It’s Time for Triage

The U.S. economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, marking the largest one month job loss since December of 1972. Unemployment is now at 7.6 percent. More than 11 million Americans who want a job are out of work.

As the Senate continues to debate the terms of the Economic Recovery Package, the economy is in free fall. President Obama gets it:

“I don’t care whether you’re driving a hybrid or an SUV,” he said. “If you’re headed for a cliff, you have to change direction. That’s what the American people called for in November, and that’s what we intend to deliver.”

We are at the cliff. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Unemployment filings have soared so high in recent months that seven states have already emptied their unemployment-insurance trust funds, which were supposed to see them through recessionary periods. Another 11 states are in jeopardy of depleting reserves by year’s end, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which published a January report entitled “The Crisis in State Unemployment Trust Funds.” So far, states have borrowed more than $2.3 billion in emergency funds from the federal government, money they are required to pay back.

Mark Zandi, former advisor to McCain has created this graph that shows the danger of inaction:

Job loss creates more job loss. The Senate needs to speed up their compromise and get our people back to work.