Saturday, August 8, 2009

Since we landed on the moon, we have come to believe anything is possible. Science has made tremendous strides in the past several decades and something that was impossible just five years ago is now commonplace today. Remember when car phones consisted of large black boxes? That wasn't all that long ago. Now we have cell phones so small they can hang on your ear. Computer technology improves so frequently that last year's computer has practically become an antique. Our children as well as our executives are texting away on their iPods and BlackBerries to keep up to the minute with the latest information available.

Americans have become dealers in instant gratification. I know what I want and I want it now. That's precisely what got us into the financial mess in which we currently find ourselves. It's easier and quicker to use the credit card to get what we want rather than plan ahead and save up for it at a later date. This wave of instant gratification has over the past several decades insidiously crept into our lives and become a standard by which we live. It's not surprising, then, that we even find it in our national politics.

Just about four months ago Congress, at President Obama's urging, enacted a nearly $800 billion stimulus package intended to create jobs and shock the economy into gradually healing itself. At the time it was not uncommon for congressional leaders and members of the Obama administration to remind us that it took about 10 years for the economy to collapse and it could not be fixed in a short period of time. We needed to be patient, they said, and give the stimulus time to work through the economy before we could begin to see positive results.

At this time only about 10 percent to 12 percent of the stimulus funds have been accessed and unemployment continues to increase across the country, although at a much slower rate than it did a few months ago. Many of the stimulus projects are still in the planning stages even though the funds may have been accessed. The auto industry bailout package was seriously questioned at first, but GM has repaid the government with interest much sooner than had been anticipated and other recuperative plans for the industry are moving forward. The economy has certainly not turned around, but the stock market revived, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains fairly steady and recently topped the 9,000 mark. There are signs of recovery, but they are small and forward movement is slow, as was anticipated.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, has said the stimulus spending hasn't succeeded in boosting the economy and that it's adding to the deficit. Kyl publicly questioned whether the stimulus is working and stated that he wants to cancel projects that aren't presently under way. He's suggested on his Senate Web site and in interviews that spending not already allocated be halted. Do I detect a sign of impatience here or is this just another grandstanding Republican?

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, one of two Republicans in Obama's Cabinet, wrote to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer: "If you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Senator Kyl suggests, please let me know." LaHood noted in the letter that at least $520.9 million of the $48 billion for transportation projects under the economic recovery act are intended for Arizona projects, including transit projects in Phoenix.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Arizona would lose $45 million for 500 single-family housing loans if projects not already under way were canceled. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said the state would forfeit $73 million his department oversees, including $22 million for homeless programs.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a Westerner who formerly served with Kyl in the Senate, didn't mention the Arizonan by name in his letter, but referred to "some key Republican leaders in Congress." He said the state would lose $60 million for Bureau of Indian Education schools, among other money.

Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat, said he called Brewer's office requesting the governor continue to accept stimulus money. He also sent letters to Cabinet officials volunteering Phoenix to act as a fiduciary for all Arizona stimulus funds if Brewer were to turn them down. "The Senator is 2,000 miles away," Gordon said at a news conference. "We're here trying to build roads and put people to work."

Apparently Kyl is out of step with other Republicans and Democrats in Washington as well as in Arizona. But that didn't stop him from arguing in a column posted on his Senate Web site that the economic stimulus program has been a failure and he wants to cancel the rest of the stimulus spending.

And, oh, did I mention that Kyl sees himself as a presidential candidate in 2012? He might better help the people of Arizona first before he tries to foist himself on the rest of us.

My, but we get downright nasty when we don't receive instant gratification.

John Andola, a Key West resident, is a retired educator and gay rights activist. His column appears in The Citizen on Saturdays, and will resume on Oct. 3. He can be contacted at jandola@keysnews.com.