CHESSNOID

I am surprised to see this article in CNN.Money since most of the mainstream media’s coverage of the Obama administration’s performance thus far has been extremely positive even though the actions don’t back up the promises.  People have emailed me to tell me I am too negative and that I am too doomy and gloomy in what I blog about.  I guess that is both true and false.  I like to blog about what I feel.

In my personal life, things have been going great.  I planned for the worse and it is already here.  I am hoping it doesn’t continue to go that way, but we have to be realistic to a certain degree if we are to survive the current climate.

In my views on the overall economy, I just like to read the reports and the numbers and see which way the economic winds are blowing.  There is nothing to indicate that things are getting better.  Most things point to the fact things are getting worse. Unemployment has already surpassed what the Obama administration predicted.  The foreclosures continue to pile on because the banks are not doing the modifications.  Many of the states are in budget crisis and laying off government employees.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) —

Nearly five months after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a still-worsening economy has many wondering if stimulus is a bunch of baloney.

In February, the stimulus bill was passed with the promise that funds would be paid out quickly to save or create 750,000 jobs by early August. Without it, the Obama administration said, unemployment could rise to 9% in 2010.

With August quickly approaching, $56.3 billion, or 10% of stimulus funds have been paid out, and the unemployment rate has already risen to 9.5%.

As a result, there’s debate about whether stimulus has put the economy on a path to recovery or is merely a broken promise. Some economists are already calling for a second stimulus bill as the economy continues to falter, arguing the stimulus wasn’t strong enough and isn’t being paid out fast enough.

On the other hand, many Republicans and even some Democrats are saying that parts of the plan were a waste of money.

“This form of fiscal stimulus will have no meaningful effect on the economy whatsoever, because they don’t have a magic wand to create purchasing power,” said J.D. Foster, economic fellow at the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. “Even if you do think stimulus is effective, what they’re arguing is $56 billion is really effective. This is pure spin.”

I know the news media likes to put the positive spin on these facts, but we all have family and friends who are in the economic storm trying to keep their heads above water.  If we  face up to the facts,  then we can create a plan to improve our reality.  If you are waiting for the government to bail you out, then you will be disappointed.