WASHINGTON: Voters demand economic fixes, not more blame

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

When “Pat and Barb,” the parents of a half-dozen children in Northern Virginia, received their $3,000 stimulus check, Pat said “it was like a shot of Red Bull” to their wallets.

Sure, they have bills to pay. And food and gas are taking a bigger bite out of their budget - more than $150 for gas alone for their 2004 Chevy minivan and 2000 Saturn.

“But with gas as high as it is, part of that money went in the tank to see the grandparents,” Pat said after returning last week from a 1,500-mile, two-week vacation to Crawfordsville, Ind.

Pat, 47, works for a financial institution. Barb, 44, works hard at home. She did not want their full names disclosed to protect the privacy of their children, one of whom has Down syndrome.

Would Pat and Barb, who epitomize the coveted Catholic voting bloc this presidential election season, like another stimulus package? You bet.

Would they like a president with an economic recovery plan that will allow Pat the occasional family outing without feeling guilty? Ditto.

Pat earns a salary that puts him squarely in the median income range for Fairfax County residents (between $57,000 and $87,000 for married households). He realizes how fortunate his eight-member family is in these tough economic times, when many others are being laid off, losing their homes and having great difficulty paying for the basic necessities of food, medicine and energy.

“We are counting our blessings. We certainly have bills to pay, but we are not destitute,” Pat said.

In a recent Washington Times poll, in which 147 readers responded, 36 percent said they paid bills with their stimulus checks, 29 percent saved the money and 9 percent “splurged on fun items.”

One who responded that he had spent his stimulus check on other uses said he gave the money to his church. Another noted that four years ago, she prepaid $565 for 500 gallons of oil to heat her home for the winter. The price this year is $1,080 for the same amount. So she bought propane.

“To some, these numbers seem small, but to many of us in middle America, these price jumps are huge and difficult to pay,” the woman wrote. “The two parties need to stop all the finger pointing and get to work solving the nation’s energy problems.”

Most polls indicate that Americans are worried about the economy, which has become their No. 1 campaign issue, surpassing the Iraq war. How many think there is a connection between the cost of the war on terror and the tanking U.S. economy is not clear beyond anecdote and rhetoric.

“For us, it’s the greater importance than what happens in Iraq,” Barb said.

Any wonder why not a single week goes by without the presidential candidates addressing the economy at an orchestrated political event featuring working-class citizens as a backdrop?

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