In a Jon Stewart/Daily Show kind of mood without using profanity, I am beginning to wonder if both sides of the aisle in Congress would do better to take the $825 billion stimulus package and place it on the blackjack table in Vegas. Listening to dueling economists and elected officials on Sunday talk shows, Republicans and Democrats, pitch their solutions to our downward spiral in the economy is like listening to those Nigerian guys who call us two or three times a week to tell us we won $2 million, but we need to give them a check for $395 in order to get it. It makes me nervous to see a moderate retirement portfolio slashed in half and a “wait and see” attitude from financial advisors, knowing that politicians in Washington are guaranteed their hefty retirement. It makes my young neighbor, a husband and father, nervous since he lost his job before Christmas. Harry Truman said: “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose yours.” It makes entrepreneurial small business owners nervous when people stop coming in. Wall Street is miles from Main Street or Girard Avenue or Governor Drive. Looking at Marketplace on Governor, Jamba Juice was shuttered after a short run next to a busy Starbucks. Curves closed in the same shopping center. U.C. Pharmacy, our beloved hometown heaven, has been gone for a long, long time. What if Washington gave each American over age 18 a thin slice of that $825 billion pie instead of building infrastructure? Figuring there are 200 million adults over 18, each one of us would get $4,250 to spend. Well, then the banks would fold up, you say. Well, some employees at Merrill Lynch under the umbrella of Bank of America didn’t do too badly. CEO Thain passed out $4 billion in bonuses, and he also bought an $87,000 rug for his new B of A bailed-out office, along with other goodies. Doesn’t everyone need a $1,400 wastebasket? He resigned under advisement. What will his financial package include? Where would you put your chunk of $4,250? A. under the mattress B. into buying a new car C. for a donation to Mr. Madoff to help with his legal fees. More and more politicians are having a “deer in the headlights” look as they peddle the idea of government-backed cash infusion to jumpstart the economy, which is looking like an old motorboat. Wasn’t it Treasury Secretary Paulsen who promised there was no other choice but to use the first huge stimulus check? Where is Hank? Exited stage left after his theatrical moment … Looking north to the capitol at Sacramento and looking south to the City Administration building in downtown San Diego, one wonders what our politicians are thinking with dwindling dollars and escalating costs to maintain the city, state and country. They are thinking of how to cut the budget or how to sell the idea of more taxes for services. The governor and the legislature are like a marriage gone bad, and we’re witness to the breakdown of communication like young kids hoping Mom and Dad will quit fighting and act like grownups. In San Diego it is interesting that library services seem to take the biggest hit when library services grow during an economic downturn. Why hit the libraries so hard? Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. “Because that’s where the money is.” Libraries are run by librarians, stereotypically sweet, book-loving and not willing to challenge their employers, the elected officials. Library fines go into the general fund, not the library fund. Someone suggested having coffee carts set up in the library the way some bookstores have them. Would the money go to the library or the general fund? Charging for DVDs and CDs could bring in some money, but would that go into the general fund too? Library hours have been slashed across the city. Library staff has been cut to the bare bone. In November the people rose up to stop library closures in seven branch libraries, but now the 2010 budget begins again. Looking at a library system is like looking at the human body. The head is the central library, while the branches are the arms and legs, and the staffing is the heart. You can’t have one without the other. If one breaks down, then all suffer. Choosing between a central library and branches is the wrong choice, so be wary when you see a survey asking you to make that choice. Pitting one library in one community against another isn’t the way to go. La Jolla Library, because of the generosity and success of its Friends’ fund-raising, is open 52 hours in total, including Sundays. University Community Library, with the generosity and success of its Friends’ fund-raising, remains open 41 hours total, but is closed Sundays. “Quit your bellyaching and move to La Jolla,” someone may say. That’s not the answer I’m seeking. Asking for a 15 percent cut again to library services is really wrong, especially for libraries without benefactors. We need to stand united on that count. U.C. library was on two important lists: closure and expansion. We vote for expansion. More than that, we need to go line-by-line through the San Diego stimulus package and let our leaders know we want to make sure libraries are included. Libraries are victims of this fiscal crisis and they needn’t be if we band together in support of every community’s library needs.