Here’s something you might try the next time you’re with a group of people. Ask if any of them either has received any direct benefit or knows anyone who has directly benefitted from the billions of dollars the federal government has spent trying to fix the economy.

Whether it’s stimulus or bailout money, I’m hard-pressed to find someone to answer yes to those questions.  

I’ve asked friends and family. I’ve asked small business owners. I’ve asked economic development people. I’ve asked health care professionals. I’ve asked people who work for a big tech firm. I’ve asked educators.

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I often get a momentary blank look — as if people are actually thinking about it — but then they answer, no.

Several months ago, some people I know who work for a large bank told me their bank got bailout money but it was forced upon the bank and the higher ups wanted to pay it back faster than the government allowed. So there is that exception.

But otherwise you’d think somebody, somewhere along the line would be feeling better because of what the government has done. Wouldn’t you?

We all know lots of people whose homes are worth less than what they paid for them a few years ago. Supposedly, tens of thousands have already qualified for loan modifications. And federal officials ramping up the Obama administration’s $78 billion programs have another 360,000 trial modifications in process. But those are hardly putting a dent into the problem that’s facing million of households.

And who is getting these modifications anyway? A year ago, 54 percent of modified loans became delinquent again and a new report from the financial research firm CreditSights says delinquency numbers on modified loans are still running anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent, depending on the type of loan.

And who is getting the federal stimulus money? One day earlier this month I attended a meeting with people from Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities and later that same day was talking with some school officials. One dealt with the new realities of economic development and the other with this state’s sorry state of education, but almost verbatim this expression was voiced at both meetings: “Everybody thinks we’ve got all this stimulus money we’re able to spend. We don’t.”

Whether it’s economic development or schools, in Tucson at least, it seems people are being stretched to do more but with less. That doesn’t bode well for the future. 

So what we have were banks got money they didn’t want, some brokerage firms and a giant insurance company are making profits with the help of government money while other brokerages were allowed to fail. But the owners of businesses large and small in Tucson are having problems accessing lines of credit. And homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments can’t qualify for a break.

It’s no wonder opinion polls show the public is getting frustrated over the government’s inability to make a difference in their lives.

We’re not getting any of it.

Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237.