Frightened.

Although I tend to be a worrier and have wasted immeasurable time on that particular pursuit, my current worry has morphed into concern and my concern into fright.  In my 45 years on this earth, in this country, I have never seen the economy as volatile as it currently is and it is getting worse, not better.  Contrary to what the owner of seven (maybe) homes says, our economy is NOT fundamentally sound but instead is at its worst since the Great Depression.  We as a nation are not in a “mental depression” but do indeed have reason to whine.  Wall Street and the lending industry are in chaos.  After the government rescued Bear Stearns back in March, it must have enjoyed it because it then bailed out Freddie and Fannie.  Lehman declared bankruptcy and Bank of America purchased what was a cornerstone of stable finance, Merrill Lynch.  AIG is struggling to stay in business and is begging for loans from both public and private sources.  In response to this mess, the banks that are not too bloodied to function are tightening their loan criteria beyond what it was pre-subprime mortgages.  For the foreseeable future, only those with perfect or near-perfect credit will be able to acquire a loan for a home or a small business, much less items such as cars, boats, second homes, or land.  What this means is our economy will continue to decline or at least stall.  Because financing will be difficult to attain, the markets for things that are typically purchased this way will suffer.  The already bad housing market will get worse and suffering auto makers will suffer all the more.  Dealerships will go under, realtors will be out of work, and, as a result, the unemployment rate will continue to rise. 

 

As part of a middle class already financially stressed due to high gas prices and rising grocery and retail costs, I am scared.  My husband has a construction management job.  What will happen to the industry and, in turn, his job?  Our country lost a lot of money and a lot of jobs just today and all signs point to more of the same.  Will we become a casualty of that?  Our jobs?  Our investments?  Our house?  Our farm?

 

Soon, we will be ending what has, by majority opinion, been one of the worst, if not the worst administrations in the history of our country.  We have a chance to turn things around.  Yet, both candidates are speaking in soundbites, platitudes, and generalities.  They tell us what they are going to do but not how.  They speak in generalities and not details.  It’s time to dispose of the specious ads and stump speeches and treat the American people like we can handle more than shallow campaigning.  Speak to the press and the people on a regular basis and let us get to know who you truly are instead of continuing to depend on controlled, scripted oration.  Show your passion.  Tell us, tell me what you’re going to do to fix this mess.  Tell me you’re going to help us keep our jobs and our farm.  Be smart, be sincere, and show us that you have what it takes to step into the Oval Office and be a president, a good president, a president your country will be proud of the world over.  Step up.

Comments

[Julie]

I agree but my money's on Obama. Palin scares the begeezus out of me. And McCain is so old and unhealthy that it is highly plausible that he will die in office. I know people who know him and will not vote for him. I will stop before I go on and one and on. It is a very scary time.

Hang in there! I love reading your blog! Giant hugs........

[Nancy K.]

AMEN

[Michele]

The trickle-down effect is bad here in nj as well, but still my ever-upbeat children do not understand why they will get nothing but the basics this year----gotta love youthful optimism! I, on the other hand , am trying to prepare for the big fall.......which I believe is coming, elections or not.

[Suzanne V. (Yarnhog)]

Grim. It's all grim. And I feel like Cassandra, seeing every prediction I've made for the past eight years come true, one after another, even though no one believed me at the time.

[Teresa]

Oh my....I am so tired of liberals blaming Bush. It is NOT the conservatives that are in the majority in congress and the senate! It is the Democrats! They are the ones who voted to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and they are the ones who allowed it in the first place. I agree that it seems all anyone is doing is bashing each other, but it is NOT Bush's fault. The only thing he has done is what he said he would do, protect the country! People are greedy and the government has problems with the "good ol' boys" who are greedy and corrupt and George Bush did not make them this way!

Sorry for the soap box post, but I get sick of everyone bashing the Republicans for things the Democrats do and won't own up to!

[Lauren Dillon]

I tried very hard to remain nonpartisan in my post. Other than my crack about the seven houses, I think I did. I was trying to voice my disappointment in both candidates for speaking in generalities and platitudes and not getting down to brass tacks over what they are going to do to fix this mess. Although I do think Bush and his administration could have done more to remedy this situation, archaic Wall Street regulation and greedy businessmen are more to blame. My only issue with your comment is that the Democrats have only had a majority in Congress for the past two years and it is the smallest majority in history. They cannot override a veto or push legislation that needs a 2/3 majority. That said, I think the Congress as a whole has done a shitty job bickering among them selves and not getting the job done.

I’m not looking toward the past and playing the blame game. I am concerned for the future and want something done.

[Lauren Dillon]

Oh, yeah, and the worst administrations thing, but I do believe that the Bush Doctrine (I know what it is) which led to a mismanaged war in Iraq was their great failing. We went from a $200 trillion surplus to a $375 deficit in no small part because of this. What happened to fiscal responsibility? That was the cornerstone of the Republican party I used to be a member of, Goldwater must be turning over in his grave.

[Sam]

Suddenly I’m excited about Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin goes to Washington.” Now that has a ring to it. Why not? Why not send somebody new and fresh to that den of iniquity. Let’s see if they are going to swallow her up, OR whether she will kick a few butts in that snob ridden bunch of elites who consider most of us in the country as the great unwashed. Look at the choice we suddenly have between the two candidates.

On the one hand there is Obama—an Ivy League educated guy from a minority race that not long ago no one would have given much of a chance to succeed at attaining the highest office in the land. A quick check of his background and origin reveals that his world pretty much was unique in that most of what happened to him and the special doors that were opened to him were not something that the average white American boy with few resources might expect to have offered him. This is not to deny that Obama may have been a talented young lad or that he didn’t work for what he attained. He was raised in a broken home until the age of ten — then sent off to be raised by his white grandparents through his teen years—his father disserted the family when he was two years old and his mother was largely an absent parent. But facts are facts. The odds of the average American teen getting into (much less affording) Columbia or Harvard are pretty remote. Then, when checking out Obama’s rise through the ranks in the world of activism and politics it certainly is obvious that his rise was unique to him really because of his race. In short, Obama was not your typical American kid and therefore how can he say he understands the average American and his or her struggle. Granted, he knows something about the black struggle, but that struggle can only provide one with a one-sided, distorted view of the struggle and needs the average American faces.

On the other hand Sarah Palin origins more closely resemble those of the average American young person. She comes from a more traditional, established family origin with a mother and father that brought her to Alaska as an infant. The third of four children, she was raised in rural America and seems to have acquired a set of values more in common with those of small town America. The main difference between living in a small community versus city living is that in small towns or rural life everyone knows everyone and so you are held responsible for your actions versus the anonymity of the city. One is more encouraged to be true to one’s self and it is not so easy to hide in the crowd. As a youngster she experienced a more natural outdoors life style that included hunting, fishing, and sports. Her entrance into politics was out of a fundamental concern for good government and ethics and that focus carried her to the highest office in the state of Alaska. Her high approval rating and record for government accountability and zero tolerance for corruption bear each other out.

One can only hope that the elites, the power brokers in the media and elsewhere, and the entrenched politicians who fear exposure for their corruption of the American dream of a democratic representative government won’t destroy her before she has a chance to prove herself. Sarah Palin is real. The media is doing a good job of hiding the real Obama.

[Lisa]

Sam writes: "The odds of the average American teen getting into (much less affording) Columbia or Harvard are pretty remote." No, Sam, that is just not so.

Back in the years that Obama was in college, there was a push to attract intelligent people from a variety of backgrounds into the Ivy League schools -- a push for diversity. If the student interviewed well and had good enough grades and SAT scores to get in, talented students were given a combination of scholarship and student loans so that they could attend these schools.

I grew up as a lower middle class white girl, who through her tenacity, good grades and decent test scores in combination with the referrals of her teachers, was given the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school.

Sam, you need to learn something about Obama that you are not understanding (at least from your comment). Being accepted into an Ivy League school was a realization of the American Dream for people like me and Barack Obama -- to have the opportunity for the education that we wanted by working hard, getting good grades, scoring well on the SATs AND getting people to support our entrance into the Ivy League schools.

The media has too many people confused about elitism. Going to an Ivy League school does not make every attendee an elitist. Many people were born to the elite who are well able to afford to send their children to elite schools. But going to an elite school can mean for some that we received a top-notch education. In our hearts, Barack Obama and I are still as "common" as a small town person like Sarah Palin. I am from a small town, but have lived in cities, as well as internationally -- just like Obama. I am not an elitist by any stretch of the imagination -- ask Lauren.

Sometimes it just is what it is, Sam. Obama is who he says he is, worked hard to become the man that he is and is prepared to lead from both his intelligence as well as his life experiences among both the poorest of the poor and the wealthiest of the wealthy.

I had the same experiences and I can state unequivocally that two things happen:

1) You learn to adapt yourself quickly to a variety of circumstances.

2) You understand the attitudes and backgrounds of many more people than if you are truly an elitist like Bush and McCain.

I know Obama's struggle -- it isn't a black struggle, it is a class struggle that for me was really an eye opener. IMO, I believe due more to anything else, his upbringing and life experiences will make him one of the best presidents, ever, if he is allowed to lead and is not hamstrung by a partisan Congress.

I believe this because I know from my own experience that his upbringing and subsequent education has given him the ability to stand in the shoes of any man or woman, poor or rich, educated or anti-intellectual, small town or city -- he has lived them all at some point or another. And, Sam, the ability to empathize is a VERY powerful tool.

[Julie]

Lisa,

That is a wonderful commentary!! Thank you!

[Karalyn]

Lauren: This blog entry was wonderful. It voices what I have been feeling for several weeks. The sense of panic is certainly running high this week. In my heart I feel we are in a downward spiral which is not likely to end soon. It's sad, but I fear it's reality. Lisa: Your comments were excellent.

Sometimes all we can do is fasten our seatbelts and hang on for the ride.

[school_dubl]

Happy New Year! The author write more I liked it.