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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (232370)	12/23/2007 5:41:13 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 794220

These guys don't give up, do they? The economy is "teetering on the edge" with 50% chances of a recession, says the NYT. GDP was almost 5% in the last quarter, and look, all the badmouthing about the retail sector didn't work either: Consumer Spending Surges in November Friday December 21, 5:20 pm ET By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer Consumer Spending Surges in November, Reducing Fears of Imminent Recession. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers put aside worries about slumping home sales and soaring gasoline prices and headed to the malls in November, pushing spending up by the largest amount in 3 1/2 years. The better-than-expected surge lessened fears of an imminent recession. ADVERTISEMENT The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending shot up 1.1 percent last month, nearly triple the October gain. It was the biggest one-month jump since a 1.2 percent rise in May 2004 and was significantly higher than the 0.7 percent gain analysts had expected. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071221/economy.html?.v=6 You begin to wonder how they would report actual bad numbers, then the answer comes to you: it depends entirely whether the occupant of the White House has a (D) or an (R) after his name.

To: LindyBill who wrote (232370)	12/23/2007 5:45:57 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794220

How to Avoid Recession? Let the Fed Work BS. I do not believe monetary policy alone is sufficient to cure a broad based recession. I keep reading predictions for foreclosures to increase and home prices to continue to fall in many areas through 2009. Some experts expect a large wave of foreclosures next fall (9 months from now) as people get transferred or have to sell for other reasons during the coming spring and summer and cannot. The US Army is going to exacerbate the problem by relocating as many as 150,000 troops. Today most troops live off base and many own homes. Another hidden cost and additional real estate pressure will come from relocating all the DOD civilians that will have to follow the troops. Now we see a prediction of a 50% chance of a recession in 2008. 2008 begins next week. Industrial production cured our previous recessions. Meanwhile we continue to ship our production base overseas. We are losing the capability to pull ourselves out of a recession. China now owns our furniture manufacturing and Asia our clothing production. If we're not careful we will not have anything left to give to Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. Meanwhile Congress keeps raising our minimum wage to make us less competitive. Are we in a vicious circle or a vicious downward spiral? Thinking about this gives me a headache. I'll go back to talking about guns.