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Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• Street performer Greg Frisbee mixes fire-breathing, humor

• What did visitors enjoy most at the Grape Festival?

• Ivan Suess nominated for helping local community, seniors

• Regional Roundup

• Protecting Sandhill cranes

• Public Meetings

• Correction

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

ADVERTISEMENT

Suggestions to stimulate the economy

I read with interest the various opinions on the economy appearing in the Lodi News-Sentinel on Sept. 1. I have some opinions of my own.

I don't think the economy is going to improve until the unemployed go back to work. We have lost 6 million jobs over the last two years, and there are well-qualified people who are out of work who should be working. This was caused, to a great extent, by the tax incentives Congress gave big companies a few years ago, to move their jobs to places like China, India, Pakistan and Mexico. That is the reason economies are better in those countries than in the USA.

Unemployed people don't pay taxes, don't buy things, and are a drain on the economy. The best thing for the economy would be to put these people back to work.

Instead of paying billions to bail out automakers and banks, we need to spend billions to fix the infrastructure in this country. There are bridges crumbling in this country and there are many highways that need to be improved. The highways in California are particularly deplorable. Our water delivery system in California is in desperate need of updating, to provide more water to an ever-growing population.

If the government would spend stimulus money on these types of projects, it would put millions back to work and take them off unemployment. That would in turn stimulate the economy, as those newly employed would start paying taxes and buying things — thus creating more jobs.

Even though banks have been told to modify mortgages for people, anyone who has tried to get their mortgage modified finds that they have to go through hell to get anything accomplished. Banks need to be more willing to work with people who are in danger of losing their homes to avoid foreclosures, which benefit no one.

Many credit card companies are again raising interest rates to take advantage of people who have increased their debt due to their unemployment. This is not a good time to raise interest rates, and should be forbidden.

If these policies were implemented, people would be able to go back to work, and the economy would improve. Until these things happen, you can expect a very slow recovery.

Karl Welsbacher Jr.
Lodi