While the federal stimulus money may create some jobs – mostly through construction projects - the question remains as to when the unemployed will begin to see them. Governor Doyle has discussed the possibility of using stimulus money to build a high-speed rail system and locating a business to build railroad cars in Janesville. Many people are unemployed in the city after the General Motors lay-offs. This editorial from the Janesville Gazette discusses how people in the city need help now. They can’t wait another year or two.

If you recently lost your job in Janesville’s auto industry or some other factory, should you sit idle and wait for rail car production to roll into the local GM plant?

Not unless your family is financially stable and has a large emergency fund it can afford to drain………

“The reality is there’s not likely to be production in that plant until at the very earliest next year and more likely 2011. That’s a reality regardless of what jobs they could attract.”

It’s up to you to decide how long your family can wait before you pursue another career.

It will take years for our economy to really feel the impact of these stimulus projects. Instead, the federal government should have directed the funding towards tax credits and tax cuts that would have left more money in families’ pockets and had a more immediate effect on our economy.