Mall's demise could doom community
Sharp jump in store vacancies and a frozen credit market could force closures, resulting in loss of vital revenue and jobs: "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With thousands of stores closing in the economic downturn, the increase in empty space at the nation's shopping malls is leaving a hole in the hearts of once-vibrant communities.

In some cases, one-quarter or more of shopping centers are now empty, and the decline - or even the demise - of a mall can have a devastating economic and social impact"
----------------
Maybe the malls should stand in the bailout line, too. The line is about a trillion dollars long already, and as we all know the federal budget was wildly out of balance before all this. What is a few thousand shopping malls? I hope the HOAs and condo associations are in line ahead of the malls, and right behind the cities, who are right behind the states, who are right behind the insurance companies, car companies, and the banks. The pension funds haven't showed up yet, but just wait a couple of years.

And we have more big-ticket items coming, according to campaign promises. What will the FY 2010 budget look like if Obama and the Democratic Congress set up the universal pre-school system, the universal health insurance plan, extend unemployment benefits until hell freezes over, and give billions in free money to people who didn't pay any federal taxes (fancifully labelled a "tax credit," but more properly called "welfare")?

At some point federal taxation would have to be radically increased to pay for all this, but increasing taxes during a recession is supposed to be disastrous. Radical cutbacks in military spending would provide savings (assuming our geopolitical situation permits that), but most of the procurement and enlistment numbers are already committed for several years into the future, so new cuts wouldn't take effect right away.

I wonder how all this will play out after the anticipated coronation in January.