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Don't Look To Washington For Help
by James Glaser March 18, 2008 Of course you know I'm talking to the small business owner or the working men and women in America. If you happen to be a big corporation or are that 2 to 3 % of Americans who we all consider wealthy, then you know Washington is on your side. Jeannie Aversa, an Associated Press Economics Writer, tells us that "The Federal Reserve is primed to aggressively cut a key interest rate even lower on Tuesday." Do you think the Fed is doing that for you or me? As the New York Times puts it, "As President Bush welcomed the Federal Reserve's sweeping intervention in the financial markets, his administration faced accusations Monday that it supported the bailout of a prestigious investment bank while doing little to address the hardships faced by Americans facing foreclosures on their homes." Some people in America are starting to wake up, even if it is a little late. The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates, but does that help you or me? No! Have you seen an interest reduction in your credit card bill? No! The New York Times is worried about people who are facing foreclosure in the future, but nobody is saying anything about all the thousands and thousands of people who have already lost their homes. Neither the New York Times nor the politicians in Washington are worried about the working people of this country. Inflation eats up any little increase in pay we may get, if we get any at all, and guess what — Washington always has new formulas for figuring out the inflation rate. That way they can keep those on Social Security and disability pay living at an existence level. The COLA adjustments given to those people each year assure that they will keep falling farther and farther behind. Another Washington trick, make the unemployment rate look good. Don't count the people who have given up looking for a decent job, but count every part time worker. Washington just wants to paint a rosy picture, so they play with the numbers. The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to help major corporations and the banking industry. There is no trickle down for any of us. No, it doesn't matter if it is the Republicans or Democrats who are in office. People's wages have been stagnant or have been going down in buying power since 1973, and both parties have had their time in charge. What the Federal Reserve has been doing for years now, is printing more money and making any dollars we save less valuable. The world is walking away from the dollar, because they can see what we are doing to it. So, hold on to your hats, the economy is going to take us for a ride, and baby boomers might just get to see why their parents are so frugal with their money. Depressions tend to do that to you. Post Script: Just for grins, Google "The Real US Unemployment Rate" and read a few pages. You can tell right away there isn't any consensus on what the real rate is, but for sure Washington's number is way, way low. |
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