Chris Helt is a man of action. The father of three runs a sandblasting operation, Helt Blasting Service, and grows 20 acres of soybeans in his backyard. He hunts, tinkers with his fleet of nine trucks and oversees maintenance on his father-in-law's convenience stores. He was too busy to notice when the whole nation was debating the Recovery Act. The bill's impact on his life, however, couldn't be more concrete. Every morning, it stares him in the face, in the form of the herd of shaggy Angus cows he bought with his stimulus loan. Last year the Department of Agriculture advanced Helt $30,000 to buy his first 24 head of cattle. Now the department hopes the novice cattleman will thrive and spread the wealth through the economy of Cherryvale, Kan.-population 2,200-the former railroad hub he calls home. Helt couldn't get a cheap loan from the banks, and it's easy to see why: He's got a degree in construction engineering, but he'd never owned a cow in his life...read more
COMMENT: Another smart program from our Congress Critters.
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