My accountant told me recently that, to her knowledge, not a single one of her clients offered employee raises in 2009. The economic outlook is too foggy and employers are uncertain about where and how political decisions at both the state level and the federal level will impact their companies.

At the same time, the engine of job creation is sputtering. In the IT industry, near and dear to my heart, and provided as an example, some older companies are expanding their employment ranks, while others such as Microsoft are shedding jobs. But the real story is that startup companies that can generally be counted on to create new jobs, are not starting up. Not good news for jobs and I recognize I am using just one industry as an example - but it's a powerful one.

Hiring new employees is also relatively at a stand-still for this reason, too. Although employers are replacing critical positions, many have stopped expanding because of increased uncertainty. Employers are waiting for the next decision that will affect business taxes; employee healthcare; employer require