by Jack Lee
Food prices shooting up, oil and gasoline record highs while our mainstay of core value, our homes, are still losing value. This can’t be good.
We’re told the recession officially ended in June of 2009, but unemployment continues to be alarmingly high, almost 9% and many believe this is an exceedingly low number.
The billions lost in the stock market during the steepest part of the last economic decline forced many of us out of the market forever. The baby boomers who lost so much of their retirement money in real property and equity investments are at an age now where there is little chance of earning lost money back, even if they extend their working years.
At every turn, on every level you care too look, we’re reminded that we have endured the greatest economic meltdown since the depression and we are still suffering. Despite the technical indicators, most of us feel we’re still in the recession and it could get worse.
We’ve always bounced back fairly quickly and entered a new phase of prosperity before, but to me this time it feels different, something is very wrong – are you sensing that too?
The truth is, our recovery is very precarious and that could be an understatement. We’ve (the government) bet it all on a borrowing plan that half of us feel has no chance of working.
Thanks to the questionable bailouts and borrowing we’re all indebted, every man, woman and child to the tune of $47,000 as our share of the national debt. And that amount is rising every day. For the first time in our history our nation now owes a sum greater than the entire gross national product. We owe more than we are worth. However, we’re not alone in this mess, the great recession was global and it is especially hard felt across Europe.
Europe has at least a dozen financial things that could easily send the Common Market into a death spiral. Greece is certainly one of these elements, but Spain, France, Ireland and Portugal are others. It’s funny because the model for strength and success is right next door in Germany, but the leftists don’t want to accept that their model could possibly be wrong. That would mean giving up all those great entitlements.
I never thought I would see the day when the worlds 8th largest economy, California, is upside down to the tune of 16 billion dollars. Then again I still can’t imagine what a 17 trillion dollar national debt is, that number is so staggering I can’t wrap my feeble brain around it.
The largest banks from around the world skimping on loans and are bracing for something, in some areas their lending has almost stopped…do they know something we do not? I wonder. I see Bank of America stock is languishing around $7.30 a share and a year ago it was $11…we’re going the wrong direction! Of course not so long ago it was up to around $60 a share…oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Gurus like Peter Schiff warned us we could still go back into recession. More recently the Chair of ECRI said, “The vicious cycle is starting where lower sales, lower production, lower employment and lower income [leads] back to lower sales,” co-founder Lakshman Achuthan declares the weakness in leading economic indicators — and ECRI uses a dozen for the U.S. alone, he notes — has become a “contagion” that is spreading like “wildfire.”
Although the recovery has been “subpar” by nearly every measure, Achuthan refutes the idea the economy never got out of recession in the first place. “Just because it looks and feels a certain way doesn’t mean it’s a recession,” he says. “You haven’t seen anything yet. It’s going to get a lot worse.” Achuthan believes we could see recession within the next 2 months. However, he said we were pretty close back in Sept. of 2011 and 7 months later we’re still hanging in there, if only by a thread.
We have 26% of the nation unemployed or underemployed and there is no way you can spin that into anything good, although the President is trying.
Cities and counties across America are not healthy, just look at Chico, we’re in the process of scaling back on the city budget again, this time by another $900,000 due to an unexpected revenue shortfall. Not far away is Stockton, the largest city in America to go broke and file for bankruptcy. Stockton joins Vallejo. There were 13 municipal bankruptcies last year and 2012 is not looking much better.
Currently slightly more than half of Americans have savings greater than their credit card debt. With more than 5.5 million Americans unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rule of thumb of three to six months’ worth of expenses may no longer apply.
The cost of energy looms at the biggest immediate obstacle to our recovery, but in the longer run housing is the real threat. We may have another 7-8 years of flat line performance in the housing market and housing is our leading economic indicator.
So what is President Obama doing about energy costs? Well, he’s halted the construction of all new coal fired energy plants, despite the fact that we’re no where near ready to switch to other forms of energy production – the nation is currently drawing over 48% of its energy from coal and those plants are in serious need of modernizing and more must be built to keep energy prices down. Coal represents 90% of America’s energy reserves and Obama wants to abandon it? Go figure that one.
In 2008 nuclear power supplied 19% of our energy needs, but a moratorium on constructing new nuclear plants has that number declining with nothing to replace it. Obama has also taken a similar negative stance on oil exploration and oil production in the USA. If a person wanted to harm this nation, this is the perfect way to do it and then camouflage their intentions by hiding behind the banner of “Green Energy”, something that is decades away from being a practical source of energy for the nation.
We’ve all been placed into staggering debt. Now China is holding more of our debt than any other country in the world. We’ve loss tens of thousands of good paying jobs in the oil, natural gas and coal industries. We’re experiencing spiking in food and pump prices. Unemployment is dangerously high. Labor unions have garnered too much power and seem to be receiving many expensive favors thanks to the White House. The poor seem to be coveted, while the rich are maligned by this President, it’s enough to make you wonder, which side is he on?
Before we all wind up in the poor house like the late great State of California ruined by the democrats from top to bottom, we better take a real hard look at who we should elect in November, because we’re in big trouble and that’s not scare talk – its a fact.
Well said, sir! Goofernment at ALL levels is way too big and spends taxpayer $$ without real thought.
Joe Voter has to live within a budget – why can’t goofernment?
Something is Seriously Wrong
we’re told the recession officially ended in June of 2009, but unemployment continues to be alarmingly high, almost 9% and many believe this is an exceedingly low number. If we are to believe those who create these numbers, we need to take a strong look at Illinois. They have in one county (or whatever their designation is)posted at a local unemployment office that the 99 week extension will be discontinued around the end of May 2012, due to the LOW new unemployment registrations. So the unemployed (at least those still looking) will lose 20 weeks of benefits, due entirely to Government math, which is smoke and mirrors, and not real numbers. Also 7 other States are predicted to follow as well, will California be far behind? Low unemployment numbers do benefit America work force ,but only if accurate, and those in Illinois and other states are flawed. They do not consider factors that represent the REAL total number of unemployed in this country, they only have one true meaning, Get Obama re elected through what ever lies possible.
For those who like to verify posts here is a link:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-11/business/chi-illinois-unemployed-losing-extended-benefits-this-week-20120511_1_illinois-unemployment-rate-unemployed-workers-state-and-federal-programs
And that’s a wrap! You have summed it all up quite well.
We never had real recovery going on. Everything that was being done was simply a can kicking operation to delay the inevitable. The can kicking only added to our debt. The policies of this administration were not policies to create recovery, they were policies to redistribute wealth. Taking money from one pocket to put it in another does not stimulate growth and often, as with Solyndra, the transfer goes straight in the toilet.
We are taught to learn from past mistakes…people are incredibly vain and stupid to think it will be different this time.
Yes, you are right.
Prices are up and unemployment is actually up if you factor in the people who are no longer counted as unemployed but who are in fact unemployed.
We have a sinking economy AND rising prices.
And what do the majority on the city council and Tom Lando want?
To raise taxes. To put the jackboot on the neck of a struggling public and make them pay more, more, more!
This is shameful and proves they are nothing but thieves doing anything and everything they can to take as much possible from people just trying to get by.
After all, a 6 figure yearly pension, full medical benefits and 6 figure contracts from the city government are just not enough for people like Lando.
Personally, my business has recovered from the recession and we are having the best year in a long time. BUT I do not credit Obama with that in any way.
However, I think we do ourselves a disservice when we say to fix things we have to have Republicans in power. In case you forgot, a lot of that deficit happened under Reagan and Bush. Under Bush we had unprecedented expansion of public employees with the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and No Child Left Behind turned into a huge giveaway of public education funds to testing companies. Forget about the independent war contractors that got rich off of our unfunded wars in the Middle East. All of these are things Obama has done NOTHING to reduce. ZERO in fact he has expanded everything accept the Iraq war which was ended on Bush’s timeline not Obama’s.
I have been watching Republicans in the House and Senate for 4 years and they are not offering a lot to Americans who work for a living. They want to cut funding to our schools and infrastructure improvements but refuse to even consider cutting some of our defense contracts. Even the Pentagon is offering cuts Congress won’t consider. Mitt Romney is hiding from the press and Super PACs are preparing to spend billions to buy our election with lies from both sides. Meanwhile our MSM is pathetic and can’t be bothered to cover any issue in a meaningful way. We are stuck with blogs for news for crying out loud.
I need something from Republicans besides attacks on birth control, social security and Medicare. I want them to fix our bridges in America not in Afghanistan. I want them to improve our schools not just spend billions and billions on more testing materials. All I have seen from Republicans in the Senate are fillibusters and they want to repeal Obamacare and offer no replacement. Whether we like it or not Obamacare helps some people and I don’t think we should go back to a time when insurance companies could deny coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. The mandate has got to go, but we should not forget that the mandate was created by Mitt Romney.
Obviously our national government is operating on FAIL right now. We need to focus down ballot on our local and state elections. But again, am I really supposed to love Doug La Malfa when he is just another corporate welfare stooge who rails against spending but cashes his farm subsidy checks with no problem?
I just want some Republicans who actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Princess, what business are you in?
And I sure hear you! No matter which party is in power the only thing that seems certain is that government spending grow, government debt grows, the size of government grows and in the end we are all worse off for all of that.
There is only one reason I have for supporting Republicans. I have a deep aversion to what Democrats want and are always fighting to get…BIGGER government, higher taxes, more layers of bureucracy, more power in Washington.
Don’t remember if this was shared on PS before or not, but it’s so good I had to post. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=5u03KAcEbEo#%21
Thanks Peggy…that was hilarious! Too bad it’s also true.
Thank you, Peggy.
Maybe I will call up a local radio station and ask them to play that song.
I will dedicate it to Andy Hokum, Schwabbie, The Grundler and Mary Flynn..er Goloff or whatever her name is now.
That song fits them to a tee. Afte all, they can’t wait to make us pay more phone tax, sales tax and outlaw grocery bags. And they want you to pay higher sewer taxes. They are thieves and tyrants.
(And a special shout out goes to Tommy Lando and his partner in crime Stevens and the local chamber of commerce who are working behind the scenes to increase our sales tax.)
And if you want to know one reason your PG&E bill is so high it is because of your city council. We are forced to pay for boondogles subsize other crazy schemes. Ask Juanita about it some time.