Peoria Area Firings and Layoffs

Reports indicate that the Peoria area businesses have either ceased operations, gone bankrupt, fired employees or laid off at least 9,000 workers in the past year.

Yet to my knowledge, not a single employee from the public sector has been laid off or fired.

Please correct me if I'm wrong as I am reminded daily how quickly the economy can and has changed.

On 4/24/09, union boss Mike Everett, who lives in Washington, Tazewell County, advised the best way to fight a recession and aid others, is by spending. He quoted Thomas Paine, "these are the times that try men's souls". Well, my friend Mike, lot's of people's souls have been tried in the private sector. Unfortunately, a lot of people have spent more than they can repay, a lot more are victims of rising taxes with little to show for the money spent and a lot more don't have the money to spend. Maybe Mike, who is a respectable gentleman, should take that almost half a million the union was going to gift to the museum and instead give it to the food pantries as he says we should do.

Oh, I forgot, building the museum is jobs but why haven't they stated building? All those private donations sitting in banks drawing little interest while building costs are escalating. Remember, Mark Johnson, retired from Caterpillar, who our administrator wants to hire to help him with the museum takeover, said rising construction costs caused the $65 million museum to jump to $78 million last year. If that is true then $78 million should jump to $93 million by the time they get started next year. The only thing the museum (county) is going to start this year is the $9 million underground garage, all taxpayer funded, thanks to our elected officials, past and present.

Well, I've tried to cheer everybody in the private sector up, and some in the public sector perhaps, and it's past my bedtime, so I'll call it a day.

Next week should be interesting, too.