Cold air matches the cold economy

Winter has truly arrived. Shortly after sunrise today, the thermometer on my porch says it's 18 degrees. Weather Underground reports it's 16 at the Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport. Either way, that's cold, especially for eastern North Carolina.

It was cold enough Thursday, so cold that I chose to forgo my usual walking of the dog. She might like the cold, but I don't. If I'd had more time, I might have let her talk me into it, and I might have done just a little yard work, but between the lack of time and the cold, I chose to stay inside as much as possible.

Tonight's lows are forecast to be in the single digits — a truly rare phenomenon in this part of North Carolina. Only once in my life can I remember temperatures falling below zero here, and that was sometime in the mid-1980s, better than 20 years ago. It shouldn't go that low this time, and temperatures are supposed to rise next week, but today's cold is a reminder that global warming hasn't canceled winter altogether.

Despite the harsh cold, or perhaps because of it, there is no snow in the forecast. Eastern North Carolina hasn't had a good snow since Dec. 26, 2004. We're overdue. Wilson did experience some snow back in November, but it was just a brief flurry that didn't stick.

The cold weather serves as a metaphor for the cold economy. Congress is debating spending unimaginable amounts of money in hopes of creating millions of jobs, but, speaking for 2.6 million newly unemployed Americans, I say, "Show us the jobs!" The fiscal crisis has prompted Gov. Bev Perdue to order a hiring freeze by the state. That's not good news for job seekers in this state.

Even if Washington's Keynesian spending plans succeed, which is not a certainty, the taxpayers will have to come up with the money to repay these eye-popping sums. Between last year's $750 billion bailout package, which has had almost no tangible benefits for the economy, and the $825 billion stimulus package Congress is now debating, the federal debt will increase around $1.5 trillion. That's a burden even a growing economy will be hard-pressed to shoulder.

It was reported this week that Bank of America, which wants even more government money, has decided to keep the Merrill Lynch name and bull logo as it takes over the brokerage firm. But it may be a long time before average Americans are ever again "bullish on America."