United States financial standing

What more could I possibly add.

Update: Hammer has a great one over at his site also.

fuel prices and the economy

This was written by a friend of mine. It's well worth reading.

The country doesn’t run on Wall Street or government…. It runs on all of the micro economies across the country. I’m not talking about the big metropolises; I am talking about all of the areas across the country that are similar to the Mississippi pine belt. These micro economies are very fragile and can be easily upset by as little as a 25 cent increase in the price of fuels.

A personal observation if you will…. Mid June 2008 when the price of oil and fuels peaked, there were almost no vehicles on the road, and nobody in the stores. They had no money to spend….it was all going to fuel their vehicles so they could get back and forth to work. Within a week or so after the price of fuels dropped in the fall, there was traffic on the roads again, and people were in the stores spending money again, because every dime didn’t have to go in the gas tank.

Fast forward to February 2009…. People had gotten some “breathing room” in their finances, and were getting caught up so they had more money to spend….This is what was stimulating the local economy. People were on the roads and in the stores because they had disposable income again. Now in the last month, the price of gasoline has come real close to doubling again because the speculators have seen the national economy start to rebound, and the price of oil and fuels have jumped by leaps and bounds again. Plain old working folks can’t afford to take vacations, and are having a hard time making ends meet again…. All because of the increased price of fuels. Now in May 2009, fuel prices are on the rise again, traffic on the roads is disappearing again, money flow has all but come to a screeching halt again, and retail businesses are already feeling it in reduced revenue. This is just the beginning… the trickledown effect is that there is a reduced demand for goods and services, retailers and manufacturers will have to lay off even more people, or close. The costs for transporting products and materials will rise even more.

If the economy is to truly rebound and recover, the price gouging by big oil and speculators MUST stop, the refineries must be brought back up to normal production levels again as well as opening back up all the platforms and production facilities. As I recall, the refineries have cut their production capacity down by 80% or more, as well as shutting down enough platforms and facilities to have to lay off thousands of workers…. All for the purpose of artificially increasing the price of oil and fuels.

Here’s a news flash… there is no more “travel season” because people can’t afford it. People don’t have the disposable income to spend. If the oil companies want to make more money, they can increase production, to lower the price of gasoline and fuels to where they *should* be, and keep it that way. For that matter, instead of raising the price of fuels in summer, the prices need to drop so people can afford to take their vacations, and can afford to travel, and be able to spend more money.

Want to raise gas and fuel prices?? Just remember that to raise gasoline and fuel prices comes at a great cost , and not just to the oil companies profits…. It will do more to destroy the entire country and the national economy, and is counterproductive to making money flow and “stimulating” the economy than anything else.

Steve Nunes@ Noon-Air Heating & A/C
Noon-Air@comcast.net

Sad Day

Today my neighbor's house goes up for auction. He lost his job a while back, sold the animals and now is losing the rest. We have known the family for 22 years. A sad state of affairs to see someone you have known over half your life, being forced out due to this crappy economy and lack of jobs. How many more people are going to have to go through this hell, lose everything you have worked for all your life, to end up with nothing? How long before someone will actually start doing something FOR our country and her people, not the dayem big businesses? The uncertainty, the stress, the heartache so many are going through, makes me want to just break down and cry for them.

How the economy is affecting small towns

This is one of four car dealers in the small town nearest us. It was one of the longest runnings businesses around. Now it's gone. The auto bailout isn't going to help them any, and it isn't going to help the rest of the small dealers either. So while people in Detroit and all those other big cities whine about lost jobs if they don't get this money, our town has already lost them.

(click to enlarge)