As the national as well as local economies here in Benton and Linn Counties decline, businesses are forced to tighten their belts to weather the storm.  One of the best ways is to decrease payroll costs or release some of their labor force.  How do these newly jobless make their mortgage and car payments?

 

It just isn’t going to happen except for the disciplined few who saved up a lot for a “rainy day”.  These are few and far between as the sunny economy of previous years made for more personal indulgence and less imagining of the gloomy days ahead.  Few saved and now there are very few government programs designed to bail out the increasing numbers of people faced with this crisis to the tune of 1.2 million homes in foreclosure during the second quarter of this year.  In June, 45.5% of the foreclosures were due to jobs lost or the loss of income. That's an increase from 36.3% in 2006.

 

It may be better for government spending to create more jobs rather than just giving money to consumers.