Thursday, August 04, 2011

Hey, How Is That Recovery Summer Going?!

Yeah, I am havin a bitchin Recovery Summer!
I mean, Mrs. RVFTLC and I are new homeowners.
But that is because of the weak housing market and we were able to buy our abode courtesy of a short sale.
Yeah, don't let the phrase fool ya.
A short sale is basically a way for a homeowner to get out from under and the lending bank getting something out of what is a loss for them.
Someones loss our gain.
Well, at least we are working.
But many millions of Americans are not working. And we do not know the numbers tomorrow, but today the weekly jobless numbers were stellar as they have been. Weekly jobless claims are right around the 400,000 mark. And unemployment is officially at 9.2%. But the reality is that it is well into double-digits. There are millions of Americans that have simply given up looking for any work.
OK, we are homeowners and are working. We should have nothing to worry about.
Except that when we go to the market and or the gas station, we are paying a lot more.
The magic word we don't talk about enough?
I N F L A T I O N.
But we are constantly told that inflation is low. Too bad that the way the federal government figures inflation is, well a fraud.
The fact is that prices at the market are higher than last year at this time. And while gas prices at this point are lower than three months ago, it is also still higher than last year. Which means less money in people's pocket. Which means less disposable income. Which means slower economic growth.
Oh yeah, how about that economic growth?
Well, in the second quarter of this year, it is a rip-roaring 1.3%.
One point three percent.
It is a recipe for economic anemia and guess what?
Eventually, the stock market takes notice of these things.
And today, the stock market did take notice.
Here is the downhill spiral by the big three indices:

Major U.S. Indexes.
Dow Jones Industrial Averages 11383.68 -512.76 -4.31%.
NASDAQ Composite 2556.39 -136.68 -5.08%0.
Standard & Poors 1200.07 -60.27 -4.78%0

Essentially, the gains that were had in the stock market for the year are now gone. And in one day we are in negative territory.
Like I say, what a bitchin Recovery Summer!
And two of the most dreaded words for liberals and Democrats are rearing their ugly head.
Jimmah Carter.
And The Wall Street Journal makes the point that the last time we saw this kind of sustained loss was 38 years ago when Mr. Carter was president. And the Democrats controlled the congress by huge numbers. And that is thanks to Richard Nixon, Watergate and hatred at the national level of anything resembling the GOP.
Regrettably, once the unemployment numbers come out tomorrow, that ought to make 10 straight sessions of decline of the stock market.
Totally bitchin!
So, let me get some things straight.
According to the Dear Leader, President Obama, we needed to pass the so-called economic "stimulus" in 2009 to keep unemployment from going past eight percent.
So, wha happened?
And we needed to pass so-called health care "reform" to reign in health-care costs and have more people have access to health care coverage.
And again, how is that going?
And we had to raise the debt ceiling so that we could borrow more money to pay our Red Chinese overlords and other international investors.
You want to know when we will have a real Recovery Summer?
Oh around 2013 when the Dear Leader, President Obama, will have lost his job.
Now, that will be a bitchin Recovery Summer!


1 comment:

An Unmarried Man said...

Mexico's unemployment rate is under 5% LOL!! I wish they would deport me the way things are going.

It's a shame when the tools they use to measure economic health can be twisted to suit ideologies and agendas.