I'm in Houston and I can tell you, probably because of oil prices, that the economy here does not seem very hard hit yet. Our housing sales are down about 13% but our local housing market does not seem nearly so affected compared with other regions of the country - but then, the prices of homes here were never as grossly inflated as the home prices on the East and West coasts. You can still buy a very nice house here for ~$200,000 or so.

The energy business capital is doing okay so far - the jobs seem to be plentiful, or at least keeping pace with this time last quarter, and people seem to be finding work if they do happen to become unemployed, as far as I'm hearing. I personally had three job offers all the same week last quarter -- a first time for such an occurrence and particularly surprising as the economy seems so volatile on the macro scale.

"Financial security rises with income, a third of those with annual household incomes of $100,000 or higher said they feel "very secure," but less than half as many from households earning under $50,000 feel the same."

Unbelievable. Some households earning under $50,000 feel less than secure? Man, $50,000 annual income would make me feel like I'd won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes.

Try living on about $20,000. Or rather, stretching from paycheck to paycheck as food, utilities, gasoline, and rent go up. I am seriously thinking I have to sell my car and maybe move in with one of my kids.

Who are the test groups for these "Polls"? You can make statistics do anything you want, and this report looks like just more propaganda to make Americans feel secure when, in fact, we are about to step into a Depression. Well, those of us who aren't wearing deep pockets to claim our share of obscene profits to be had by major businesses and Grey House politicians already KNOW we're in a recession. But shhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't let the public know!

The real issue is that Americans have been a spend-first, save-never society for too long. And when bad things happen in the economy - they don't have savings to help them weather the storm. Part of this is our own fault for not preparing for the future or choosing cars that have high MPG.

The Snowball Effect

Listen up.
Pundits speculate daily about the reason for the current state of the economy - especially about the reason for high gas prices. The consensus: high gas prices are a direct result of supply/demand ratio. Growing economies in India and China . . . blah blah blah. Guess what. They're ALL wrong. China and India's economy didn't just spring up over night. And there is certainly enough fuel in the world to meet global demand. So, what then is the real reason for the current state of the economy? In order to answer this question, I will ask another question. (this will aid in comprehension)

How many of you have credit cards?

I did - and I found myself up to my knees in debt that I have only recently climbed my way out of. My credit score was ruined, and is only now just beginning to improve. I had no purchasing power. The US economy works the same way. Think of the value of the US dollar as our credit score. The more money our government borrows (which is the only way to spend money you don't have), the lower our credit score becomes. This is what I call the snowball effect. The lower our "credit score" (value of the US dollar) becomes, the weaker our purchasing power becomes as a result. While gas might cost 146+ US dollars per barrel, an economy with stronger purchasing power - like Japan - will not be affected by rising gas prices. That is to say, their gas prices won't rise at all because their credit is good (the purchasing power of their currency remains steady/strong). So, how did we get ourselves into such a mess, and how do we fix it?

Oddly enough, the solution lies with the answer: Iraq. Just the act of pulling out of Iraq alone would benefit the economy. We would be saving ourselves 2 BILLION US dollars per week - which we currently borrow from China (remember the more we borrow the lower our "credit score" becomes) Should we leave Iraq, the value of the dollar would begin to heal (the stronger the US dollar becomes, the more puchasing power it will have, and the price of gas would "go down" - at least that is what it would look like - when in reality the price of a barrel of oil would stay the same - it would just take less US dollars to purchase a barrel because of the dollar's increase in strength/purchasing power). . . And that reminds me of another reason we need to RUN out of Iraq. Borrowing from the Chinese is a shoddy idea at best. The last thing the US wants to do is find itself in the debt of the largest nation in the world. What would happen if the US defaults on its debt, and the Chinese government won't forgive us? We would find ourselves well over our heads in hot water. And we wouldn't be able to buy our way out.

I hope that helps to clarify things for everyone. Leave Iraq and gas prices go down. Please feel free to pass this message along to anyone and everyone. Including Barack Obama. After all, it was George Bush and the Republicans who got us into this mess. Barack Obama can get us out.

Cheers,

Jonathan

A friend works in a small store in our rural community in Utah and she tells me that people are coming in to pay for 2-3-5 gallons of gas with quarters. Of course, when you live in a rural area and have to commute 20 or more miles to work, the price of gas is a real killer to the budget.

I agree with one poster - too many have bought on credit, with no thought to when the bills become due. Too many toys such as jet skis, trailers, quads, boats and a new truck to haul them - and this on top of a new house, which, of course, needed new furniture. Many of us seniors lived through tough times and many of us learned the hard way that it is necessary to save for a rainy day. That lesson is being learned now for many younger people.

Nowhere in the article does it mention the seniors on Social Security. Many are wondering now how they will pay their heating bills in the coming winter. And I, too, wonder just who are the "pollees" - at 71, I have never been asked to participate in a national poll.

At 78 and 85 we have lived through some very tough times We watched the people around us fall for the "bigger house", "bigger car and truck", more toys, more resteraunt meals etc and wondered where it all would end. Now we know.
So we will continue to live in our small house, drive our 16 year old small cr and 16 year old truck, eat at home in front of our 32" t.v and pet our two cats while we read second-hand paper backs, and know the serenity of no credit card debt, no mortgage, no car payments, all on $50,000 a year and still have money to give to our favorite charities.
Perhaps the younger generations should have listened to us when we preached the value of thrift.

Bail out the banks, when the economy turns around, take the money back. The banks need a credit card.

When the oil bill is almost as high as the mortgage/tax payment, the housing market has fallen so you can't sell,the electric and grocery bills keep going up, and your newest car is eleven- your oldest car is 19- and getting decent mpg's, it is impossible to feel secure! We thought we might actually be able to think about a new car this year until the oil prices spiked. we have no credit card debt,4 years left on our mortgage and we will need fuel assistance this year. Not everyone who is hurting is misspending- some of us are simple working in public education and are married to disabled veteran's. I find it insulting to have someone assume that we have handled our money poorly when one of us served our country in the military and I continue to serve my countries future at school. Now, we knew that this path would not make us rich but we have NOT gotten "the bigger" anything and we have not bought toys on credit! I think that the pollsters must be talking to a small section of the total population

President George W Bush told the American people after 9/11 "to go shopping". Otherwise the terrorists would win. In other words it is patriotic to "shop". Some including me( and I should know better) fell into the trap. Not in so many words, but I felt that I was given permission to overspend. So I like many others "went on with my life" and was serving my country by spending money. What's a little debt compared to showing those terrorists that we were not afraid!! Credit was readily available, offers in the mail every day. Foolish way to fight a war wouldn't you say. Our nation is in debt to Communist China, American assets are being sold on the cheap because the dollar is devalued. Dubai Ports was spectacle enough, but loosing Amheiser Busch to Inbev really hit me in the gut. And I don't like beer, but those beautiful Clydesdales always made me smile.
Our country is in trouble!! W is a disaster, Bernanke is a fool, Poulson is incompetent. Our government institutions are defanged and impotent and corporatists are reaping unconscionable profits while the American people suffer and our country is weakened by the lack of leadership, economic depravity, indebtedness to the world and dependence on energy imports. Really folks, the Republican economic philosophy practiced by W and the first years of Republican dominated Congress have given new meaning to "usury". Wall Street Socialism has to stop.

A review of my finances, those of my neighbors, and friends, I find severe differences. One of my neighbors is in the process of losing his home. One of my friends is closing the doors on his feed store after twenty five years in business, while, the son of my next door neighbor who just graduated from our state university is heading for England to work for a Chemical Company as a research assistant. While his father, has had to suspend any hope of retiring although he is past 65 and has some kind of health problem. I, Myself, am retired and am sweating out the inflations surge that is in today's news. I hear that the Bank in California that just went belly up is going to take a quarter of FICA's cash reserves and that there are a number of regional banks who are also on the brink of collapsing, so, if that happens, the Fed will start printing more paper and the value of the Dollar will continue to shrink and prices will continue to rise. Retirement is like balancing your family on the edge of a razor blade, too much wiggling can really cut into your life.

AARP has launched Divided We Fail to raise the voices of millions of Americans who believe that health care and life-time financial security are the most pressing domestic issues facing our nation. Learn the issues, add your voice and find out how you can get involved at www.dividedwefail.org