Main Street needs a Lobbyist

The news is rife with articles of bailouts these days. All sorts of industries are getting government assistance, tax breaks or tax incentives. This LA Times article titled Corporate welfare and California's budget deficit says:

For all the hand-wringing by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger about how there's almost nothing left to cut in the state budget except services to children, the aged and the destitute, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year on handouts to business. That's despite the lack of evidence that some of these programs keep employers in the state, lure employers from out of state or are cost-effective in any general way. The governor is asking the Legislature to take such draconian steps as eliminating CalWORKS, the state's principal family welfare program (serving 1.1 million children), and downsizing child care and mental health programs

Seems that there are real choices to be made these days about what kind of welfare our governments will support. Consider this excerpt from a piece titled Imperium Watch: Are the Unemployed Pawns?:

And nobody has ever explained why Republicans who supported the outrageous levels of deficit the Bush administration ran up on off-budget wars and tax breaks for the rich now scream "Deficit" when people need extended benefits to keep from having to live on the street. Meanwhile, unemployment checks help the economy because they're spent quickly and close to home, in businesses that hire workers and pay taxes.

The article speaks to the hesitancy of some, who once supported corporate bailouts, to now extend unemployment benefits for people struggling to find work. It reminds me that Main Street needs a lobbyist.. Wall Street has a lot of them.. those other industries shown in the cartoon have more than their share of bribers.. I mean lobbyists. It is sad that this need exists. It is sad that money talks so loudly in governments both state and federal. It is sad that our elected officials are not our most vocal advocates.