VOTE: Give Obama two more years

To all the people out there that are constantly spewing gloom and doom statements and saying, among other things, that the stimulus is not working, you should get a hold of the Sept. 6 edition of Time Magazine. According to the article, "How the Stimulus is Changing America," the "stimulus has cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans, bailed out every state, hustled record amounts of unemployment benefits and other aid to struggling families, and funded more than 100,000 projects to upgrade roads, subways, schools, airports, military bases, and much more." About one sixth of the total cost is an all-out effort to make green energy, green building, and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen and paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future.

There is a company in Livonia, Mich., called A123 that received stimulus funding to produce lithium ion batteries that will be sold to auto manufacturers.

"Without government, there's no way we could have done this in the U.S.," stated Bart Riley, A123's chief technology officer. "But now we are going to see the auto industry reach critical mass... Last year the U.S. had two factories that made advanced batteries for electric vehicles. The stimulus will create 30 new ones, expanding U.S. production capacity from one percent of the global market to 20 percent, supporting half a million plug-ins and hybrids."

This is a chance to start new industrial jobs for our country, as most of the ones outsourced will probably never return. Undoubtedly not all the projects will succeed, but it's a start and a new hope to restore America to what we once were.

Warren Buffet was recently on a news segment on CNN. He was asked whether he thought the stimulus and the bailouts were necessary to save us from a depression and whether they were working. He made the analogy that we had to compare the condition of the U.S. economy to that of a critically ill patient. Surgery was necessary to save the life of the patient. The surgery necessary was extensive and very serious. The patient came out of surgery still in serious condition, but is recovering. The recovery will be slow, but things look very hopeful.

It has only been two years since the Obama administration took over the leadership of our country. Why not give it a chance instead of saying nothing is working? Have you really researched whether it is or isn't? Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt and withhold judgment until the end of the first four years.

SHARON MCINTURFF

Hayden