Here's the Log Jam

By Keith R. Schmitz

There are a number of reasons why we are in the financial ditch, but from the Washington Post, this one may be the most frustrating, and ridiculous:

Corporate profits are soaring. Companies are sitting on billions of dollars of cash. And still, they've yet to amp up hiring or make major investments -- the missing ingredients for a strong economic recovery.

Many Democrats say the economy needs more stimulus. Business lobbyists and their Republican allies say it needs less regulation and lower taxes.

But here in the heartland of America, senior executives say neither side's diagnosis fits.

They blame their profound caution on their view that U.S. consumers are destined to disappoint for many years. As a result, they say, the economy is unlikely to see the kind of almost unbroken prosperity of the quarter-century that preceded the financial crisis.

You know, a good start to encouraging people to spend more money would be to HIRE!

Sure people have debt to pay off. But what the clueless both in those companies and at the WAPO don't get is that right now the wallets remain tightly shut out of the fear among those that have a job that they may loose that job.

What this country needs is a hiring binge, and the executives with the guts and vision to take the plunge, not just for the good of the country but to see their own revenues rise.

The fantasy is that some group of public spirited business leaders would do just that, and take the lead.

But don't hold your breath. Ours is not a generation that sends men to the moon or sticks their necks out.

It is unfortunate that there is this whining about the little bit of taxes these executives will have to pay is the Bush cuts are allowed to lapse. Not only does this point to their hypocrisy about the deficit, but their lack of character. There are millions suffering far worse.

So people are not being hired, and it looks likely that unlike the New Deal, the government will not be stepping in any time soon.

We are so screwed.