It is so fun to live in this time of economic recovery. We have reason to be extremely hopeful. Jobless claims have fallen 50 percent in the last 30 months. Housing starts are up 41 percent in the last year. Foreclosures are down to pre-recession numbers. The U.S. deficit is shrinking at its fastest pace since World War II.

When we think back to what an incredible miracle this is, it leaves jaws dropping. We are creating about 200,000 jobs a month now instead of losing 800,000, a positive change of 1 million per month. Mortgage interest rates are down to less than half of what they were four years ago. Stock market is up more than 51 percent.

If our House of Representatives removes the blocks it has placed on reducing the national debt, there will be no stopping the U.S. from coming back. There is evidence that more members of Congress are willing to remember the combination of tax increases and budget cuts was the plan President Bill Clinton used successfully to bring us back from record deficits in the 1990s. It can happen again, if we choose it. We are so close.

Will elected officials act on behalf of the American people? Urge your Congress men and women to compromise, and instead of feeding fear and inflating egos, we will once again become a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

 

David Larson

Albert Lea