Is your recession over?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's springtime and the signs of recovery are springing up everywhere... from the nation's ports to its malls, from the factories to car dealerships.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/26/art.shopping.jpg caption=""]
One longshoreman on the docks in Portland, Oregon told the New York Times, "Things are looking up."
There may be something to what he says. Consumer spending - which makes up more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy - was up by four percent during the first quarter... more than double what was expected.
Americans are shopping again - buying furniture, cars and electronics. One retail analyst says on his weekly "mall check" he's seeing lots of women ages 25 to 45 shopping again... one sign of a recovery.
Last month, retail sales were up nine percent; and new home sales were up 27 percent.
But the question is: How strong will the recovery be? It appears that much of the improvement in the economy so far is a result of the $800 billion government stimulus program. Once that money is used up - it's not clear how much consumers will keep spending.
And, another looming factor is when the jobs will come back. Although March saw the biggest surge in hiring in over two years, the U.S. economy has lost about eight million jobs since the start of the recession and the national unemployment rate is still almost 10 percent.
A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 19 percent of those surveyed say the economy is starting to recover - that's up significantly from January.
46 percent say the economy has stabilized; and 34 percent say it's still in a downturn.
Statistics and poll numbers are one thing…your personal situation is another.
Here’s my question to you: Is your recession over?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Will federal govt. ever enforce our immigration laws?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
So Arizona passes a tough law against illegal immigration and suddenly they get Washington's attention.
One poll finds 70 percent of Arizona voters support the new law... hey, maybe we better do something too. So like the lemmings they are when they smell a chance to score political points... and some of them need a lot of help with the midterms approaching - there is talk now of rushing immigration reform through Congress.
President Obama called the Arizona law "misguided." What is misguided, Mr. President, is the federal government's refusal to enforce the laws already on the books. Read the Arizona law... parts of it are word-for-word the same as the federal laws - which continue to be ignored.
Now we'll hear all sorts of blathering from our Washington gerbils about the need for a new federal law. There will be press conferences, interviews, committee hearings, draft legislation, polling... all the usual carnival acts that accompany any hot-button issue in Washington, DC.
Instead of simply closing the borders and enforcing the existing law so that they could turn their attention to something like the national debt and the fact that the country is bankrupt, we will get this freak show.
Washington's position on illegal immigration is dishonest from the top down. No enforcement. No border security. Just pandering to the Hispanic voters and the corporations that hire the illegals.
But when one of our states that is being ravaged by the presence of 460,000 illegal aliens inside its borders does something about it, the president says that's "misguided."
What a shame.
Here’s my question to you: Will the federal government ever enforce our immigration laws?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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