Economic Recovery

Columnist Ron Smith states that our economic collapse is inevitable ("When will collapse come?" Sept. 16). As a tea party guy, I hold out hope that there will come a day when voters put enough pressure on our politicians that they see the light and we start paying down our debt to avoid that collapse. But seeing as how Senate Leader Harry Reid just inserted federal funding to create more bike paths into one of the bills going through Congress, I can see why Mr. Smith would conclude that our politicians don't get the gravity of the situation with regard to the debt.

The latest news in Washington on the payroll tax cut is that there's not much news. To the surprise of no one, negotiators in Congress are exactly where they were last December when the tax break was extended two months - gridlocked. So once again, the clock is ticking. Congress has three weeks to decide whether to extend the tax holiday for some period of time (preferably the remainder of the year but at least enough time for businesses to adjust their withholding calculations)

My first foray into Christmas shopping this year couldn't have started on a more promising note. It wasn't at just any shopping center; I was at the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis, only the Everest of its ilk, the largest collection in the country of stores and amusements. It was a couple of days before Thanksgiving, so I didn't even have Black Friday-addled crowds to fight. As a sales clerk at Club Monaco told me, "It's the calm before the storm. " The racks and shelves seemed freshly stocked rather than picked over.

In response to Bill Rixham's letter Dec. 14 ("Tea Party legitimate, Occupy not"), his characterizations of the Tea Party and the Occupy movements couldn't be any less accurate. Editor: In response to Bill Rixham's letter Dec. 14 ("Tea Party legitimate, Occupy not"), his characterizations of the Tea Party and the Occupy movements couldn't be any less accurate. The Tea Party, known in its present form since its inception in early 2009, is not a grass roots movement. It is described by a majority of the credible media outlets as "astro-turf" because of funding from groups like Freedom Works and their chair, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and endlessly promoted by Fox News.

About 900 Carroll County families are waiting for donations of toys, clothing and maybe a holiday dinner, but the county's social services will be able to fulfill the wishes of less than half of them. The deadline for donors to sign up came and went Thursday, leaving the county well short of its goal for seasonal giving. The Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots drive is also lagging — it has collected about 16,000 items, but has more than 67,000 requests from individuals and organizations throughout the Baltimore area.

THINK BACK to the mid-1970s. The U.S. economy was supposed to have been beaten into lasting submission by an oil shock that launched the Great Inflation.Then, in the early 1980s, sky-high interest rates created fear of a permanent era of darkness.In both recessions a crescendo of doom came almost precisely at the moment when revival was at hand.Forgotten in those deep moments of despair was the time-worn magic of the American business cycle.That same lapse of memory now seems to be afflicting President Bush and Congress as they seek remedies to heal the economy.

Maryland's already-modest economic recovery will be even slower for the rest of this year and early 1996, but it will not stall out completely despite high interest rates and accelerating federal budget cuts, a team of University of Baltimore economists predicts.Employment growth, which regional economists use as their chief measure of the state's economic health, will fall off to 0.37 percent in the next three months, just over half as fast as that estimated for the quarter that ends today, the forecast says.

For the first time in three years, fall is not bringing a powerful burst of growth to the U.S. economy. It is a decisive sign, many economists, government officials and business executives say, that the strongest days of the recovery from the 1991 recession may be in the past."

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's chief economic adviser has officially declared that the recession has ended and the long-awaited economic recovery has begun.Michael Boskin, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters yesterday at the White House that the latest economic data shows that a wide range of sectors are now beginning an upturn."We do see over the last couple of months the first signals that the actual turnaround has begun," Boskin said. "This certainly looks like a recovery has begun."

WASHINGTON -- The White House, showing signs of indecision over how to stimulate the economy, apparently is backing away from recommending new tax cuts and is raising the possibility that it may not propose any economic recovery plan.White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater indicated yesterday that President Bush wants to assess upcoming economic data before deciding on a course of action, despite increasing calls on Capitol Hill from Republicans and Democrats for immediate steps to jump-start the nation's economy.

Sixteen Democratic governors led by Maryland's Martin O'Malley have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to quickly broker a compromise to extend long-term unemployment benefits before the money runs out at the end of the year. “We are extremely concerned about the potential impact of the expiration of these programs on families and our economic recovery as a whole,” reads the letter from the Democratic Governors Association, which O'Malley chairs. “Now is not the time to turn our backs on hard-working Americans.” Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are locked in their latest down-to-the-wire effort to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed in the face of a national 8.6 percent jobless rate.

About 900 Carroll County families are waiting for donations of toys, clothing and maybe a holiday dinner, but the county's social services will be able to fulfill the wishes of less than half of them. The deadline for donors to sign up came and went Thursday, leaving the county well short of its goal for seasonal giving. The Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots drive is also lagging — it has collected about 16,000 items, but has more than 67,000 requests from individuals and organizations throughout the Baltimore area.

I was pleased to have an opportunity to attend a recent public meeting focused on the new CSX facility. Being very aware of some residents' vocal opposition to the rail stop, I was interested to learn of the impacts this station would have on communities immediately surrounding the site. Not only did I learn that the new facility could bring thousands of jobs to our county, I was also surprised by a noise simulator, which replicated what people close to the site would hear. The noise was faint.

While President Barack Obama says he will not take a no for his jobs plan, two features of history say no was the correct answer. First, there is historic evidence that there is little that government can do to revive jobs and the economy. As it was during the 1930s, reasonable businesses choose not to recall or hire employees when they do not have customers to buy their product or service. During the Great Depression, government programs tried to put some buying power into the public coffers to buoy up the economy, but with little and no success.

Columnist Ron Smith states that our economic collapse is inevitable ("When will collapse come?" Sept. 16). As a tea party guy, I hold out hope that there will come a day when voters put enough pressure on our politicians that they see the light and we start paying down our debt to avoid that collapse. But seeing as how Senate Leader Harry Reid just inserted federal funding to create more bike paths into one of the bills going through Congress, I can see why Mr. Smith would conclude that our politicians don't get the gravity of the situation with regard to the debt.

As all Americans mourn the 30 brave warriors who died recently in Afghanistan defending America against new terrorist attacks, it is indeed unfortunate that you relegated to a tiny section of Page A10 an important story about another attack - a cyber-attack - against America that has been ongoing for five to six years ("Warning on cyberspying," Aug. 13). Objective evidence points to China and Russia as the sources of a sustained campaign of cyber-espionage to steal America's intellectual property, technological advancements, and military and business secrets.

Economists agreed yesterday that pressure continues to mount for a drop in interest rates, as new economic data suggest that the nation remains stuck in a weak economic recovery.Factory orders dropped for their second consecutive month, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, declining 1.7 percent in September. Analysts had expected a drop of 1.4 percent.The drop suggests wholesalers and retailers continue to maintain low inventory levels as they await a rebound in consumer confidence.

NAPLES, Italy -- Describing the toll of unemployed in their countries as an "unacceptable waste," leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies agreed yesterday to pursue policies to keep a nascent economic recovery on track, encourage growth and create jobs.Then, joined by President Boris N. Yeltsin of Russia, they turned to global political problems, though their talks were overshadowed by the death of the president of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, and uncertainty about his country's plans to develop nuclear weapons.

What is wrong with this picture? On Wednesday, there was a story on Slate, "When Dollar Stores Are Too Expensive. " In a nutshell, it said that while dollar stores showed strong first quarter profits, customers were bypassing discretionary items — which at these outlets means hand lotions and knickknacks — and sticking with necessities like toilet paper. The next day, we had a dispatch from the opposite end of the retail spectrum, with The New York Times reporting, "Even Marked Up, Luxury Goods Fly Off The Shelves.

Bridget Highkin works as hard now as she did two years ago. But then she brought home $800 a week from her waitressing job and today she's lucky to clear $300. For now — until she completes a part-time nursing program and can find a job as a nurse — financial relief for her family hinges on a proposal to increase Maryland's hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.75 over three years. A few more dollars an hour would allow her to stop receiving assistance for day care and food, Highkin says.