Something to Whine About

I think that alot of people are like I am and are trying to keep working (if they have jobs) and make ends meet. So we make do with pits and pieces of news from various sources and pick up bits of gaffes and polls and critiques and reports and it's all a bit of a jumble.

Amidst the noise, we may have picked up the tidbit that former Senator Phil Gramm, an economic consultant to McCain, has called us a "nation of whiners." "Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day, said Gramm" "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said. McCain tried to quickly try to distance himself. Never mind that he champions the Bush tax cuts and every pro-business policy that comes around and that in April, McCain himself said, "A lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological." I heard him myself on NPR saying that the housing crisis was just the popping of a bubble, in so many words, as if the government had not failed to regulate the housing loan industry.

So who is Gramm? He Chaired the Senate Banking Committee between 1999 and 2001 and helped push through a banking deregulation bill that broke down firewalls between financial institutions that had been put up after the Great Depression. Who did this benefit? His wife's employer and his own key campaign contributor - none other than Enron. Later, he was paid by a Swiss bank to lobby congress about the US mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain on economics. He is a crook and a lot of what's happening is his fault and he advises someone who will perpetuate the problems.

Damn right I'm whining! I am whining about my general diminishing status in life: aging of the body, difficulty in providing for family, lack of healthcare for much of family and extended family, shrinking currency prohibiting travel, shocking gas pump reaction and rapid evaportion of both nest egg and housing assets. Oh yeah, and living in a country where the US is kind of ignored at the G8 because we don't matter much now.

Here are some more things to whine about, from Center for American Progress.

HOUSING FORECLOSURES INCREASING: As a result of the subprime lending crisis, "housing foreclosures nationwide were up 50% in June compared with the same month in 2007." In California alone, foreclosures have reached an average of 500 per day.

HOMELESSNESS INCREASING: The number of homeless people in America over the age of 50 is "steadily increasing."

HEALTHCARE COSTS RISING: According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, "health-care costs are growing much faster than the economy." Costs are rising so significantly, some Americans are delaying retirement.

GAS PRICES RISING: The national average gas price is $4.09, up 33 percent from this time last year. Gas prices are now expected to hit "$4.25 by the fall and then stay at more than $4 a gallon until the end of 2009."

JOB LOSSES INCREASING: In the first six months of this year, a total of 438,000 jobs have been lost, bringing unemployment to 5.5 percent. The CEO of Bank of America commented, if unemployment continues to rise, "all bets are off."

FOOD COSTS RISING: "U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007" -- the fastest rise in 17 years -- and as a result, food stamps have considerably less buying power.

HEATING AND ELECTRICITY COSTS RISING: Heating oil costs across the North are expected to be "up 60 percent from last year," and utilities across the country are "raising power prices up to 29%."

REAL WAGES DECLINING: "Slower wage growth and faster inflation has led to falling real hourly and weekly earnings for most workers."

LEISURE SPENDING DECLINING: As a result of the rising cost of living, Americans are "tightening their belts and thinking twice about spending extra bucks on entertainment and leisure products."

VALUE OF DOLLAR DECLINING: The dollar "has been declining steadily for six years against other major currencies, undercutting its role as the leading international banking currency."

It's not abstract any more. Just this week, I've met and talked to several people who had lost or were losing jobs. My own son can't quit his temp job until it's completed or he can't use them to get a real job, yet he can't increase his hours at his part-time low-paying job enough in time to make open enrollment period for benefits. He will have to make a hard decision. Our washer conked out and the axle broke on one of the vehicles and there went the economic stimulus checks.

Yesterday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What does it all mean?

Ideas .. (will continue to add)

The Panic of 2008:A Turning Point"