A New Years Resolution for Us All: Invest in America, Restore Common Sense

Local Projects Like the Bay Area Family Y, Economic Revitalization are Key

December 28, 2008
By: Dave Rogers

Bernie Madoff may become the iconic symbol of our time.

He explained his $50 billion Ponzi scheme with this statement: "I paid people with money that wasn't there."

That's what America has been doing -- incredibly stupid things that defy the imagination, and the laws of common sense.

Now that we know how dumb we were, maybe we can stop this orgy of self destruction:

Stop shipping millions of jobs overseas;

Stop lending money to people who can't pay it back;

Stop washing kids out of the educational system and thinking that somehow they will land on their feet with a good paying job;

Stop mortgaging our grand-children's futures with wars we shouldn't have fought and precious lives we shouldn't have squandered; and

Stop thinking that we can buy the world with money we print and run deficits without end.

Bob Herbert, columnist of the New York Times has a suggestion:

"Invest in the U.S. By that I mean we should stop squandering the nation's wealth on unnecessary warfare overseas and mindless consumption here at home and start making sensible investments in the well-being of the American people and the long-term health of the economy."

Here in Bay City, Michigan, "the center of the known universe" as the local sage Tom Tabor Sr. used to say, thankfully we have done some things right.

Like investing in renovation of our schools, projects which are still in progress. Yes, we have aging school infrastructure but it are getting new life by virtue of the wisdom of local voters.

We need to turn our attention to the Bay Area Family Y's new building that needs a huge investment, about $5 million, from local folks.

Dow Chemical has shown us the way toward a $15.5 million goal with a $4 million donation, but the drive is heading for the home stretch and needs a boost from everyone.

As the leaders of the campaign point out, this is not just a fitness center, it is a place where the heart of the community will thrive and where everyone, from youth to oldsters, will grow.

We can only hope that the fates will turn our way and revitalize the auto industry that is, and has been, so much a part of our local economy.

The massive challenge of restoring the economic base of the city, undermined by the mortgage crisis and falling home values, will take determination and wisdom of everyone -- not just city fathers.

There are many bright spots: downtown living, Uptown at RiversEdge potential, tourism plans, the river's eternal promise through foreign trade, power generation, solar and wind projects, to name just a few.

Don Sherman's "Renaissance River City" is a slogan that comes quickly to mind when pondering these economic sparkplugs.

To become Michigan's Silicon Valley, as Gov. Jennifer Granholm has inspirationally said, and the Bay City Times has pronounced a realistic goal, is certainly our best hope for a bright future.

But it can only be achieved by optimism as this New Year dawns, and by increased dedication to providing the educational and cultural advantages that a "center of the known universe" demands.###