Getting worse the last 8 years???
 

Not a true statement if one looked at the economy for the 7 previous years.
It is oh so easy to tar the entire 8 years with the current years environment, however, if that is what some think, so be it, but one heck of a lot of money was made in the previous 7 years.
There has been a congress controlled by the Dems for the more recent years and can somebody please enlighten me with what they have proposed during that time that could have created improvement.
As I stated in an earlier post, there will be no improvements come forth from the stalemated partisan inaction.

My favorite....the easiest one that is still irresponsibly locked up by congress? Energy legislation. If there would be the slightest cooperation to AGGRESSIVELY pursue increased domestic drilling, new refinery capacity, wind, solar and nuclear.....like we did the space race as launched and supported by Kennedy....like we did the war production efforts of WW II....there would be more new jobs created that in those days. The bi product of the energy independence that would accompany it would be even more significant.

This is only one aspect that would bring REAL, NOTEABLE CHANGE.
Yet we sit and watch the do nothing....cry about the sky falling.....AND CONTINUING TO DO NOTHING but blame the other guy.

The incurable disease of partisan politics can only continue taking it's toll.

How unrealistic is that?:cus:

BTK:cus:

If I remember correctly a senator from Arizona was censured by the Senate for his involvement in the Keating scandal.

If memory serves me correctly, Bush Sr. was part of the S & L scandals during his Presidency! Like father, like son. :rant-rave:

...And I see nothing but hope, regardless (or in spite of) whoever occupies 1600 PA Ave, DC.

What are "better days?" The quality of life for Americans gets a little better with each passing decade. Just look at the public services which are available, the private facilities and services at arm's reach and how we keep getting better at "first-responding" (Nobody can stop Mother Nature, but we do a pretty good job at mitigating the effects). Compare any of this to past times!

The glass is always half-full or better to me. I have greater resources and substance than any previous generation of my family, and my kids have even greater opportunities than I did.

Sure, I've lost money in the stock market, but I at least HAD money to lose - which is more than my parents and grandparents.

Wars still exist and will happen again, but ironically they are "smaller" than in previous generations, and hopefully that trend (if we are to have war) continues.

At present trends, my spouse and I will live longer than any of our parents, thanks to better diet and a medical establishment which (although not inexpensive) keeps expanding the capacity of humans to accrue more time alive.

Presidential administrations have come and gone, and life in this great nation is still prized by most of the citizenry and millions elsewhere who would trade anything and everything to be here (and often do!).

So, whoever feels hopeless in America, go get professional help. We even have plenty of that in the USA. You got it better than most of the planet.

Surprise!
 

SteveZ you surprise me with this post. You're so gloom and doom about anything even remotely left, and now you're all about "hope"?

IMHO, this happened on Bush's watch. And please don't give me "but this started long before Bush" when we are spending millions if not billions a month in Iraq.

Greenspan is saying "this is the crisis of a century". And although that guy should shut the :cus: up, he might be right.

I listened to many economists last night, and they were saying that all of this could take 10 years! It's time to get real folks. Empires have fallen and American can go Bankrupt! That's the simple truth. :(

Clearly we need CHANGE!

Looks pretty bleak to me.
 

I feel very blessed that I was born in this great country. I have felt the ups and downs throughout my life, but have always felt very blessed. . I have seen corporations leave in droves to escape taxes and acquire slave wage labor elsewhere. This is a big problem! It has cost this great country our jobs and our personal tax costs have skyrocketed. I personally do not live as well as in the early 90's mainly because of fear. Job losses, rising costs, no healthcare, and opportunities are dwindling for us, our sons and our daughters. Example: Our daughter worked very hard and got her CPHT (Certified Pharmacy Technician) took the state exam and then was offered 7.50 an hour. What a joke! She worked so hard and wanted to someday be a pharmacist. She can't afford to continue school. Now she sells on EBAY hoping to pay that school bill off soon. Our children wonder if they will be able to afford healthcare, buy a home, feed their family, save for their future. Things do not look good and we, the people of this fine country, need to think long and hard about demanding changing many things. The consequences of companies leaving this country for tax shelter should pay a price, for one, ................Oh no this is the political forum, I'm outta here!!!!

There's no gloom to me - only reality. The reality is, I've seen a lot worse than this, so "this" is no big deal.

Whether it's billions in Iraq or elsewhere in the Mideast under a couple Republican administrations; or billions in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, the Phillippines, Taiwan and most of Europe under a few Democratic administrations; it's happened before and it will happen again. The recovery path is always the same as it has been in past years (we just don't remember it because we were either not born yet or too distracted elsewhere!) and will occur again.

America is ALWAYS deep in hock - whether it is by government debt or combined personal debt of the citizenry. The ability to be in debt is what allows most people the opportunity for home ownership, cars for the masses, college for just about everyone, all the stuff we "just can't live without," and support of a goodly chunk of the rest of the world via the US' "shares" of the International Monetary Fund. Sometimes the debt-ratio-per-citizen fluctuates, but it always has been there to some measurable degree.

The US is still the major consumer market in the world, and many economies are based on US ties, one way or another. If the bubble bursts a little, causing some Audi owners to swap for a Camry or a Ford Fiesta, that's hardly the end of life as we know it. Being in personal debt or not realizing that the terms investment and gamble are synomymous doesn't change the fact that the former is living on the future, and the latter is betting on someone else's abilities. Either way, there is risk, and there is no such thing as no-risk risk.

We have as close to absolute freedom absent anarchy as a country could have. Hopeless to me is not having any quantum of freedom to effect my own well-being, which is why I'm not too keen with "government" having control over much of what I can do. The most hopeless people I have ever met were totally or close-to-totally "taken care of" by some government somewhere. Lord, please save me from everyone who wants to "help" me for their sake or what they perceive is in my best interest!

Yep, we have it made! As long as we stick to the Constitution - the best collection of ideas on earth - we will continue to have it made. Everything else is just a small pot-hole on the turnpike of life, including periodic elections.

Just believe in the saying you have in the signature block at the bottom of your last post. It's one of the best I've ever read!