I think it is safe to say very few people like the things happening in our local economy right now. Cutting back is hard to do whether for a family, business or government. <br />
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Here in our region families and businesses started serious cutbacks two years ago...or more. Several businesses that could not, or would not, cut back have closed their doors. Many of those that survived are now beginning to be revived. The Chamber of Commerce held a job fair the other day. A few businesses are beginning to hire again. Before the doors to the job fair opened there were more than a thousand people in line...a very strong statement about the reality of our local private sector economy. <br />
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But what about government? Some time ago one of our legislators said the easiest vote for a legislator to make was to vote yes when the gallery was full of people who wanted you to vote yes. And the toughest was to vote no in those same circumstances. The reality is that the non-government sector of our economy is in a severe recession. Almost 11,000 families have faced foreclosure. More than 7,000 are unemployed. <br />
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No matter how much special interests wanted our elected officials to vote yes for a tax increase, the right thing to do was vote no to increased spending, and no to a tax increase.. The money simply was not there. These were tough votes, but our County Commissioners, our legislators and our governor voted to make the cuts and I think we all should thank them for having the courage to do so.<br />
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This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.<br />
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