are weighing the possibility of not taking any of the federal stimulus package since we have a budget surplus and we would rather not have to endure all the strings that will be attached. Six states out of fifty. The rest are in the red and California has the largest budget shortfall, that being $41 billion. These are very scary times. They cause each of us to pause and wonder about what might happen over the next several months. The experts say at the heart of the matter there's a conundrum. People are not spending any money because they are concerned over what might happen. The not spending of any money is the main cause of what is happening. I know it's more complicated than that but to a large extent this is the consistent explanation of why our economic engine is stalled. In the midst of all this grim and gloomy world where prognosticators do their thing, the government bails like there's no tomorrow, and hand wringing has become our national past time, I remind us all one more time of a line from my Grandpa's favorite gospel song: "Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand; but I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand." That's some good news we can count on! Amen. .....More later.

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