Well, the real band aid is finally off the wound and it is oozing puss. No peroxide can cure this pain, anytime soon.
I don't know about you, but my spending has been cut in half for Christmas. Anything bought in the icebergslim house is by CASH ONLY, if I can not pay for it that way, it is not getting purchased.
Several reports released Wednesday provided more evidence that consumers are cutting back on spending and companies are eliminating jobs in the face of a deepening recession.
Consumers cut spending for a fifth straight month in November and their incomes shrank, according to a government report that pointed to deepening recessionary pressures.
The Commerce Department said spending fell by 0.6 percent after falling even more steeply by 1 percent in October. Incomes contracted by 0.2 percent after a slight 0.1 percent gain in October, reflecting the strain that rising unemployment is putting on Americans' ability to spend.
I have a friend who lost her job and filed for unemployment. She said it took her 4 hours to file on the phone, since she opened her claim on line. I went to Illinois Unemployment page and they have extended the hours to file your bi-weekly claim.
That tells me several things, that unemployment has risen in Illinois and that so many are filing claims that they must extend the hours to accommodate the in flux of phone calls.
The MSM and more so the Bush Administration have tap danced around how bad things are for more than a solid year, even with solid evidence in their faces. The economists and Bush Administration has finally said the "R" word, for recession, but we already KNEW THIS. Let's try for the "D" word for Depression.
Yes, depression for the job loss in this country. It is staggering. More than half a million a month and IT.IS.CLIMBING. This is the real fear of the forthcoming Obama Administration, if they can not start to turn these numbers around in the next couple of years, the goodwill for this administration will be very strained. (This is why the Obama Stimulus package must be passed through congress, but that is another story I will write about later) And every single person who has a job, should be concerned about the monthly job loss in this country, because it can eventually affect you.
Meanwhile, the government says new claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week as layoffs spread throughout the economy.
The Labor Department says initial requests for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 586,000 in the week ended Dec. 20, from an upwardly revised figure of 556,000 the previous week. That's more than the 560,000 economists had expected.
The number of initial claims is the highest since November 1982, though the work force has grown by about half since then.
Since people are watching the dollar, those with jobs trying are trying to pay off any unnecessary debt, like credit cards, etc., this means that any big ticket items like automobiles are just not being purchased at all.
We have some hard times coming and there are folks out there who are really in financial despair. Bush and Cheney can do all the goodbye tours they want, but in the end there is too much evidence to attempt or try to change the history these two atrocious individuals wrote. They had a chance and they failed. It is as simple as that and nothing they do or say at this point can change it. The wars, the economy, the incompetence, Katrina, illegal wiretapping, job loss, home mortgage mess, credit crunch, politicizing the Justice Department, Valarie Plame scandal, US Attorney scandal, bailout money, etc., all happened on their watch and their is NOTHING that they can say or do to change the mess they created internationally and domestically.
I have had my share of presidents and their administrations that I did not care about, but Bush and Cheney have taken loathing a president and their administration to new heights. I just cannot WAIT for both men to leave and I NEVER want to see or hear from them again for as long as I live.
That is the God's Honest truth.
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