Recession

Dear Editor, If we're not in a recession, why do we think we are? It's all about confidence in the economy. With $4 a gallon for gasoline, we watch our wealth being drained from our pockets, and this has sucked the confidence out of the economy. Technically, we are not in a recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. It only feels like it. Consumers decrease their demand for gas and other items. As demand softens, producers lay off employees and decrease consumption of raw materials.

Dear Editor, People aren't getting ready for what is about to hit us in the face. The recession is real and it's growing, yet people keep spending money that they don't have, just like our government. Just look around in your life and see what you would lose if you lost your paycheck for one month. Are you secure enough to not have to depend on someone else to pay your bills? Within the next two years jobs are going to disappear because the money will start drying up. Most of us have been through this before.

"America needs you, Harry Truman"- Chicago Harry Truman said that a recession is when your neighbor loses his (or her) job. A depression is when you lose your job. A 21st century version of Truman's theory is: A recession is when your neighbor is foreclosed on. A depression is when you are foreclosed on. Managing debt and wealth are how we now measure the economy. Unemployment is low. There are plenty of minimum wage jobs, but minimum wage does not net enough to make a subprime house payment.

Kentucky is about to have a session concerning the needs of a state that has no money to make good on commitments made in the 2008 state budget. Roads, health care, education, social services and more is on the table to either be left alone or cut. Without healthy business, there will be no significant new job creation or consumer spending power. The governor's group that is forecasting the next 12 months has an impossible task in this current economic uncertainty. Jessamine County has similar problems, but the recession has been slow to creep into this county.

With spectators watching from both sides of the ring and horse trailers peppering the grounds, there were no signs evident Saturday night that the recession is taking a toll on the Tennessee walking horse industry. It is, just as it is affecting all equine industries, but local walking horse shows and the horse owners and trainers who support them seem to be weathering the economic storm. The Boyle County Fair & Horse Show's namesake event was smaller on Saturday than it was a year ago, but there appeared to be reasons for that that had little to do with the recession.

Dear Editor, You have some people using the logic that if we recovered from the Great Depression we can recover from this recession. What those people don't realize is it wasn't the government that got us out of the Great Depression, it was capitalism. The government with FDR's New Deal worsened the depression and prolonged it. First and foremost it was the government and Federal Reserve that caused the Great Depression in the first place. The Fed inflated the stock market bubble in the 1920s, and instead of letting the free markets fix the economy, FDR did program after program, trying to stabilize the economy, and stopped the free market's natural cure, which is a recession, to correct the problem.

Last year, nationally-known business comentator Joe Battipaglia paid a visit to Danville where he spoke to Stifel-Nicolaus investors. He looked into his crystal ball and saw a very dark cloud gathering over the economy. Battipaglia told his Danville audience that the housing market would crash, major banks would collapse, major auto companies would melt down, and the stock market would drop like a rock. According to Mike Perros, manager of Danville's Stifel-Nicolaus office, other national business analysts saw a cloud but not one as dark or fast-moving as the one Battipaglia spotted - "the one that now hovers over the economy today.

Dana Long is not an economist, but every day she sees the face of an economy gone bad. "I'm no expert on economics, yet I know something about the people who are victims of recession," she says. That experience comes from working for an agency that helps people who are down on their luck. Long is secretary/office manager at the Danville Salvation Army, where she helps organize several of its programs. She previously served as its volunteer coordinator. The army always tends to the needs of the chronically unemployed and disadvantaged and those who have gone through evictions or lost their homes to fires.

During the recent recession, some local industries have had to take several measures to cut costs and find ways to stay afloat until an upswing can come. Judy Diggins, owner of Custom Wiring in Nicholasville, said her company has had to go as far as making some cutbacks in its work force. "We've had to put some people on furlough here for a short time," she said. "We've cut back. We're watching everything closer. " Bill Meade, owner of Meade Concrete, said his company was forced to make some layoffs for the first time in its history.

While many businesses are struggling in the current economic climate, one local Danville restaurant is doing fine by treating its customers like family. Melton's Deli, at the corner of East Main Street and Wilderness Road, has been in business for 10 years. It is owned and run by locals Ron and Gina Melton. Gina said the economic recession hasn't hurt business at Melton's. "We've been very pleased because we weren't sure what was going to happen," she said. "This has been hard on so many people.

One of the best things about being at a library is that you get to hear a lot of great stories. That's always been a part of lure of libraries. From story times for children to mesmerizing books to stories shared by patrons, the library is always a place to hear tales. This week and next week we'll have a couple of excellent local storytellers at the library to entertain you with wonderful stories. On Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m., Paris, Ky, author Sarah Spradlin will visit the library for Book Lunch.

I keep talking to central Kentucky business owners who keep telling me the same thing: The economic crisis is hitting the region hard. I hate to say I told you so. I am in a small subset of lifelong Democrats who vehemently opposed the Wall Street bailouts since day one. Being right doesn’t change what is happening. We are in an economic hangover. Part Two. Just like in the movies, the sequel is usually worse than the original. Looking forward from 2008, It was easy to see what would happen.

The Brannon Crossing development started five years ago, just before the United States slipped into a deep recession that is still felt in the empty pockets of many. But today, the developer has faith that the project will flourish as the economy improves. “Brannon Crossing could not have been in a worse position than it was when the recession hit; it was pitiful,” said Jim Hughes, founder of Bellerive Development Company. “It’s looking up a lot; it’s got growth and potential.

LANCASTER ? Garrard County dairy farmer Gilbert Edgington is having a tough time selling milk. He can barely sell it for the same amount he got in 1976. "With the times the way they are, we're putting more in than we're getting out," he said. "If we keep going that way, then we're all going to have to quit. " While financial markets were collapsing around the globe last year, U.S. farms were booming ? 2008 was the farming industry's most profitable year ever. This year, however, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says profits will be down an estimated $33.2 billion ?

With spectators watching from both sides of the ring and horse trailers peppering the grounds, there were no signs evident Saturday night that the recession is taking a toll on the Tennessee walking horse industry. It is, just as it is affecting all equine industries, but local walking horse shows and the horse owners and trainers who support them seem to be weathering the economic storm. The Boyle County Fair & Horse Show's namesake event was smaller on Saturday than it was a year ago, but there appeared to be reasons for that that had little to do with the recession.

While many businesses are struggling in the current economic climate, one local Danville restaurant is doing fine by treating its customers like family. Melton's Deli, at the corner of East Main Street and Wilderness Road, has been in business for 10 years. It is owned and run by locals Ron and Gina Melton. Gina said the economic recession hasn't hurt business at Melton's. "We've been very pleased because we weren't sure what was going to happen," she said. "This has been hard on so many people.

Financial officers from the three governmental bodies in Jessamine County say that the national economic recession has had an effect on their budgets, but nothing extensive enough to cause any panic while going through next years budgetary process. "We're not down as much as I thought we would be," Jessamine County Clerk Eva McDaniel said. She attributed it to the fact that many of the taxes her office collects are taxes which have to be paid regardless of the economic climate.

Just like corporate American, locally owned businesses are feeling the pinch of the current economic recession and like corporate America, they're all struggling to find ways to survive. Leonard Fitch, owner of Fitch's IGA in Wilmore, said it's a constant and seemingly uphill battle. "(We do it) the best way that we can," he said. "We try to be friendly to our customers and be competitive (with larger chain stores). We try to get them in and out of the store. We try not to make them wait in a line.

During the recent recession, some local industries have had to take several measures to cut costs and find ways to stay afloat until an upswing can come. Judy Diggins, owner of Custom Wiring in Nicholasville, said her company has had to go as far as making some cutbacks in its work force. "We've had to put some people on furlough here for a short time," she said. "We've cut back. We're watching everything closer. " Bill Meade, owner of Meade Concrete, said his company was forced to make some layoffs for the first time in its history.

We are now finishing the 16th month of the recession, which began in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Not only is this a long recession, but it's also a severe one, marked by painfully high levels of job losses, a sharply reduced credit flow and a drop in the value of many investments. Still, despite all the bad news, there are valid reasons to believe that brighter days lie ahead. But you don't have to wait for things to turn around before taking steps to help your own financial future.