RANDOM READINGS
In the past two weeks: I have been reading up on my middle class disaffection, the reasons for our continued, collective disgust, and even about those who could have predicted its origin.
Thesis I: I would not say that I predicted the current economic situation. I felt we had enough economic disparity between the rich and middle class two years ago to justify my anxiety about my children’s financial prospects in this world, given the cost of a college education, its connection to one’s economic prospects, the rather minuscule living wage increases as compared against inflation and the increasing prices of about two dozen necessary costs, relative to the aforementioned wage increases. When all of that is considered against the present economic backdrop, my point, which was already made, is underscored rather than proven. Fiscal disparities, because of the economy, are simply more obvious, just as frustrating, and more easily explained, but are not introduced into the equation because of a mortgage crisis and a weak stock market. We should have had reporters attack more than the men’s Connecticut basketball coach (Jim Calhoun), about his substantial salary*- perhaps the CEO of a large corporation hiding his profits overseas for instance.
Thesis II: Many of the rich have worked hard to become so and to reiterate, I would never take from one man what he has earned, even should he have an excess of capital, if there is another way. I have spent thousands of words revealing in what ways I would avoid that scenario, so much so, that I consider it more likely that at least one plastic slinky will successfully descend a staircase in the designed upon manner than that the rich, under my idea of a watchful eye of this country’s resources (governmental oversight), would need to provide for the poor or financially supplement the middle class. We, in the middle class, should be demanding more referendum voting, be authoring more initiatives, bypassing the form of gridlock which is the unsteady foundation of the American political process driven by our distracted and ineffectual representatives.
Working for a living: I read an article in the Star Tribune called “The Working Poor Saw It Coming . . .” by Iain Levison, February 22, 2009, Opinion Exchange Section (pgs. OP1 and OP3), which followed two laborers looking to make some money laying carpet, who saw their credit limit go up despite the fact that they received pink-slips from their previous employers. My mom had her bathroom redone recently by a man who spent many hours over the course of a week and made $600 from the job, but who had to pay $600 for repairs on the vehicle he used to get to the job. All of his earnings lost. That is life I guess and part of the game = acceptable. This should not be: “Circuit City, currently liquidating all its stores and laying off thousands, asked a bankruptcy judge to let it give bonuses to executives to convince them to stay for the ‘wind-down process.” Are you cracked? That is like the spirit of a desert fox asking the vulture that just consumed its carcass to stick around because another member of his pack will be along shortly to perish in the same locale. I had an ex-girlfriend that wasn’t that co-dependent. Seriously, abusive relationships, between arctic terns and moorish idols, where the abused member of the couple, (probably the latter), protects the offender, even in the midst of law enforcement protection, are not that dysfunctional. Despite my feigned surprise, somehow this is less surprising than finding out there is such a thing as chess-boxing and a declared national frozen food month (March). (Note: an Arctic tern is a bird and a moorish idol is a fish. I thought I would elaborate for those who might have thought that the Moorish Idol was a singing competition exclusive to the descendants of the "small Numidian Kingdom of Maure from the third century BC in what is now [the] northern central and western part of Algra and a part of northern Morocco.")
Things to leave out: I read something about the lack of consumer confidence Americans have in the food industry, given the peanut butter salmonella outbreak; something about how those who live in Minnesota fewer than 6 months and 1 day of the year, and who are currently exempt from paying taxes, should, in fact, be made to contribute their share of taxes; I read something about the glorification of Nelson Mandela; I read something about the pathetic political decision making that led to the bailout of two American car manufacturers- “GM and Chrysler: Uncle Sam’s Prodigal Sons” by Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune- “In a normal market economy, things would proceed differently. The weak firms would file for bankruptcy and be forced to take drastic measures to cut their costs.” Previous to that, Chapman had written- “If one automaker gets the fatted calf, another one will have to do without.” He had begun the story with a new testament reference to the fatted calf killed “to celebrate the prodigal son’s return.” This calf was not killed because a corrupt cattle magnate, the beneficiary of "local control" had been allowed, by an alderman, to move his cattle confinement next door to the prodigal son's father's home- that joke, such as it is, will make more sense once you've read this entire installment. No, Cliff's notes are not available.
I read I: . . . several articles about how certain lending institutions misused the money from the bailout, either by throwing lavish parties, purchasing corporate jets, paying for executives to attend corporate retreats, or sponsoring golf tournaments, such as Northern Trust did with some of the $1.6 billion in government funds they received. (See “Northern Trust Under Pressure Over Parties” Associated Press, February 24, 2009.
I read II: . . . about “Obama’s Budget Offer[ing] Big Agenda, A Few Gaps” Washington Post, February 26, 2009; I also read enough about fiscal responsibility, people speaking on the condition of anonymity, about the Defense Department spending about $2 billion a week in Iraq in a Time magazine columnist’s critique, from July 2008, (written by The Curious Capitalist Justin Fox) of how “Congress’s housing bill won’t stop the foreclosure mess.” This column also includes the words- Congressional Budget Office and the sentence- “9 million U.S. homeowners owe more than their houses are worth.” That particular issue of Time also included an article about “The (Not so) Lunatic Fringe” which concerned the viability of 2008 Libertarian/third party presidential candidates such as Ron Paul (potential) and Bob Barr (actual), whose poll numbers (at least in the southwestern part of the country) were advancing. The same issue featured a one page article on Obama’s apparent centrism and how it upset some of his biggest fans.
I read III: . . . about the $3.6 trillion budget for the 2010 fiscal year and how Obama wants to extend health coverage, improve industry because of their emissions, chase alternative energy sources and invest billions of dollars in education. While I’m reading it, I think of the plot of “The Count of Monte Cristo” and the vengeance choreographed by Edmond Dantes, who takes on four of his enemies at once. I think of Obama taking on several issues at once- immigration, taxation, education, health care, Rush Limbaugh, pork-barrel spending, entitlements and perhaps even battling big business and hopefully campaign finance reform, never minding how unlikely is the latter battle considering how much Obama spent on the election; he has too many people to monetarily thank for their support of his candidacy. Ah, the audacity of hope is so out of place in politics, especially when a president signs a bill with 9,000 earmarks that any other president would sign. This line is telling- “he wants to restructure the tax code to shift more of the burden from lower- and middle-income workers to the wealthy, effectively a redistribution of wealth intended to reverse the widening income gap of recent years.” A widening income gap? Naaaaah. Next I’ll be told that snowflakes cling rather successfully to wool coats.
Forgetting the byzantine: I’ve been writing about those things for months upon months. But I streamlined the delivery of the words above, which would normally take me four pages to flush out in order to save space for other things. I may still quote from MSNBC, Associated Press, Star Tribune, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, talk radio, etc., etc., etc. in the course of my wandering through the remainder of this topic which is nearing its final installments. I don’t even have the energy to quote from ridiculous articles from May of 2008 with the headline- “Economists See Recovery Still a Long Way Off” with a subtitle that reads- “56 percent in survey see recession now or later this year—but a short one.” Nostradamus would be proud. My wife is concerned that my son, the offspring of two parents with a history of shyness, clearly a genetic disorder, is in the early stages of a life of hermitage and loneliness because he is four and doesn’t have any close friends in kindergarten. Both predictions seem a little ridiculous at this point, like the prophesied world domination of a legion of muskrats with muscular dystrophy, so bored by their affliction that they contracted herpes from playing beer pong. (Note: I heard about the fake news story of beer pong being tied to herpes from the Colbert Report which aired on 3/3/09. I’ll only take credit for the first two thirds of that instance/attempt at animal malady humor.)
Issues: After this column on middle class happiness or contentment, or whatever feeling of self-actualization we can all reach independently, I will have just one more topic to get through- taxation. I could spend another few articles investigating other social or political issues or social issues that become political issues, and try to gauge the effect those issues have on the middle class monetarily, but I will simply list those issues and refer readers to the installment where I might have covered that topic. This is not to downplay the issue’s relevance, either in the mind of the average American or how it might affect them monetarily, but that I must move on with my life.
The issues that I probably will not spend much prospective time investigating with an eye on how they would affect the middle class are:
Street violence, judicial appointments, religion and church and state issues, consumer protection, the war on drugs and the legalization of medicinal marijuana, civil liberties and American society and culture, (see parts 22-27 on immigration), capital punishment, energy policy (incomplete, but included in part 37), and the regulation of contractors (see part 33 on prevailing wage)- many of which I have somewhat addressed during the course of this smorgasbord of a blog topic.
GDP in the global economy: “Some business leaders and politicians defend both outsourcing and illegal immigration by claiming that America has an insufficient number of workers—an inadequate labor force. But if that were the case, real wages would be rising, not declining, and benefits and pensions would at least be stable, if not growing.” (From Lou Dobbs’ “War on the Middle Class” pg. 110.) I have been "permitted" to move back to my old department at work and am being replaced on my current project by contractors. The business I am in is being infiltrated by groups of people who do not come close to sharing a common heritage. Five years from now, the average middle class American will have very little in common with their co-workers. The global workforce will, of course, be talented and paid an overall compensation that is beneficial to most employers, which will stymie the average American worker’s ability to earn a living wage for the same work they did ten years ago. If “Personal consumption accounts for 70 percent of gross domestic product” (see- http://www.hoover.org/research/factsonpolicy/facts/4931661.html)** and people do not have jobs to make the money that they would ordinarily spend on goods and services, well, politicians and global businesses clamoring for a more reasonably priced workforce, I hope you choke on your globalization and world economy. This paragraph may seem out of place, but it is something I read these past two weeks and serves as a set-up for material at the end of this installment, as well as immediately below for those whose impatience for gratification (even blog diatribe gratification) is more compelling than others.
OMNIBUS BILL
Omnibus Bill I: It isn’t often that a footnote can introduce a main paragraph in my writing, but this is just such an occasion. Please read footnote number two, as indicated in the above paragraph (**), even should you have been clinically diagnosed with footnote aversion syndrome. Perhaps the intention of government is to increase its spending and remove the onus of the American consumer in contributing almost ¾ in support of the GDP. So, instead of the government relying on our spending, it seems to be planning on an increase to the 19% it comprises of the GDP. Instead of our spending our money, they seem to be interested in doing so- spending it for us. Course, they’ll have to tax us first. Why would I think this, that government could actually increase spending? Oh sure, there have been strange amendments in bills of all types before, particularly in the Omnibus Bill- a document that traditionally includes a wide variety of our fair politician’s pet projects. But consider the proposed outlays below- that will do nothing but appease the public, made happy by their elected officials, about as happy as my son made me by waking up at 6:06 this morning and promised to mitigate my dissatisfaction by sleeping on a rug, with his eyes open, in the kitchen until I finished my interrupted thought. He was quiet for about thirty seconds. The Omnibus Bill- “Once considered a relatively bipartisan measure, the measure has come under attack from Republicans _ and a handful of Democrats _ who say it is bloated and filled with wasteful, pork-barrel projects.” Quite true, considering the most offensive (literally if your nose is working) is the $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa. That is quite a pork-barrel. More attempts at pig comedy appear below. That is a threat, in the same way that the arctic tern, threatened its domestic partner by saying it planned to take up snoring.
Omnibus Bill II: This bill would also include, (before republicans are allowed to add 10-12 of their spending measures, to again waste our tax money in a more bi-partisan manner)- a “10 percent increase for the money-losing Amtrak passenger rail system,” “$238,000 to fund a deep-sea voyaging program for native Hawaiian youth,” (according to the Huffington Post- see Andrew Taylor’s March 5, 2009 contribution), $2.1 million for the Center of Grape Genetics in New York, $870k for a wolf breeding facility in North Carolina, and $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii.” I was not aware that astronomy in Hawaii had so distinguished itself that a promotion was necessary. One of the republicans proposed amendments may be “an uncomfortable measure that would require the Senate to vote up-or-down each year on pay raises for Congress, even if they’re only cost-of-living increases. Right now, such raises are on auto-pilot. Democrats had hoped to avoid making that "tough choice" in public, considering the state of the economy and the dwindling possibilities of automatic pay raises for regular Americans.” Note to the republicans, and the democrats for that matter- I noticed the dwindling possibility of cost of living increases about a decade ago. (See- “Omnibus Bill Held Up By Bipartisan Objections, Obama Summit Fetish”- funny title, but the truth of the matter is that it makes sense for the supposed problem solvers to convene a meeting to discuss the issues and the solutions; without leading members of the middle class, I don’t believe that the best solutions to existing problems (health care, entitlements, fiscal responsibility, etc.) will be achieved. (See- http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/03/omnibus_bill_held_up_by_bipart.asp.) I’m not sure why democrats would be the only members of congress whose vote on this measure would be so scrutinized. Also, does it make much sense for congress to vote on its own pay raises? Only if you’re a congressmen. That is like leaving me in charge of rationing the household allotment of Tagalongs- the most popular of Girl Scout Cookies. You would dispute this? I have four words that are somewhat more convincing than the JFK assassination magic bullet theory- chocolate AND peanut butter. At any rate, the most comical present amendment in the Omnibus Bill, that I've been bored enough to investigate, is the pig odor research funding for Iowa. I am not even sure that this spending measure made it into the final bill; I just have a hunch.
PIG ODOR STUDY
Pig odor gloom and doom: When I Googled the pig odor research earmark, I read some of the comments that followed the main article riffing on the 8,570 earmarks in the $410 billion Omnibus Bill (that had not yet been fully debated or signed by the president). Everyone in the country believes the money spent in their locality fills an urgent need in their soul, something which will make them whole, something which will appease their dissatisfaction with life, something that will not incinerate their nose hairs or afflict their children with a variety of brain or respiratory malfunctions. One person chronicled the “local control” that a potentially stifling Iowa Agriculture Committee Chair has on the farming community in rural Iowa. An Iowa “Farm Bureau lobbied heavily against a bill in 2006 that would have tightened regulations on [4000-head hog] confinements.” The writer knows what the results of a pig odor study will be. A wombat, born DOA knows what the results would be. This just in- pigs stink. Why waste $1.7 million on that? The stench of pigs is just a symptom of a larger problem- that an all knowing god that is credited with creating the human race did not think to give them nose flaps to prevent the inhalation of harmful smells the same way that a snake has a transparent eyelids. Or the larger problem is that some state and local bureaucracies can rival many of the streamlined corruptions that take place on the national level. My point would be- it is 2009- we have scientists interested in exhuming our 16th president (Lincoln) so they can extract chopped up bits of his DNA, use that to possibly sequence Lincoln’s entire genome and mix it with acetic acid to prove that he was dying of as many as three rare genetic disorders before Booth shot him in Ford’s theatre, but we cannot find a way to minimize the smell of a bordering herd, or twelve, of swine without spending $1.7 million to legitimize the problem of homeowners who have lost about half of the money they’ve invested in a home in Iowa? Pigs smell, now let’s resolve the problem of corrupt business practices involving Factory Farms. Another commenter writes: studies on “hog manure effects” have already been conducted by the “University of Iowa, Duke University, the Pew*** Commission, the CDC, [and] the Union of Concerned Scientists” among others . . . No reputable research group states that large animal confinement buildings are safe for communities that live around them. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia levels contribute to neurological disorders, malfunction, and even death . . . If $1.7 million will restore the people’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it will have done its job. Unfortunately, it will serve as yet another costly example of the farm lobby and our legislators ignoring the truth and failing to protect the people they serve.” These are the types of citizens that should be/should have been included in one of Obama’s forthcoming, or already completed, summits about fetishes.
Plain old gloom and doom: At this point, it wouldn’t make much sense for me to quote from articles about how the weak economy was way back in early April of 2008, how the economy was souring the public on the future. (See “NYT Poll: Weak Economy Sours Public on Future, David Leonhardt and Marjorie Connelly, New York Times, April 3, 2008.) It wouldn’t make any more sense to quote from newspaper factoids about the average personal savings rate in the 1980s being 9.1 percent that has slipped to 1.7% this decade. I imagine that rate was far closer to 1.7%, than 9.1% even prior to the formally declared recession through which we are suffering- which would further prove the point I started making two years ago. And it wouldn’t do much good to question the NAR’s (National Association of Realtors) contention that “Patient buyers in most areas who do their homework will recognize that housing remains a good long-term investment.”**** I am not so sure. Owning a hamster that begins to suffer from wet tail the day you bring it home from the pet store may be a better long term investment than home ownership, even if your hovel isn't located next to a pig farm. And you don’t need to live close to a pig farm for a home’s value to have decreased 25% in the last five years. I used to think that owning a home one had the prospect of selling thirty years down the line to fund a free-wheeling retirement of travel and routine, and thankfully infrequent, colonoscopies, sans insurance, was going to be a high point in life.
Funny old gloom and doom: Obama has recently commented on the negative tack of which plenty in the media are guilty. This necessary guilt- the media cannot pretend ignorance, can be overwhelming at times. Obama is going after successive problems- health care industry (see- “In Health Plan, Industry Sees Good Business” by Dan Eggen and Ceci Connolly, Washington Post, March 5, 2009) and the federal contracting faction among others. (See- “Obama Orders Federal Contracting Overhaul” Associated Press, March 4, 2009.) If the president of the United States wants a fiscal responsibility summit to tell wealthy seniors to sacrifice (by perhaps having them pay more than their poor counterparts for prescription drugs- in the former case) and “promising to curtail no-bid [government contract] awards that have led to waste, abuse and corruption investigations” (in the latter case) and it makes economic, and logical sense then the collective citizenry and congress should enable this predilection, providing objective good comes from it. Summit away mr. president. To hell with the rushed wrangling that still leaves the citizenry wanting for progress in an age of economic uncertainty. Those who think the vote on any bill, assuming more good can come from an extra week’s deliberation, must be handled the same way as the scramble for bargains five hours after Thanksgiving day is over should be treated, in turn, like a disposable camera after the film has been developed. If you enjoy being depressed, do so while laughing your butt off. Watch Jon Stewart whose cure for pundit-pomposity and political hypocrisy is a brand of irreverence without a rival. Watch some news, some cable news, read some news, just don’t believe everything that comes into your mind and don’t always value those things which never leave it (i.e. that a home is ALWAYS a good investment).
MIDDLE CLASS HAPPINESS
Don’t worry, be happy: Back in part 10, #8, I mentioned that money does not bring happiness. The unwitting proponent of schadenfreude is similarly not completely happy when others, who were formerly insanely prosperous, are bereft of their earthly belongings or their wealth, unless we’re talking about someone who murdered his wife and her companion and gets thrown in jail for stealing, at gunpoint, some athletic relics, awards, or junk- (think- O.J. Simpson). I’m still quite please with that result. The only other time I am more pleased with another person or group’s demise, even a proposed downfall, is when the prospect of the Duke basketball team losing is imminent or when there is talk of garnishing an executive’s obscene amount of compensation, something I desired long before I included it in part 10. It seems- “The president and members of Congress are weighing various proposals to restrict chief executives’ compensation as one of the conditions of receiving help under the $700 billion financial bailout fund.” (See- “Administration, Congress Work on Pay Restrictions” Associated Press, February 3, 2009.) Two things- one, this is excellent news and two, how soon can we vote detractors of this proposal out of office? I would want board members and stock investors to have, and employ, the same powers as a one time government stipulation to curtail executive pay and not just limit this provision to the CEOs who are bailout beneficiaries. After the economy turns around, CEOs will still make 25 times what a middle class worker does and that is one reason we are in this mess to begin with- it is called profit margins; wouldn't the $35 million lining one person's pockets who miserably failed do wonders for the business or corporation that employed them? We are enamored with the prospect of a 3.5% raise and two years later the executive expels us from the corporate world, making $23 million in buyout deals for managing corporations right into the tank. After all, “Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in the midst of the economic downturn in 2008.” I don't know a blue whale that feels that entitled to consume a school of krill.
Depressed middle class: “More Americans Feel Downturn’s Pain, Poll Finds” Michael A. Fletcher and Jon Cohen, WashingtonPost.com, December 17, 2008- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28273423/. A Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated that 66 percent of Americans “are worried about maintaining their standard of living.” People from all political parties were “highly critical of the federal action to address the crisis . . . the criticisms stem from skepticism that the government has put in place adequate controls to avoid waste and fraud in the use of federal money in the economic recovery effort.” I hate polls and will not say that I approve of them simply because the findings coincide with what I’ve been writing on this overall topic since May of 2007- for facts and speculation have begun to resemble each other. To me, these types of results are more obvious than when the she-male host of the reality show The Bachelor comes over to inform the women and the man, all of whom have the ability to see, that there is only one rose left on the tray. Yes, many polls taken in the last two years have supported my theory of the widening economic gap between the haves (the rich) and the have some (middle class).
Trust in government: Obama said, during his inauguration speech, that “those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account—to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day—because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.” So, that equates to- let’s put $75 million in a stimulus bill to help people quit smoking? Imagine how happy the people would be if you could do that- actually restore trust in government. Mindful in what ways certain components of the economic stimulus bill are to the misallocation of funds I highlighted in part 9 (government waste), the people should be prepared to be disappointed, because I don’t see much bad habit reformation.
Voter’s mood: “Voters Show Darker Mood than in 2000” Kevin Sack, New York Times, January 24, 2008. “Americans feel a loss of autonomy, in their own lives and in the nation. Their politics are driven by the powerlessness they feel to control their financial well-being, their safety, their environment, their health and the country’s borders.” In line with what I’ve continually contended. “Public opinion polling is also detecting an erosion of the country’s self-image. A CBS/New York Times poll taken this month found that 75 percent of respondents thought the country had ‘pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,’ up from 44 percent in May 2000 . . . Some of those interviewed . . . said they were confident their children would not enjoy the same standard of living they had, calling it a reversal of the American dream.” This kind of grown sentiment is certainly not unfounded unless you wish to be compared to an ostrich with a complexion problem that finds the largest pile of sand it can in which to bury its head. People, that article was from January of 2008. Imagine what percentage of people feel a loss of autonomy and believe the country has gotten off on the wrong track now. It probably looks more like that -6% export figure above.
The more things stay the same: The middle class has every right to be disgusted with the nature of politics. Last summer (2008) I heard an audio clip of Ronald Reagan, campaigning on behalf of Barry Goldwater during the 1964 election cycle. This is a portion of his 4,626 words:
“I have an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity [countering what the democrats had said about America never having it so good] isn't something on which we can base our hopes for the future. No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income. Today, 37 cents of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector's share, and yet our government continues to spend $17 million a day more than the government takes in. We haven't balanced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years. We have raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations in the world. [Keep in mind, that was in 1964.] We have $15 billion in gold in our treasury--we don't own an ounce. Foreign dollar claims are $27.3 billion, and we have just had announced that the dollar of 1939 will now purchase 45 cents in its total value.”
People (presidents, kings, magistrates, priests, fathers, employers) in positions of power throughout history have always taken what they felt they could get away with and ignored what it was in their power to discount. Politicians have been penitent to numbers and figures, playing meta-politics, for far too long, distracting the political consumer (the citizen-voter) with a continuous onslaught of alpha-numeric fear-mongering. Their subjective fact displays are insipid and simplistic and even the best of them in the game of balderdash (Reagan) who inherited a rather miniscule National Debt when he became president, are hard to trust. In China, 1.5 million people were evicted for Olympic construction (Section 2A USA Today, August 6, 2007). What is different about the hundreds of thousands of Americans being evicted from jobs across the country, even in sound economic times, in favor of cheaper labor overseas?
Middle class caucus: A member of the New York house of representatives- Anthony Weiner was going to create a caucus on the middle class in 2008. Weiner “listed elevating middle class incomes and making housing and college more affordable as principal issues that the caucus would examine initially.” That article was from Russell Berman, New York Sun, April 24, 2008. Any progress on that? I read elsewhere that its membership had swelled to 37 members from both parties in 19 states. And yet, $21 million was included in the stimulus bill for sod for the national mall- the grass was ruined during Obama’s investiture. Who told revelers to wear their spikes to the inauguration? For more information on this sub-sub-topic- see http://www.stargazette.com/article/20090212/UPDATE/302120010. Until something is done here to reasonably appease the middle class, it isn’t worth the space. The middle class tax reduction, which was included in the stimulus bill, is a step in the right direction as long as taxes elsewhere are kept at current levels. You cannot rejoice in an era when every time you turn around you are robbing Peter to pay Paul, unless you don’t inhale pig odor air.
More things not to include: I have articles on my desk about how Americans feel we’re worse off than 4 years ago from March 12, 2008- see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23596304/ and how “Half of Americans Struggle to Stay Happy” from April 29, 2008- see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24376037. I have had these types of articles in my possession since the spring of 2008, and while telling, are too old to be pertinent less than a year later considering all that has gotten even worse since then. Not to worry, stories about pet acupuncture and Time magazine articles about the best rapper alive being Lil Wayne are about as significant these days as sequined, pleated, corduroy sling-shot underwear sweat-shops designed for stinkbugs springing up all over the Carolinas and I won’t be quoting from those either. Political landscapes change, economic conditions worsen and our collective anxiety becomes even more well-founded than it was the previous year.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX
CCI- from Wikipedia: The US Consumer Confidence Index is defined as “the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their activities of savings and spending.” So, we are measured by our actions and our politicians by their earmarks, their spending of our money, the money we don’t spend on investments, or consumer goods. Interesting. “A month-on-month decreasing trend [of more than 5%] suggests consumers have a negative outlook on their ability to secure and retain good jobs. Thus, manufacturers may expect consumers to avoid retail purchases, particularly large-ticket items that require financing.”***** I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that financing thing before- part 2, part 3, part 4, etc. Wouldn’t a “large-ticket” item that requires financing be a college education? “Manufacturers may pare down inventories to reduce overhead and/or delay investing in new projects and facilities. Likewise, banks can anticipate a decrease in lending activity, mortgage applications and credit card use. Even faced with a down-trending index, the government has a variety of options, such as issuing a tax rebate or taking other fiscal or monetary action to stimulate the economy.” Perhaps the governmet has begun to consider that relying on consumer spending to comprise 70% of the GDP is not a wise approach, and that other means to make up this loss to the GDP- like ****** passing a stimulus bill which borrows money from ourselves in the future, is a better approach. This way the amount of money the government will spend, to fill the gap from the lack of consumer spending, is sure to go up, minimizing the loss of severly reduced consumer spending on the GDP. (Note: March, in addition to being, national frozen food month, per above, is also brain injury awareness month. I thought writing essentially the same thought in two different sentences would be the best way to showcase my present brain injury.)
CCI- from Investopedia I: “The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is a monthly release from the Conference Board, a non-profit business group that is highly regarded by investors and the Federal Reserve. CCI is a unique indicator, formed from survey results of more than 5,000 households and designed to gauge the relative health, spending power and confidence of the average consumer.” There are three separate measures that contribute to the CCI- the Index of Consumer Sentiment (the current feeling), the Current Economic Conditions (for how the general economy is going) and one for how the households see things in six months’ time- Index of Consumer Expectations. (For material from this and the next three paragraphs please see “Economic Indicators: Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), Ryan Barnes- http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/consumerconfidence.asp.)
CCI- from Investopedia II: “A strong consumer confidence report, especially at a time when the economy is lagging behind estimates, can move the market by making investors more willing to purchase equities. The idea behind consumer confidence is that a happy consumer - one who feels that his or her standard of living is increasing - is more likely to spend more and make bigger purchases, like a new car or home.” Huh, maybe I should have taken credit for having predicted our present economic downfall, considering that the health of our economy is tied to the collective consumer’s happiness, how they feel about the trending economy as manipulated by the government, which is run by the politicians.
CCI- from Investopedia III: “In general, however, rising consumer confidence will trend in line with rising retail sales and, personal consumption and expenditures, consumer-driven indicators that relate to spending patterns.” No editorial comments needed.
CCI- from Investopedia IV: “Sentiment indicators can carry a lot of weight – there are so few that are standardized like Consumer Confidence and, in the final analysis, the happiness and spending ability of Joe Consumer is the most important determinant of an expanding economy.” So, our reluctance to part with our money, considering the prices of necessary costs, and all that Consumer Price Index stuff I decided not to include, can impact the economic health of the country? I wonder how much longer the government might wish this to be true, mindful of how American workers, who have lost jobs to overseas counterparts and due to the recession, do not have the money to spend. Is that horse dead yet?
Low down: Headline- “Consumer Confidence Index at All-Time Low” Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com, December 30, 2008. “The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence index fell to 38 in December from the downwardly revised 44.7 in November.” No word yet on whether the Conference Board would involve itself in a pig odor study. Considering job loss, hiring freezes, bailouts of American banking institutions, car manufacturers, the loss of half of one’s accumulated 401k retirement savings accounts, the housing market, the reduced cost of hiring a band of Chihuahuas for your civil war reenactment needs, I am surprised the CCI is not at 5%. As a consumer, who would be confident in what they are saving and spending these days? The “Economists were expecting the index to increase to 45.5, according to a Briefing.com consensus survey of economists.” Apparently, economists can pull the almighty speculation out of their ass, and attach meaning to it; facts aren’t the only things that stink. There are things that stink, that wallow around in the mud, that congregate in Washington or in capitals across the country, snorting and snuffing, from which an odor emanates that greatly offends an ever-increasing number of people who reside miles away. We keep electing these pigs who vote on their own pork-barrel spending, feigning disgust for their counterpart's proposed (and then manifest) spending measures. No wonder they are called pork-barrel spending measures, if it is pigs that approve them. Maybe brain injury awareness month is every November in which the citizens vote on their elected representatives.
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* Calhoun is the highest paid state employee. See- http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2009/02/25/connecticut-governor-calls-jim-calhoun-salary-tirade-embarrassi/
** Also see this website if you are interested in learning that investment comprises 17% of GDP, government spending 19% and net exports -6% (that is negative six percent). These figures are from 2006. Maybe the government’s plan is to not have a GDP so heavily made up of people spending their money. This is good because unemployment in most states is over 7%. Investment also may not comprise 17% of GDP, at this time, as those who don’t have jobs won’t be playing in the stock market. The last time I checked- the stock market cost people at least half of their 401k retirement savings. The bountiful net export category is sure to continue to not look good (-6%). The number of toys, household belongings, automobiles, etc. that come in from overseas will cause this number to continue to increase in the negative direction, that is, unless we can count the number of jobs shipped overseas as exports. That leaves us with government spending, which is sure to increase, if exports, consumer spending, and investment all continue to fall. “The gross domestic product (GDP) is the generally accepted measure of the size of the national economy. It is the sum of investment, personal consumption, government spending, and net exports.” Definition courtesy of the Hoover institute link provided above.
*** What better name for a commission that’s purpose is to study the effects of the smell of hog manure.
**** From a 2007 or 2008 Minneapolis Star Tribune “By the Numbers” short factoid.
***** Keep in mind, that it is largely the middle class that would be financing large-ticket items. The poor probably should not be approved for a lot of financing- if they’re poor, how could a lending agency expect a return on the credit they have offered. The rich have no need to finance most things- they are rich. Why would they need to finance a $3,000 television? That leaves the middle class as, by far, the largest economic class through which lending institutions can expect to derive the most capital in the form of interest payments, which are heavily front-loaded with interest. If you are a credit card company or a lending institution, what money is to be made from the poor who, by and large, can’t get credit, or from the rich, who, by and large, don’t need it? Of course, I know that poor people all over the country are getting approved for loans and financing, but should not be and that is why we have a housing crisis- as I’ve already referenced a number of times; if people aren’t spending enough money, you give it to them to spend. What I haven’t pieced together yet is how approving loans for people who cannot afford to pay them back because they don’t have jobs with the requisite salary (cost-of-living) increases, or because they no longer have jobs, matches up with a speculated governmental alteration to the amount of consumer spending which makes up the GDP. What I’m contending is that the government does not want 70% of the GDP to be made up of consumer spending, nor should they want it to be, considering the situation I just described above.
****** Again, how does this not prove my point? We aren't being taxed more, necessarily, because an almost $800 billion stimulus bill was passed or because an over $400 billion spending bill was passed, so say the experts. However, at least as bad, our children will be. We are borrowing money in order to spend it. This too is a loan that should not be approved, largely, for reasons I mention above. We may be more poor in the future than we are now. When I say we- I am not referring to the richest 1-10%, but the economic class below them. This has been my point all along- things may not be even this good for the next generation of middle class kids who will have our debt to pay. And the overseas workers, who are already not being paid enough by the big corporations, will not take too kindly to being taxed under American tax laws in order to make up the difference. The difference being- what the government intends to spend now to even out the aspects that comprise the GDP, and what they plan on spending in the future.
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