But Americans know better. Many working families know better because when they wake up in the morning, the first thing they think about is how they’re going to put food on the dinner table, or how they’re going to pay their monthly utility bills. And even worse, many Americans wake up every morning faced with the daunting challenge of finding a job in the unstable economy we live in today. 

The real state of our economy is this: In the past three years, our country has lost 2.2 million jobs, gone from a budget surplus to record annual deficits, and gas prices are out the roof.  In the past three years our national debt has increased by $1 trillion. The average length of unemployment is the highest it’s been in 20 years, and the overall job picture is the worst it’s been in nearly 40 years!

In fact, Arkansas alone has lost nearly 15,000 jobs in the past three years. Nearly 75,000 Arkansans are out-of work today.

Many Americans are tired of hearing back and forth bantering – they want answers – they want solutions. 

One way to improve our economy is to restore fiscal responsibility to our national government. It is simply not right to pass tax cuts that we can’t pay for – something our government has been actively engaged in the past three years. When it comes to tax cuts, a new report from the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states it best:  “someone, somewhere, at some time, will pay for them.” And if it’s not our generation who pays for our fiscal irresponsibility, the bearers of this burden will be our children and our grandchildren.

I am optimistic our economy will turn around. But to make this happen, we’ve got to pass legislation that is effective and that works, not legislation that only makes for good politics. 

As Congress continues to debate ways to put people back to work, I will be there every step of the way, fighting for policies that truly help Arkansas’s working families, and ensure stability for our nation’s long-term economic growth. 

The funds are being delivered through the 2004 National Scenic Byway Discretionary Funds within the Department of Transportation (DOT). Two projects within Arkansas’ First and Fourth Congressional Districts will be receiving funds as well as one statewide program:

· The Great River Road project will receive $30,000 to continue to implement the Corridor Management Plan. The plan is the central tool used by byway leaders to organize activities, investments and planning goals for the communities and partners supporting the byway. Counties within Arkansas’ First Congressional District benefiting from these funds are: Arkansas, Crittenden, Lee, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips and St. Francis. Counties within Arkansas’ Fourth Congressional District benefiting from these funds are: Chicot, Desha and Drew.

· The Crowley’s Ridge Parkway project will receive $25,000 to also continue to implement their Corridor Management Plan. In addition to organizing activities, investments and community planning goals, these funds will go towards a coordinated marketing plan with the adjoining parkway segment in Missouri and the Arkansas Great River Road which overlaps a portion of the Parkway in Arkansas. Counties within Arkansas’ First Congressional District benefiting from these funds are: Clay, Cross, Greene, Craighead, Lee, Phillips, Poinsett and St. Francis.

· Statewide, Arkansas will receive $38,400 to develop a Statewide Byways Brochure to market the collection of State, U.S. Forest Service and National Scenic Byway routes in Arkansas. The brochure will be distributed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
 

U.S. Senator Mark Pryor and Congressman Mike Ross met with Joy Sanders, Director of the Garland County Department of Emergency Management, this week in Washington.  Sanders was in Washington to receive an award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for her work with the Mount Ida transmitter.