Seriously, is it just me.....

[Sea Demon]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Bush did attempt to get supply up with his trip a few weeks back to the suppliers. Geetru has a good point, OPEC don't like us playing in their backyard.

Yeah, I think we should produce more from our own backyard. That would boost supply from our own resources. And don't import more people into our nation than what our resources can supply. That's another problem altogether. Yet it's also a factor. The OPEC suppliers are unreliable, that's why I'm not talking about increasing our supply from those sources. We need to put those suppliers out to pasture IMO. Anyway, OPEC and oil aside, that's not the only reason we are there. But it does seem to be one of them.

[AVGWarhawk]

Sea Demon,

Does it seem to you that the oil we do generate here is hoarded? I know there are stategic reservse but just how much? Was it Katrina when they opened up the valve and let some out? Do we really need to depend on outside sources or are we just busy draining them dry? When done we laugh at them as we sit on a fat tank of oil?

[NEON DEON]

I just got this from a good source that the White has sold its big black limos and ordered 2 dozen armor plated Toyota Prius.

[gumbeau]

If gasoline is a major percentage of your monthly expenses, enough that this increase in prices is putting a crimp in your budget then you have bigger problems than worrying about a recession.

You need to get your personal house in order. Give up the internet and that should cover the difference in gas price. Or your cell phone. Or your hard wired phone. Or your cable TV/Sat TV subscription. Or about a dozen other things.

My stepson told me the other day that his step mother made him deliver food to 'poor' people as part of a church activities a few years ago when he was over there. The 'poor' had televisions worth thousands of dollars, yet were accepting church donated food.

He questioned the stepmother who responded 'they can't be held responsible for not knowing how to manage their money'.

Needless to say the boy is solidly Republican now.

BTW, a recession is two quarters back to back of negative growth. We probably just got OUT of one.

And yes, there are lots of foreclosures in my neighborhood too. They are all people who bought far too much house for their income. Bad decision making. Any house more than twice your annual salary is a bad idea.

[AVGWarhawk]

If gasoline is a major percentage of your monthly expenses, enough that this increase in prices is putting a crimp in your budget then you have bigger problems than worrying about a recession.

It is one expense for everyone. Gas prices going up go hand in hand with goods and services. Price of diesel rises as well. Getting your goods to the store rises. Processing the good rises. The Farmers who grow textiles expenses increase. It starts to snowball. So, it is a bit more then just one item on your list of expenses that increase. Not to mention utilites increase as well. Natural gas costs more. Getting coal to the burners that generate electricity increases as the diesel engines that pull it now experience an increase in the fuel costs. All is passed on to you, the consumer.

You need to get your personal house in order. Give up the internet and that should cover the difference in gas price. Or your cell phone. Or your hard wired phone. Or your cable TV/Sat TV subscription. Or about a dozen other things.

Not so easy in todays world that depends on these services to get through the day. Give up you hard wired phone. What, send smoke signals if you have a 911 emergency? Give up TV, no problem. I do not watch much of the mind sucker anyway.

My stepson told me the other day that his step mother made him deliver food to 'poor' people as part of a church activities a few years ago when he was over there. The 'poor' had televisions worth thousands of dollars, yet were accepting church donated food.

He questioned the stepmother who responded 'they can't be held responsible for not knowing how to manage their money'.

Needless to say the boy is solidly Republican now.

I don't blame him one bit. Nothing like watching a guy at the super market buying lobster tails for dinner on food stamps. But hey it is not his fault

BTW, a recession is two quarters back to back of negative growth. We probably just got OUT of one.

And yes, there are lots of foreclosures in my neighborhood too. They are all people who bought far too much house for their income. Bad decision making. Any house more than twice your annual salary is a bad idea.

The bad decision making is purely the banks poor decision to underwrite these loans to folks on the edge. They knew full well the monthy payment will go up in the form of rising interest rates. They always adjust up! Once those on the edge receive their new statement after the first 12 months into the mortgage, it has risen upwards of $200.00 more a month. For those on the edge from the start, lights out. Not to mention along with a fat house loan come easy credit card obtainment. Next thing they now, they are $25000.00 in debt from pure credit purchases. Nice big screen tv eh? They made it easy to get into a hole. Digging out is 10x harder.

I'm not a credit card holder. If I can not afford it I did not need it anyway

[Blacklight]

Seriously, is it just me..... or is everyone else in the US getting the pinch on the wallet?

It's not just you. I got creamed last year and this year things are going further into the crapper. The cost of living has trippled for me and my wages have stayed precisely the same.
Things have gotten so bad that we're discussing moving.

[August]

Originally Posted by Blacklight

It's not just you. I got creamed last year and this year things are going further into the crapper. The cost of living has trippled for me and my wages have stayed precisely the same.
Things have gotten so bad that we're discussing moving.

Tripled? How far do you commute every day?