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We watched and did little as the Washington political elite drained our national treasury and gave billions upon billions of our tax dollars to Wall Street tycoons, gurus who mismanaged the housing market, insurance giants and the auto industry. We shrugged as we heard all about these corporations that were "too big to fail" and grimaced a little as the hard earned money we sent to Washington was squandered on conference luxuries, bonuses and other corporate vanities.

Our anger was expressed in more detail with a number of assorted Tea Parties to protest out-of-control spending, ranging from small groups to thousands of people. But, these were either mocked or ignored by the media and the purse string holders inside our nation's beltway. The Washington politicos just sadly shook their heads at those misguided masses that didn't understand how benevolent our national's leaders were as they reached out to help all those important people in need.

It is true that the Obama Administration may have saved up to 200,000 union jobs in the auto industry. But, wasn't this really done at the expense of another 200,000 jobs to be lost as automobile dealers across the country are put out of business? It saved the fat cats of AIG, but that didn't trickle down to the charitable foundations that lost billions in their investments. The 401 K accounts of our elderly tanked, but the bonus babies prospered.

But, forces beyond any state or local control are still pummeling the country. Major retailers such as Circuit City, Mervyn's, Linens 'n Things, Sharper Image and Steve and Barry's Sportswear have gone out of business of filed for bankruptcy, leaving vacant spaces in malls and huge numbers of unemployed in the wake of closures. People have shied away from buying new automobiles, leaving show rooms void of customers. With advertising dollars becoming scarce, newspapers already in trouble are being hit hard and some of closing their doors. Television stations are cutting back on personnel and even the non-profit organizations are being challenged beyond their capacity to provide services.

As all this turmoil surrounds America, the government keeps telling everyone that the massive bailouts and the billions upon billions of dollars in stimulus funds will put us back on track. To date, all we see is nothing has worked as promised. The fat cats of Washington and New York may have been helped, but the most needy of the country have not seen a single penny of assistance.

Through this raging financial storm, Texas has managed to keep itself solvent. More jobs were created in the Lone Star State last year than in the remaining 49 states combined. It is still weathering the economic storm far better than most of the country and its 6.7 unemployment rate is much lower than the 8.9 national averages, but the state still lost almost 40,000 jobs last month.

No region of Texas was hit harder than the Rio Grande Valley. This four county southern corner of the state has historically been listed among the most economically deprived regions of the country. It is now facing unemployment figures in the 10% range. In reality, this number is even higher because its proximity to the border means there are still many undocumented workers seeking employment in this depressed job market.

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