By ED HUNGNESS
Local columnist
April 18, 2009 09:06 pm 'So how's that working for you?" Anybody who has ever watched the Dr. Phil show on TV has heard him ask that question of his guests, sometimes with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Usually the question is prompted by the guest's description of some type of behavior that Dr. Phil believes to be of questionable value as a workable solution for their problem. It's just my opinion, but it seems to me that we have been on an economic and emotional downward spiral ever since the political campaigns of both parties headed toward the finish line. In May of last year for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was in the 13,000 range. Now it has fallen into the 7,000-point level, almost half of its former self. Wall Street can be very emotional and doesn't like negative vibes. Hopefully, we are nearing the end of the market downturn. For months, we have been bombarded with bad news when we watch television, listen to the radio or pick up a newspaper. Bad news begets more bad news. It's like a disease eating away at our nation and the negativism extends worldwide. Politicians were fanning the flames of despair, and pointing fingers right up to the day of the election so they could capture the office and now they continue pouring gas on the fire. One might think that they are still trying to get elected. Is this what the voters were hoping for? I don't think so. Leading the doom and gloom parade of the nightly newscast are the unemployment statistics. Unemployment is a serious situation for anyone who has lost a job. There is no denying that. In some of our counties, we currently have 10 percent unemployment and it looks like we could get that high or higher on a national level before things turn around. Looking back at our history, we had a national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in 1982 and followed up with a 9.6 percent rate in 1983. Somehow we survived and I don't recall the hysteria we are now witnessing. During the Great Depression, we suffered a 30 percent unemployment rate. Maybe we should focus on the fact that when you have 10 percent unemployment, you have 90 percent employed! As much as we would like to, we can't save every bank. We can't bail out every failing business. We can't save homeowners or credit card holders whom made poor choices and got in debt over their heads. More importantly, we can't ask the American taxpayer to right all of the wrongs . The leadership in both parties needs to stay focused and lead us out of this situation without so much emphasis on discouragement and division. After all, the job of competent leadership is what we are paying them to provide. Reach Ed Hungness at edhungness@yahoo.com.
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Ed Hungness