The Daily Dispatch

Two weeks after he proposed a plan to lay off 80 percent of his workforce, Ray Zajac had a more positive outlook for the future.

His businesses rely upon discretionary income to flourish.

The recession has hit his bottom line hard. He admits to having had a fantastic year in 2007. A year ago he averaged $2,000 on shipping charges each month. Compare that to the $300 in shipping he paid to the U.S. Postal Service in January.

Business is down almost 50 percent from 2007 to 2008, he said. This number dipped even lower to 75 percent in January. The bottom line forced Zajac to take a look at ways to keep his businesses going and one of those was through a reduction in his labor.

Zajac runs a number of businesses out of his Mantador location: JR Land Company, Zajac Farms, Dakota Steel Art, T-Shack, Unique Plus and Big Daddy Concessions. Most of these businesses have their paperwork conducted in Mantador, while his frame shop and steel art have retail and wholesale markets.

“I employ 10 non-family and three family employees whose paychecks depend on people having discretionary income to spend,” he said. “January was the worst month I have ever had in my business. After analyzing everything I heard and read, I have come to the conclusion the possibility exists I might have to lay off 80 percent of my non-family workforce because there is nothing in the bailout package that will stimulate the economy immediately by giving people more discretionary income.”

President Barack Obama passed his stimulus package through Congress and part of the package was good news to Zajac. In April, Americans will be given $13 a month to help stimulate the economy. Instead of one lump sum, this package gives people money to spend in their communities each week.

“This may not sound like a lot of money, but it adds up to $1.5 to $1.75 billion every month,” Zajac said. “It will also keep 140 million Americans employed.”

Due to the many businesses he has, Zajac claims he only watches TV shows which discuss the economy and ways to solve it. He is an avid reader and has a stack of magazines which keep him informed.

Two weeks ago he was concerned about the future of his businesses, now he is hoping to ride out the recession and keep his employees on the job. Economists say the recession will last throughout 2009. Housing experts say the housing market has reached the bottom and there is nowhere left to go but up.

Zajac acknowledges some truth to the statements but he has two major concerns about the stimulus package:

• Will the gas and oil companies take the $13 away from us by increasing the price of a gallon of gas;

• Credit card companies.

“My credit card interest went up to 28 percent,” he said. “Some people have balances of $6,000-$7,000 which translates to $1,500 in interest. This will take a lot of money out of the economy in retail.”

Zajac is a man of ideas and he has plenty of them on how to turn around the economy. He had originally proposed $20 a month for spending, but he said he’ll take the $13 offered in the current stimulus package.

Obama is working hard to turn the economy around. White House officials released information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: a progressive plan to create jobs and help families.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is based on the simple premise — what is good for working families is good for the economy and what is good for the economy is good for working families.

Specifically, cutting taxes for working families helps to create jobs because these families are the most likely to spend the money. Here are some of the highlights of the plan:

• 129 million working households will receive a tax cut, which is about 95 percent of all working households;

• A true working family tax cut — 70 percent of the tax benefits in the recovery act go to the middle 60 percent of workers;

• It provides more than $150 billion to low-income and vulnerable households, spurring increased economic activity that will save or create more than 1 million jobs. The Congressional budget office finds tax cuts and other benefits for low- and middle-income households are more than three times as effective stimulus as tax cuts for high-income households;

• It ensures a family working full time can raise their children above the poverty line. Currently a family of four with one parent working full time at the minimum wage falls about $400 below the poverty line. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this family would get $800 from the Making Work Pay tax credit and about $1,200 in additional refundable child tax credits, lifting them above the poverty line. More than 2 million Americans will be lifted above the poverty line.

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