Some obvious recession consequences

Bob Herbert published and opinion piece in the New York Times entitled A Ruinous Meltown and I wasnt to give you a couple of excerpts here. None of this will surprise you, of course. I just think we need to keep these realities in the forefront of our mind:

A story that is not getting nearly enough attention is the ruinous fiscal meltdown occurring in state after state, all across the country.

Taxes are being raised. Draconian cuts in services are being made. Public employees are being fired. The tissue-thin national economic recovery is being undermined. And in many cases, the most vulnerable populations - the sick, the elderly, the young and the poor - are getting badly hurt.
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In the first two months of this year, state and local governments across the U.S. cut 45,000 jobs. Additional layoffs are expected as states move ahead with their budgets for fiscal 2011. Increasingly these budgets, instead of helping people, are hurting them, undermining the quality of their lives, depriving them of educational opportunities, preventing them from accessing desperately needed medical care, and so on.
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Dr. Redlener [a pediatrician] issued a warning nearly a year ago about the "frightening" toll the recession was taking on children. He told me last April, "We are seeing the emergence of what amounts to a ‘recession generation.' "
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Budget cuts also tend to weaken rather than strengthen a state's economy, especially when they entail furloughs or layoffs. Government spending stimulates an economy in recession. And wise spending is an investment in everyone's quality of life.

So why are we afraid to tax the rich? Seems to me someone wrote an article with a title similar to that question not too long ago.
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