Is it just me?

[socrattt]

I have been doing quite a bit of reading lately and find a number of issues to be quite puzzling and I am wondering if anyone else believes the same way I do. I have been extremely pessimistic about the how this government is handling everything and the state of our debt and spending and here we are in April and everyone seems to be right back on spending mill.

Sure our national unemployment rate has risen and is continuing to rise, but all these recent reports and the upswing in the markets tends to make me think that most American’s are as dumb as they look. Our media in this country has all but stated in the last few weeks that we are back on track to a recovery. Might I ask what recovery they are speaking of?

The last month I have seen crowded restaurants, REO’s being bid up well beyond values and an overall sentiment that the future looks bright. Here is my concern. America needed a wake up call and we didn’t really get one. The phone rang once or twice, but we didn’t answer, we just kept sleeping. Now we’ve slept through it and everyone’s better or at least that what it looks like! We spent trillions over the last few months and I even read today that the Fed says they have the power and “THEY WILL” curb inflation. How is that done if the rates can’t go below zero? Doesn’t printing money put us in an inevitable inflationary period at some point? How is possible that home values are stabilizing when there is a large amount of ghost inventory sitting in the hands of the banks? Don’t we still have a number of jumbo loan defaults about to hit the market which would also affect the market negatively?

I am as responsible as everyone else when it comes to spending and I was hoping for that wake up call as well because, like everyone else, I needed one. I want to be forced to grow my own fruit and vegetables and cook meals every night of the week. I want to buy only what I deem necessary for my wife and child. What I am now seeing is what seems to be the real calm before the storm. The government seems more focused on mending relationships with Castro and Chavez than focusing on the eminent danger in our own backyard. This worries me!

Could things really be stabilizing? Is it possible that companies showing negative earnings would force the market in a positive direction? Could these bailouts that seem destined to fail actually work so quick? According to Obama, is increased spending the right answer when America should be taught to save in times like this? I thought I knew the answer to these questions a few weeks ago and now I feel as though my mind is playing tricks on me.

As always I would like to get an idea of where everyone else believes we are headed because I am so baffled at what I am reading from the media lately.

[patientrenter]

socratt, it’s probably not a great idea if we all cut our spending back to near zero. But I agree that we really could have used a serious change in what we spend our time doing, and many would have accepted and even welcomed that. However, the folks steering the economic ship are doing everything they can to minimize any change.

It’s a bit like those few months after 9/11, when people would have accepted making common sacrifices in efforts to make us safer. Instead, most people were encouraged to spend like nothing happened.

Clearly, we cannot forever keep consuming material goods like we we have. With China and India on the road to match our consumption, we must all consume less in material goods. That’s OK in most respects. I know I am most happy with better quality, not more quantity, in almost all aspects of my material consumption.

That means we need to continue expanding our ability to entertain and enrich each other. And nurture a small but very important sector of our economy devoted to advancing our technology. I am not much interested in mandatory restrictions on the hours that people can work, but I do think that 200 years from now people will look back at us and consider us deprived of recreational time. We should consider cultural changes that make less time at work more acceptable. (But full-time retirements will probably have to be cut back. We can’t have a younger generation doing nothing but taking care of the baby boomers as they play golf and need diaper changes.)

[patientrenter]

socratt, it’s probably not a great idea if we all cut our spending back to near zero. But I agree that we really could have used a serious change in what we spend our time doing, and many would have accepted and even welcomed that. However, the folks steering the economic ship are doing everything they can to minimize any change.

It’s a bit like those few months after 9/11, when people would have accepted making common sacrifices in efforts to make us safer. Instead, most people were encouraged to spend like nothing happened.

Clearly, we cannot forever keep consuming material goods like we we have. With China and India on the road to match our consumption, we must all consume less in material goods. That’s OK in most respects. I know I am most happy with better quality, not more quantity, in almost all aspects of my material consumption.

That means we need to continue expanding our ability to entertain and enrich each other. And nurture a small but very important sector of our economy devoted to advancing our technology. I am not much interested in mandatory restrictions on the hours that people can work, but I do think that 200 years from now people will look back at us and consider us deprived of recreational time. We should consider cultural changes that make less time at work more acceptable. (But full-time retirements will probably have to be cut back. We can’t have a younger generation doing nothing but taking care of the baby boomers as they play golf and need diaper changes.)

[patientrenter]

socratt, it’s probably not a great idea if we all cut our spending back to near zero. But I agree that we really could have used a serious change in what we spend our time doing, and many would have accepted and even welcomed that. However, the folks steering the economic ship are doing everything they can to minimize any change.

It’s a bit like those few months after 9/11, when people would have accepted making common sacrifices in efforts to make us safer. Instead, most people were encouraged to spend like nothing happened.

Clearly, we cannot forever keep consuming material goods like we we have. With China and India on the road to match our consumption, we must all consume less in material goods. That’s OK in most respects. I know I am most happy with better quality, not more quantity, in almost all aspects of my material consumption.

That means we need to continue expanding our ability to entertain and enrich each other. And nurture a small but very important sector of our economy devoted to advancing our technology. I am not much interested in mandatory restrictions on the hours that people can work, but I do think that 200 years from now people will look back at us and consider us deprived of recreational time. We should consider cultural changes that make less time at work more acceptable. (But full-time retirements will probably have to be cut back. We can’t have a younger generation doing nothing but taking care of the baby boomers as they play golf and need diaper changes.)

[patientrenter]

socratt, it’s probably not a great idea if we all cut our spending back to near zero. But I agree that we really could have used a serious change in what we spend our time doing, and many would have accepted and even welcomed that. However, the folks steering the economic ship are doing everything they can to minimize any change.

It’s a bit like those few months after 9/11, when people would have accepted making common sacrifices in efforts to make us safer. Instead, most people were encouraged to spend like nothing happened.

Clearly, we cannot forever keep consuming material goods like we we have. With China and India on the road to match our consumption, we must all consume less in material goods. That’s OK in most respects. I know I am most happy with better quality, not more quantity, in almost all aspects of my material consumption.

That means we need to continue expanding our ability to entertain and enrich each other. And nurture a small but very important sector of our economy devoted to advancing our technology. I am not much interested in mandatory restrictions on the hours that people can work, but I do think that 200 years from now people will look back at us and consider us deprived of recreational time. We should consider cultural changes that make less time at work more acceptable. (But full-time retirements will probably have to be cut back. We can’t have a younger generation doing nothing but taking care of the baby boomers as they play golf and need diaper changes.)

[patientrenter]

socratt, it’s probably not a great idea if we all cut our spending back to near zero. But I agree that we really could have used a serious change in what we spend our time doing, and many would have accepted and even welcomed that. However, the folks steering the economic ship are doing everything they can to minimize any change.

It’s a bit like those few months after 9/11, when people would have accepted making common sacrifices in efforts to make us safer. Instead, most people were encouraged to spend like nothing happened.

Clearly, we cannot forever keep consuming material goods like we we have. With China and India on the road to match our consumption, we must all consume less in material goods. That’s OK in most respects. I know I am most happy with better quality, not more quantity, in almost all aspects of my material consumption.

That means we need to continue expanding our ability to entertain and enrich each other. And nurture a small but very important sector of our economy devoted to advancing our technology. I am not much interested in mandatory restrictions on the hours that people can work, but I do think that 200 years from now people will look back at us and consider us deprived of recreational time. We should consider cultural changes that make less time at work more acceptable. (But full-time retirements will probably have to be cut back. We can’t have a younger generation doing nothing but taking care of the baby boomers as they play golf and need diaper changes.)

[urbanrealtor]

Yeah its pretty much just you.

[urbanrealtor]

Yeah its pretty much just you.

[urbanrealtor]

Yeah its pretty much just you.

[urbanrealtor]

Yeah its pretty much just you.

[urbanrealtor]

Yeah its pretty much just you.

[socrattt]

PR, thanks for the response. As for you Urban, that response seems to be expected from an someone with your intelligence level. Don’t get too excited because you have few escrows open. Reality will set in with you as well.

[socrattt]

PR, thanks for the response. As for you Urban, that response seems to be expected from an someone with your intelligence level. Don’t get too excited because you have few escrows open. Reality will set in with you as well.

[socrattt]

PR, thanks for the response. As for you Urban, that response seems to be expected from an someone with your intelligence level. Don’t get too excited because you have few escrows open. Reality will set in with you as well.

[socrattt]

PR, thanks for the response. As for you Urban, that response seems to be expected from an someone with your intelligence level. Don’t get too excited because you have few escrows open. Reality will set in with you as well.

[Author]

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