This Great Recession that started 5 years ago is hanging on longer than any since the 1930s. Why can’t anybody in Washington figure out what it takes to get businesses to hire more people and produce more?

The President did figure out how to get the unemployment rate down: persuade more workers to drop out.  Last month 350,000 quit looking for work and only 150,000 others found a job. He got the unemployment rate under 8 percent, but by now it ought to be under 5.

The President is asking Congress for $1.6 Trillion in added taxes. And where are the $5 Trillion in cuts he promised earlier to help reduce the deficits? The only answer we get from his spokesmen is, “We’ve agreed on $0.023 Trillion cuts to farmers, and, trust us, we’ll come up with the other $4.977 Trillion later.”

Concerning deficits, Nancy Pelosi, who served four years as Speaker of the House, said, “You cannot cut your way to deficit reduction.” We hear that our school children don’t know arithmetic. Well, neither does Mrs. Pelosi. And even scarier, the majority of Americans seem to agree with her.

Our farmers are so efficient that 80 percent of the Agriculture budget is diverted to feed poor people. Can you imagine if 80% of the Defense budget was diverted to something other than protecting our shores?  Well, come to think of it, a huge chunk of it is used to protect Europe, Japan, and other countries; maybe we should bring our troops home from Germany and Italy and South Korea. Or send ‘em a bill. I rather doubt any country would pay us.

You probably know that the drought last summer reduced the amount of corn and other crops produced in the middle of the country. Well, now the dry weather is drastically lowering the water level in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Barges hauling grain, fertilizer, oil and coal are dragging bottom at St. Louis. If it doesn’t rain upriver, soon you may be able to walk across the Mississippi without Devine guidance.

The President and his family are eager get out of the White House next Monday. They want to fly to Hawaii for a 3-week holiday. Frankly, I think Air Force One should stay grounded until the Democrats and Republicans reach an agreement on the Fiscal Cliff. No progress in the past week. We hear about the tax increase on the rich, but there’s a pile of other things on the edge of that cliff that will cost all of us. There’s 300 million living under that cliff and we had better find a mattress to crawl under. And a mattress will protect you better if it has plenty of cash hidden in it.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“Glad Congress gave Mr. Roosevelt permission to spend that $4.8 Billion himself.  That would be an awful lot of money if you was paying it, but when you are just borrowing it, it ain’t so much.” DT #2644, Jan. 25, 1935