Recession is hitting Americans hard

They use to tell me

I was building a dream

With peace and glory ahead.

Why should I be standing in line?

Just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad

I made it run

Made it race against time.

Once I build a railroad

Now it’s done

Brother, can you spare a dime?

That’s a stanza from the No. 1 recording hit from 1932, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” It was written for a Broadway musical when 25 percent of American workers could not find employment.

The country was caught in a deep depression from 1929 until 1933. Americans were digging through trash dumps or begging on corners. More than 5,000 banks went under as millions lost their homes, their farms and their businesses. Wages had plummeted 60 percent, and everything was on sale for 50 percent off.

In 1931, 238 people crawled into hospitals suffering from starvation. In 1932 alone, 23,000 Americans committed suicide. Shantytowns – “Hoovervilles,” named after President Herbert Hoover – sprang up everywhere, even in the nation’s capital. President Hoover’s failed economic policies were blamed for the massive economic downturn. The stranglehold on the nation was broken after Franklin Delano Roosevelt too office as president in 1933.

And what about today? This recession we are in is already a depression for many. USA Today reportd that the sluggish economy is having an effect on state welfare rolls, for they are rising in 27 states, including Missouri. This is a reversal since the 1996 overhaul of the nation’s cash-assistance program.

I checked data from the Missouri Department of Social Services and found that from December through March, Missouri added 15,171 recipients, bringing the statewide total to 105,568. Of that number, 17,137 live in Jackson Country. Despite the high gas and food prices, the stagnant job market, the collapse of the housing industry and lifestyle changes, President Bush remains optimistic.

“We saw the economic slowdown coming,” he said in a radio address, “we were upfront about these concerns with the American people, and we’ve been taking decisive action.” He is also hopeful that his tax rebates of $117 billion will have a positive effect on the economy. If not, many Americas will be singing, “Brother can you spare a dime.”

I give you President John Adams’ toast: Independence forever.