Timothy Goines, left, has help from Adrian Craighead while looking for jobs on the computer at the Tennessee Employment Service Office at Eastgate Center in Brainerd in this file photo.Someone has said that "recession" is what happens when someone else loses his job, while "depression" occurs when you lose yours.
Well, however we define or label it, our current financial situation is a matter of serious concern.
Obviously, the economy is not booming. Growth is anemic. There is a feeling of general unease because we see unemployment above 9 percent - with no immediate prospect that it will drop significantly. Prices for food and fuel are also rising painfully.
President Barack Obama is offering repeated assurances that our country is not entering the second part of a so-called "double-dip recession." We hope he's right.
But the federal government certainly is not doing the correct things to stave off a new recession. Federal spending keeps adding to our massive debt, and Democrats in Congress want to raise taxes.
It would be far wiser to reduce spending and most certainly not to raise taxes. Less government intrusion in our lives would encourage free-enterprise investment, which would create jobs and broaden the tax base.
We just don't see the evidence that Washington is ready to take those sensible steps.