Forget Hope, Better Hang On To Your Change

Who are you going to trust? White House officials and Treasury members who constantly tell us recovery is just around the corner or business leaders down in the trenches who have to deal with reality, not rhetoric?

A recent survey of Atlanta-based companies revealed some sobering information.

During a recent Audit Committee Institute Roundtable, as many as 34 of 49 executives (69 percent) polled said they don’t expect a return to pre-recession employment, investment and productivity until 2013 or later. A full 38 percent said a return to pre-recession levels might not occur until 2015 or 2016.

Twenty-four percent said they wouldn’t predict a full rebound “for the foreseeable future,” the survey said.

A meager 4 percent of respondents were optimistic enough to say pre-recession levels would return within two years, but not a single board member or executive polled would commit to a return to pre-recession growth in 2010.

While serving in the Army we used to have a few truths. First was the LT telling you that the objective was only a click and a half away. This was interpreted to mean plan on walking all day.

The second was there are no winds on the drop zone. This meant that gale force winds were circulating at 100 meters above the ground.

The final truth was that chow was on the way, which meant start rummaging around the bottom of the ruck sack for any cracker crumbs that may have found their way to the bottom.

This is the same attitude I take whenever the folks in Washington who live in a bubble keep telling us that this economy is going to turn around. No really.

I'm not kidding this time.

I double pinky swear.

All you folks that voted for HopeNChange, you need to hold on to hope because I don't think you will have any change left in your pocket. To borrow an overused phrase from the Democrats, this is going to be a historic presidency. In a fall of the Roman Empire sort of way.