As we move from print to online news it's becoming clear that they need fresh stories 24/7 - which means 24/7 of negativity and doom & gloom.
Reading the news online you'd expect to step outside and witness some apocalyptic scene from a bad movie that resembles Mad Max; cars outfitted like tanks searching for their next kill to get more gas.
Instead I see...well, nothing. I certainly don't live in a rich area - I'd call it middle to upper middle and we certainly shop in middle class areas.
When we go out restaurants are packed and malls are swamped. I'm hearing number like 16% true unemployment yet every single friend and family member I have is employed - which easily covers over 50 people...at least. All 50 have jobs from 21 year old nephews to 60 year old relatives.
Odd that everyone I know is working and doing just fine. This is NOT to say that people are not hurting. They are and obviously unemployment is up.
I hear a lot about the horrible mortgage crisis yet my entire community looks great, and I live in a HUGE townhouse community. Again, middle class area.
So where is it at? Where are the signs that our economy is on the verge of collapse? I'd expect to hit the grocery store and watch people buying Spam by the case. Nope, looks like business as usual.
I've been hearing about our horrible deficit for well, 30 years now. The way you read these stories it's amazing the government can function for another 2 days; Medicare's gonna crash, Medicaid's gonna crash, Social Security's gonna crash, etc.....Really. When. I hear it was gonna crash in the 90's "in 10 years." Well...where is it? Now it's all gonna crash in 2019 and guess what - in 2019 it'll all crash in 2030.
Which brings me to my point. We need to be able to tell the difference between real problems and online news sites and blogs needing to post new "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE" articles 5 times a day to keep readers coming back.
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As we move from print to online news it's becoming clear that they need fresh stories 24/7 - which means 24/7 of negativity and doom & gloom.
Reading the news online you'd expect to step outside and witness some apocalyptic scene from a bad movie that resembles Mad Max; cars outfitted like tanks searching for their next kill to get more gas.
Instead I see...well, nothing. I certainly don't live in a rich area - I'd call it middle to upper middle and we certainly shop in middle class areas.
When we go out restaurants are packed and malls are swamped. I'm hearing number like 16% true unemployment yet every single friend and family member I have is employed - which easily covers over 50 people...at least. All 50 have jobs from 21 year old nephews to 60 year old relatives.
Odd that everyone I know is working and doing just fine. This is NOT to say that people are not hurting. They are and obviously unemployment is up.
I hear a lot about the horrible mortgage crisis yet my entire community looks great, and I live in a HUGE townhouse community. Again, middle class area.
So where is it at? Where are the signs that our economy is on the verge of collapse? I'd expect to hit the grocery store and watch people buying Spam by the case. Nope, looks like business as usual.
I've been hearing about our horrible deficit for well, 30 years now. The way you read these stories it's amazing the government can function for another 2 days; Medicare's gonna crash, Medicaid's gonna crash, Social Security's gonna crash, etc.....Really. When. I hear it was gonna crash in the 90's "in 10 years." Well...where is it? Now it's all gonna crash in 2019 and guess what - in 2019 it'll all crash in 2030.
Which brings me to my point. We need to be able to tell the difference between real problems and online news sites and blogs needing to post new "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE" articles 5 times a day to keep readers coming back.
Quite true all around in many regards. However, it is also true that if a household gets a new loan each and every year for 50,000 that has to be paid back in the future it is good to worry a bit even if current lifestyle looks good. Such is the state of our economy.
------------------------------------ Spending Our Way to Prosperity
I've been all over the country in the last few months. Countless restaurants closed. Car dealerships, I gasp every time I see it. Businesses boarded up. Homes boarded up. When I drove into Kissimmee toward Orlando, the sheer number of businesses closed was just stunning. No lines at Disney World, though, which worked for me!
I ate at the Olive Garden the other day, and it was, for the most part, full. Didn't have to wait for lunch, but I did notice something.
They recently added some sort of all-you-can-eat pasta for a fixed price - it was on a separate menu I didn't see at first. You pick your pasta, then pick a sauce, and if you want to add some meat, it'll cost ya extra.
The percentage of morbidly obese people there was just stunning. One woman there I would say easily weighs 600 pounds. She was there when I got there, and still piling it in when I left.
I don't think a mom&pop restaurant could've afforded to feed her for the price she paid, but a big corporate entity as what runs the Olive Garden is just hoping and praying that the word doesn't get out.
So while I hear ya, John, I will also tell you that there have never been foreclosures in my neighborhood 'til this time around.
I've been all over the country in the last few months. Countless restaurants closed. Car dealerships, I gasp every time I see it. Businesses boarded up. Homes boarded up. When I drove into Kissimmee toward Orlando, the sheer number of businesses closed was just stunning. No lines at Disney World, though, which worked for me!
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I read somewhere that this is the first year since it was founded that Florida has lost population.
I checked your profile and I see you are in MD. Maryland is kind of close to - Washington. How close are you to DC?
There is one sector of the economy that is enjoying a job boom - Federal Government. The government is adding more and more jobs to staff its growing bureaucracy.
I also did a quick search to find unemployment numbers by state and came up with this:
Yep. Florida residents are heading for the border. But not very fast.
Yeh. I dont like to get in the habit of criticizing my own posts but one might also raise the point that just because the "official" government calculated interim census or whatever shows a drop in population doesnt mean squat. Probably if you count the illeg....er..ahhh...undoculegals...it has grown 15%.
As a side note it is colder than hell in Maine today. It is so cold that your Louisiana Congressman wouldn't even have to put their $90,000 in the freezer if they were here.
I checked your profile and I see you are in MD. Maryland is kind of close to - Washington. How close are you to DC?
There is one sector of the economy that is enjoying a job boom - Federal Government. The government is adding more and more jobs to staff its growing bureaucracy.
I also did a quick search to find unemployment numbers by state and came up with this:
Where is It At?
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