Linda Hall, of Spokane, has worked hard all her life but hasn’t earned any respect from the labor market. Laid off for the first time at age 62, Hall has no health insurance, not enough savings for retirement and almost no chance of getting hired again. “A year ago I was absolutely certain that I had job security,” Hall said. “Change is a part of life. But, truthfully, until a few weeks before (getting laid off), I just didn’t see it coming and couldn’t imagine such a thing happening.” Like many older workers, Hall is confronting America’s new economic reality. “If you worked hard, chances are you’d have a job for life, with a decent paycheck and good benefits and the occasional promotion,” President Barack Obama lamented in his 2011 State of the Union Address. “That world has changed”/Arthur Delaney, Huffington Post. More here. (Rajah Bose photo: At age 62, Linda Hall, of Spokane, was laid off for the first time. She was a caterer at the Spokane Club)

Question: Have you ever been laid off?

I have an amazing job that lets me travel the state to talk about free markets. During these travels, I get to hear from and talk to numerous local elected officials who truly care about their communities. Unfortunately, many of these officials think they have a supernatural understanding of their local marketplaces and the ability to manipulate these markets to be whatever they want them to be. It really doesn’t matter where I go: Nampa, Boise, Pocatello, Ketchum, Post Falls or Sandpoint. Every town has self-proclaimed economic gurus who are making judgments about how to use taxpayer dollars to achieve unparalleled levels of economic prosperity/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. More here.

Question: What role should local government play in economic planning?

President Barack Obama's engagement in job creation is “welcome,” Sen. Mike Crapo said this week, and it's time for Congress and the White House to get past its “tired, back-and-forth political battles” and produce results. But in his weekly guest opinion to Idaho newspapers, the Republican senior senator staked out his side on what could be Capitol Hill's next “back-and-forth political battle.” He rejected what has emerged as the centerpiece of the $450 billion Obama jobs plan: financing job programs by increasing taxes on upper-income groups. “The misguided talk of some in Washington in favor of tax hikes at a time when the economy cannot stand it is incomprehensible,” Crapo wrote/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Should taxes be raised on upper-income groups to finance job programs?

Already the pundits predict a second major political meltdown when the Gang of 12 fails in their task to recommend the next major steps just as the holiday season descends on battle weary Americans who don’t seem to trust anyone on anything, especially when it comes to the economy and fiscal policy. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey finds broad support – as in 77 percent support – for the notion that Washington’s leaders “acted like spoiled children” in reaching the deal on debt and deficits. Trying to explain American politics to a British audience, historian Robert Dallek writes in the Daily Telegraph that, “something is at work here that makes you wonder if rational discourse is beyond the capacity of many American voters to understand”/Marc Johnson, The Johnson Post. More here.

Question: Describe the next financial crisis this country will face as a result of congressional/presidential squabbling?

If you’re looking for a commercial property in downtown Coeur d’Alene, now might be the time as there are a half dozen vacant properties along Sherman Avenue.The reason for so many vacancies? Over the last year, some entrepreneurs have been forced out of business because of the economy. Others have moved locations because of a spike in rent that doesn’t reflect today’s market.Whatever the case, there are plenty of vacant commercial properties on Sherman Avenue/Tania Dall, SR. More here.

Question: Which Sherman Avenue place do you frequent most?

Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily

Spokane’s economy is recovering, Coeur d’Alene’s remains in recession, according to a new analysis of June data released Monday by Moody’s Economy.com. But the Kootenai County city’s ranking for cost of doing business and cost of living are slightly better than those for Spokane, as is projected employment growth through 2011, the noted economic research firm concluded. Offseting Coeur d’Alene’s the positives are retreating home prices, which significantly exceeded national levels three years ago, says Moody’s, which looked at 392 urban markets. Spokane was ranked 149th for job growth, compared with 41st for Coeur d’Alene. Cost of business in Spokane was 81 percent of the national average, Coeur d’Alene’s was 76 percent/Bert Caldwell, SR Office Hours. More here.

Question: How will you know that the recession is over in the greater Coeur d’Alene area?

Item: Quest announces new layoffs/David Keyes, Bonner County Bee

More Info: Quest Aircraft Co. announced Monday that 65 full-time employees have been laid off from the local plane manufacturer. Quest CEO Paul Schaller met with the employees Monday and emphasized they would be eligible to be rehired once the economy picks up. Quest now has 155 employees — down from 340 last year.

Question: Are you worried, at this point in the recession without end amen, that you might lose your job?

Joe Heller/Hellertoons

Idaho is on track for an economic recovery in 2011, according to the state’s latest official forecast - though state lawmakers and the governor set a pessimistic budget for 2011 that requires historic cuts in education. The newest state forecast, issued in May, says, “Idaho’s economic recovery should be well established after this year, entering a period of modest growth beginning in 2011. … It has been awhile, but it is beginning to feel like a recovery.” The forecast is considerably sunnier in tone than the last official state forecast, which was issued in January; that one suggested “cautious optimism” and said, “Admittedly, risks to the economy exist, but it appears the worst is behind us”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Prison opens w/budget ???, could save $$$/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Car emissions testing starts in Canyon County/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Labrador campaign gets help from national R’s/Dan Popkey, Statesman

Question: Are you better off today than your were when the recession started?

As harsh as the Great Recession has been for Idaho, it would have been worse except for the resilience of the state’s Latino economy. That’s the conclusion of a study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia for the Idaho Department of Labor. “The buying power of all 1.5 million Idahoans rose fractionally from 2008 to 2009, but Hispanic buying power grew 10 times faster than the buying power of the state’s non-Hispanic majority,” the report said. “Last year was the sixth straight year Idaho Hispanics have fared better than Hispanics nationwide”/Twin Falls Times-News. More here.

Reaction?

Item: Eastern silences Eagles marching band/Jody Lawrence-Turner, SR

More Info: When the Eagles fight song rings out at EWU football games this fall, it’ll come from loudspeakers or maybe hired musicians – not the student marching band. The Eastern Washington University band, made up of 100-plus students, is a casualty of the poor economy. “This was an agonizing decision on our part,” said Patrick Winters, music department chairman. “A school like ours, in Division 1 sports, should have a marching band. It’s part of the atmosphere.” The university will save about $30,000, officials said.

Question: Did EWU make the right decision to save $30K by axing the marching band? (BTW, did you ever play in the school band? Which instrument?

This headline caught my eye: “Poor are most generous givers” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/22/poor-are-most-generous-givers/ 

The story states:

“In fact, America’s poor donate more, in percentage terms, than higher-income groups do, surveys of charitable giving show. What’s more, their generosity declines less in hard times than the generosity of richer givers does.”

Why is this? Is it the empathy factor, or is it the more “stuff” we have the less we want to share?

Question: Are you surprised by Congress’ decision to pass a budget loaded with 8,500 “earmarks”?/Moscow-Pullman Daily News

• I was hoping for more fiscal restraint
• Earmarks will eventually help the local economy
• I have no faith that Congress will do the right thing

During her address the Mayor also announced population growth of 3,000 residents over the course of eight years.  That’s equivalent to about 375 new residents per year, every year. The mayor believes that by limiting population growth Moscow can escape “rash decision making” and the undue influence of “special interests.” Overall, I think our local economic problems really lie in what we consider a “local business.” According to the “Buy Local Moscow” organization, they consider a business to be local if they are “locally-owned independent businesses that are headquartered and located in Moscow, Idaho” The group also believes that local is better because “a new chain store typically is a clone of other units” and that the “store’s profits are promptly exported to corporate headquarters.” /Henry “Digger” Johnstone, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.

Question: Does it matter to you as a shopper whether a business is locally owned or part of a chain?

Item: Wall Street tumbles below 7,000/AP

More Info: Investors turned cautious again Monday as a staggering $61.7 billion in quarterly losses at insurer American International Group Inc. touched off fresh worries about the health of the nation’s financial system.

Question: What’s your financial strategy at this point?

Item: Gov’t says ‘mass layoffs’ soared in January/AP

More Info:  Employers took a large ax to their payrolls in January, the government said Wednesday, and the cuts are likely to get worse over the next few months. The Labor Department reported that mass layoffs, or job cuts of 50 or more by a single employer, increased to 2,227 in January, up almost 50 percent from the same month last year. More than 235,000 workers were fired as a result of last month’s cuts.

Question: If you lost your job, where would you begin looking?

Micron Technology, the state’s largest private employer, announced today that it’ll phase out manufacturing of 200 mm wafers at its Boise plant, meaning 500 layoffs “in the near term” and “as many as 2,000 positions by the end of the company’s fiscal year.” In a press release, Steve Appleton, Micron chairman and CEO, said, “We remained hopeful that the demand for these products would stabilize in the marketplace and start to improve as we moved into the spring. Unfortunately, a better environment has not materialized, and we are at a point where we wanted to let our employees and the community know in advance what will occur later this summer”/MamaJD. More here.

• House Tax Chairman Lake taken to hospital
• One House member not convinced
• Put off again
• Hitting retirees ‘kinda hard’

Item: No money to move to Idaho: California sales improve, but prices, equity plummet/Rick Thomas, CDA Press

More Info: The real estate market in many parts of California is improving, in large part because of reduced prices. That means there will likely be fewer sellers from the Golden State who walk away with enough equity to relocate to North Idaho. In 2005, the typical seller netted $225,000 from the sale of a home there, said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors and keynote speaker at the 2009 Real Estate Market Forum Wednesday at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. That is now $100,000.

Question: Do you consider the possible slowdown in the number of people moving to Idaho to be a silver lining in the current economic crisis?