It must be an election year, because Barbara Boxer was in the Central Valley this week talking about how hard she’s working to stimulate the economy. The problem, of course, is that her job-killing policies are not only causing unemployment rates to skyrocket, but they are also negatively impacting many different areas of the economy, and Californians are personally feeling the stress. Whatever it is she’s doing clearly isn’t yielding the results she promised – and Valley residents are feeling the pain uniquely and more deeply than many other regions of the state. In fact, a recent report shows that bankruptcy filings are increasing in the Central Valley in large part because of the region’s unemployment crisis.

Bankruptcy Filings Increased In The Central Valley Last Year Due To Employment Loss. “Bankruptcy courts in the Central Valley and beyond are busier than they’ve been in years, as distressed families and businesses increasingly seek respite from the financial storm … ‘We’ve seen an increase in bankruptcy filings across the board,’ Fresno attorney Benny Barco said Tuesday. ‘A lot of it has to do with loss of employment.’” (Michael Doyle, “Bankruptcy Filings Soar In U.S. And In California’s Central Valley,” The Sacramento Bee, 8/18/10)

“The Grim Business” Of Bankruptcy Filings In Fresno and Bakersfield “Just Keeps On Coming.” “For federal bankruptcy courts in Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield, the grim business just keeps on coming. On Monday, a seemingly typical day this week, 129 new bankruptcy filings were recorded in the three courts. In the Fresno bankruptcy court, proprietors of a Kern County-based fitness club paid a $299 fee Monday and filed for Chapter 7, also known as a liquidation bankruptcy, where nonexempt assets are sold to pay creditors.” (Michael Doyle, “Bankruptcy Filings Soar In U.S. And In California’s Central Valley,” The Sacramento Bee, 8/18/10)

The truth is that, after 28 years in Washington, Barbara Boxer has increasingly become long on rhetoric and short on results. She promised 400,000 jobs would be saved or created as a result of the $862 billion taxpayer-funded stimulus, yet almost that many jobs have been lost in the state since the plan passed. And at the end the day, 132,000 Fresno and Kern County residents are out of work, facing the prospect of losing their homes and their credit.