When the economy goes down the drain

The economic meltdown continues to be felt in so many different ways. I was told today at one Jasper-based charity that they are dealing with more calls than ever before, requesting help with utilities and finding jobs. I was told some people have actually been found to be sleeping in cars, and multiple families are being combined in some homes. (Arguments have been made gambling in bingo halls have also led to some of this, but there is no question the economy has also contributed to this problem, as some are asking agencies for help to find jobs.)

It could get worse before it gets better. Marion County is already in double digit unemployment, and a reporter on NBC said a few days ago some experts expect the national rate to possibly rise to 9 or 10 percent in time before this is over. I know one major manufactured housing plant recently closed in Marion County, and we all know that the Tupelo Toyota plant has been delayed and the Guin plant never came. Here in Walker County, a number of stores have closed or are closing, particularly chain stores like Goody's and KB Toys.

Nationally, the reports of companies laying off thousands of people at a time are piling up like so many 1929 margin calls on Wall Street. The piper who played a luring tune to consumers and financial leaders alike for a number of years has put down his flute, stuck out a bag with a sheriff in tow and said, "It's time to pay."

We can easily point to greed on Wall Street. It was there, and prosecutors are now having a field day sorting out how some of them, even after the bailouts came, were living high on the hog while others lost their jobs or debt mounted. But the consumer also deserves his share of the blame by not doing his homework and buying homes or other items on dangerous terms that could fluctuate off the cliff, like the coyote missing the Road Runner and landing at the bottom with a small thud and a cloud of dust (again).

We purchased homes that bordered on mansions, buying into the idea we could afford far more home than what we really could, based on terms clouded in the mist of the Great American Dream that we wanted for our families. The smartest and most courageous word in the English language sometimes turns out to be "no," and we failed to use it once too often.

Now we are faced with a stimulus package that, faced with the prospect of The Great Depression: The Sequel, one feel mandated to accept. The terms are mind-boggling and may saddle us with debt for years, although NBC said experts have said spending is likely to have more of a roll-over effect in creating stimulus than tax cuts, although it may be slower to spread around. We may not have any choice but to swallow the medicine, and no spoonful of sugar will make it any better.

There could be good results for local governments and taxpayers, as the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Birmingham is already drawing up a list of projects that the Obama administration might fund in Alabama as part of the package. The big winner could be, if approved, the $300 million interchange for Future I-22 and I-65, which is ready to go. Counties like Walker, Winston and Marion could be in line for funds that could help pay for infrastructure improvements such as the bridges and roads that have been in disrepair here for so long. (The Birmingham News points out Shelby and Jefferson counties could get up to $7 million each for roadwork, as the Association of County Commissions of Alabama is already drawing up a list.)

A continued national slowdown could truly slow down progress for years to come, although it was noted at the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County's annual meeting last week that this might actually buy the county some more time to get its own house in order to mount future economic development recruitment proposals. Certainly it gives us more time to get rid of the blight of electronic bingo halls before they ruin the advantage we had in I-22 for obtaining more industry.

Overall, though, it is a sad day for the national and local economies, whether or not the House votes Wednesday on the stimulus package. The debt problem for Walker and Jefferson counties are now going to be upstaged by a national problem that threatens to swallow us all up. It is not so much a sewer debt one worries about now, as opposed to whether we will all go down the drain.