Interesting week

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

In the midst of all of my ranting, and reading and getting angry about the events in our nation's capital, the grim economic news hit closer to home than was really comfortable. When I got to work yesterday there was some serious tension in the air. And then my boss came over and told me that there had been a round of layoffs, and that there would be a meeting that went into more detail later in the day. So tensions were running high all morning, as more people were let go. Eventually we had our meeting, I knew at that point that I still had a job but it was still stressful. I can't go into detail what all was said, but suffice to say that management made some fairly deep cuts, with the goal of not having to make more in 3 months when another fiscal quarter ends. And that there were some people pretty high up the ladder who felt the pain as well.

I went through a year of periodic cuts at the same company back in 2002, and I have to say that this one was handled much better, made more sense, and I feel there was more thought put into this. And I still think the company is equipped to handle the current climate, provided things don't go a lot farther south.

So Kim & I talked, we will have to make a few adjustments. We are no longer going to take our planned big summer vacation. Instead we will focus on saving our nest egg. And hope to take an extended vacation next year. Part of the reasoning is there will be some forced time off at my company that will use my paid time. Plus the scuttlebutt at Kim's work is the union may go on strike when the contract runs out in May. So this is definitely the time to plan on saving and focusing on work, not vacation spending.

In the midst of all this personal news Senate Republicans continued to act as if the failed Republican ideology and practices of the last 40 years were the only possible way to rescue us from this mess. This in the face of overwhelming evidence and every reasonable economist arguing differently (including the most recent Nobel Prize winner). And while the Colorado Springs City Council heard that they will have to cut even deeper from the budget, including probable cuts from the police and fire departments. So I get more than a little angry when I hear someone argue that 'we just need to cut more taxes and encourage people to buy more houses'. The bottom line is that this crash is because of policies like this, that have bankrupted governments, concentrated wealth in the hands of a few, and when the bottom dropped out, there was no safety net. While this is a worldwide crisis it will not be felt nearly as badly in sensible nations where there is a health care and educational safety net. But in the US, where health care is not a given, and education is not a priority, when people lose their jobs they lose their health care. And when local governments lose money, it is education and public safety that suffer.

So the thing that this country needs is a re-education to rid ourselves of this ridiculous Republican ideology that has overtaken our public discourse. The best government is not the one that governs least. The best government is the one that cares for all people, makes certain that their basic needs are taken care of: health care, education, public safety, transportation and infrastructure. That was a given when I grew up, but 40 years of continuous Republican spin has taught a different ideology: less government is better, competition will make everything better, the free market will save everything. Historians would have begged to differ, but they were ignored. It is only now, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that the media and the people are gradually starting to learn the truth. I can only hope that it is not too late for a lot more people.