THE ECONOMY

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Sweetness_bug

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Here in Michigan..I work in debt management so i see all the people who are lossing there homes and have credit isssue and reops and try to help them save what they can. I do see a decline in mortgage forclosures compared to last year. However prices are still real high for gas and there are so many people loosing there jobs. Alot of stuff here was based on the auto industry and we havnt dug out from that. So i feel some things are getting better but other things are getting worse. All we can do is help when we can and hope for the best.
 

kimby37

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All i can say is that i have never been as poor as i am now. I was married and a few years ago my husband lost his job (he was an electrician) and couldnt find another one. We spit up and now i am a single mother of 3. I have 2 jobs and still can't make ends meet. ( i live a very simple life, i don't have the newest electronics nor do my kids) I wake up every day wondering when the bank will come put a lock on my door cause i am going to be forclosed on. No matter how much i make i cant keep up. It didn't help that my water bills went through the roof, putting Gloucester Ma one of the highest paying cities for water and sewer. When we moved into my house 9 years we payed $138 a quarter now its up to $585 or higher a quarter. The bills keep getting higher and the cost of stuff goes up but takes forever for your pay to, go figure. I don't get how they say the economy is getting better, who is out there spending money? Sure in hell isn't me. Thats my view i could go on and on but i wont, it will just make me mad.
 

TylerStewart

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dmmj said:
shelli hates everything but the left so his response was not surprising. I guess if you got a job you may think things are different if you are still looking things have not improved. I wonder how peple like aldabman and tortoise supply tyler are feeling the effect, tortoises and turtles are kinda a luxury item when times are good. It would be nice if the current administration would suffer with us through the hard times, instead of mutli million dollar luxury vacations every other month. I can say one thing my cousin repos cars, and for him at least business is booming.

And for the record I don't blame the "black" guy I blame his policies.



Well, I had a good year with the tortoises last year, about the same overall as I did in 2009. It is kinda surprising, being a luxury item, there's still people out there throwing down big dollars for some tortoises. The biggest difference I see is the availability of adult - breedable sized tortoises that wouldn't normally be available. It's good for those of us who can buy them, but sucks for the people that got in a pinch and had to sell them. I had a customer who I sold a few baby stars to last year offer them back to me at less than half the price, because he got in a pinch. It was noticeably more difficult to find certain tortoises a few years ago (mostly adults) than it is now. All in all, the tortoises aren't my main job, and aren't my source of income. If I have a slow month with tortoise sales, it's just a month I don't get to go buy any new fancy tortoises. My job and my income is a commercial concrete estimator at a big non-union concrete company. Times are tough there, but I'm good at my job and the company's owners are smart, so it's secure. My pay hasn't changed since the fall in the economy; it's the union companies we compete with that have a hard time because their wages are so high. Rather than adapt and drop the Union control, they instead try to protest us and politically drive us out of business, which since 1987 hasn't worked.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the stimulus was a huge waste of time, money and effort. We don't need new bridges, schools and libraries just to employ more government workers. Sure it creates a few construction jobs for a few months, but then it's just a bigger government payroll forever. You notice how many of the list of funds have "authority" in their name. It's just more government expenses making our lives more of a pain on into the future. If the money had been put towards less "punishment" to businesses in the form of taxes, they'd all be hiring and unemployment would fall. You can blame Bush all you want. I don't think he was perfect, and I don't think anyone does think he was perfect, but he was much better for unemployment numbers than the current agenda has been, and unemployment numbers are our biggest problem. It doesn't surprise me that Shelly would bring race into the conversation. For a lack of a credible argument, he/she relies once again on left wing talking points.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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RE: THE ECONOMY and other shenanigans

Whether we're talking about the Demopublicans or the Republicrats, it just boils down to having two sides of the same counterfeit coin to choose between...there's really very little difference between the two major Political Parties.

And while Obama/Biden was the best choice last time (for doing the lesser amount of damage), it sure would've been nice to have been offered two (or more) BETTER choices...but as long as America is crippled by the Electoral College, Demopublicans and Republicrats are the only choices we'll be allowed. :(
 

ALDABRAMAN

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I heard the real unemployement number is 19.4%, that does not take into account the under employed.
 

steve426

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What i have to say may not be relevant considering I am in Canada. We too have seen changes here and have gone through tough times although not to the extent the people in the states have. I was affected when the auto industry took a dive, i lost my job. I went back to school looking for a new direction and it got me nowhere. I have been struggling to find a decent job for almost 3 years now, with no success. I know alot of people that lost thousands in savings, vehicles, and have gone bankrupt. i think that here in my area atleast some areas of employment may be improving such as construction, but for many of us including myself the hole just keeps getting deeper with the increases we are seeing in hydro, insurance, GAS, groceries, seems like everything is costing more. So for me it hasn't improved but I do know that we have been more fortunate than many americans. I don't know your governments policies so i won't point any fingers and blame anybody. I am not in a position to do that. I don't see an end to the hardtimes, not anytime soon atleast.
 

ALDABRAMAN

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steve426 said:
What i have to say may not be relevant considering I am in Canada. We too have seen changes here and have gone through tough times although not to the extent the people in the states have. I was affected when the auto industry took a dive, i lost my job. I went back to school looking for a new direction and it got me nowhere. I have been struggling to find a decent job for almost 3 years now, with no success. I know alot of people that lost thousands in savings, vehicles, and have gone bankrupt. i think that here in my area atleast some areas of employment may be improving such as construction, but for many of us including myself the hole just keeps getting deeper with the increases we are seeing in hydro, insurance, GAS, groceries, seems like everything is costing more. So for me it hasn't improved but I do know that we have been more fortunate than many americans. I don't know your governments policies so i won't point any fingers and blame anybody. I am not in a position to do that. I don't see an end to the hardtimes, not anytime soon atleast.
Gas will be $4 a gallon soon and I heard on the money summit that food is going to increase by 30% next month. I know many that are in serious trouble and it does not look like any positive gains anytime soon.
 

onarock

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After reading Kimby37 post I decided not to share my personal story. I hope all the best for you Kimby37 and your story really touched me.

I got into a political debate on this forum some time back because I broke my own rules. I feel we spend too much time debating the things that arent helping our present situation, things we see on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC and the like. Things like a Mosque near the old WTC, abortion, the environment, guns, immigration, the war and terrorism. Although these topics are important to most Americans we need to let them go for now. You see, politicians, corporations, and the media like to use these "hot" topics to spark debate between the 2 major political parties and to make sure we dont talk about what really matters. No matter what your political affiliation is, we need to concentrate on what I call the BIG 3. 1. Campaign finance reform. We need to overturn the Supreme Court Ruling that says Money is Free Speach. 2. Lobbying. We need to get the corporations and the foreign interists out of OUR Government. 3. The Federal Reserve. We need to repeal the Fedeeral Reserve Act. There is nothing Federal about the Federal Reserve. We borrow our own money from private banks with interest. Private individuals own our monetary system and its the reason Thomas Jefferson almost didnt become president. Jefferson apposed Central Banking and said that if he became president that he would not honor our national debt. Quote "I will not enslave my fellow Americans with Central Banking" We do these 3 little, tiny things, we got a shot at gaining full controll of our Govenment and then we can get back to debating the things I said we should ignore for now.

I know that for some its hard to let the "hot" topics go. Some are driven by social needs, religious needs and morals, but untill the voice of the people is heard by our elected officials unobstructed by the 5 million dollar donations from private entitys, we will be talking about this stuff again in 20 years. Drop the political affiliation and take your country back.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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onarock said:
After reading Kimby37 post I decided not to share my personal story. I hope all the best for you Kimby37 and your story really touched me.

I got into a political debate on this forum some time back because I broke my own rules. I feel we spend too much time debating the things that arent helping our present situation, things we see on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC and the like. Things like a Mosque near the old WTC, abortion, the environment, guns, immigration, the war and terrorism. Although these topics are important to most Americans we need to let them go for now. You see, politicians, corporations, and the media like to use these "hot" topics to spark debate between the 2 major political parties and to make sure we dont talk about what really matters. No matter what your political affiliation is, we need to concentrate on what I call the BIG 3. 1. Campaign finance reform. We need to overturn the Supreme Court Ruling that says Money is Free Speach. 2. Lobbying. We need to get the corporations and the foreign interists out of OUR Government. 3. The Federal Reserve. We need to repeal the Fedeeral Reserve Act. There is nothing Federal about the Federal Reserve. We borrow our own money from private banks with interest. Private individuals own our monetary system and its the reason Thomas Jefferson almost didnt become president. Jefferson apposed Central Banking and said that if he became president that he would not honor our national debt. Quote "I will not enslave my fellow Americans with Central Banking" We do these 3 little, tiny things, we got a shot at gaining full controll of our Govenment and then we can get back to debating the things I said we should ignore for now.

I know that for some its hard to let the "hot" topics go. Some are driven by social needs, religious needs and morals, but untill the voice of the people is heard by our elected officials unobstructed by the 5 million dollar donations from private entitys, we will be talking about this stuff again in 20 years. Drop the political affiliation and take your country back.

Absolute agreement. :cool:
 

methos75

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I got out of the Military in Sept and I haven't found zilch yet, I have the post 9/11 GI Bill though so I am going to start school this Summer and just ride this out a bit. For me it works out, because its pushing me to finish my Degree in Biology. I'll get to work with Reptiles, and not just keep them LOL
 

kimby37

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Gas is up here too. Went grocery shopping today and noticed food prices are climbing also. If i do a big shop i spend about $200. Today i needed a little more as i haven't done a "big" shop in a while, i spent $325 :( I need my pay to go up.
 

Yvonne G

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I just wish there were a way to force "them" to balance the budget. I'm not allowed to spend more than I take in. Why is the gov't allowed to? I heard on the radio a couple days ago that ALL of the money being paid to gov't pensions is borrowed money.
 

onarock

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Yvonne, you need to ask yourself, what is the point of borrowing money. You also need to ask yourself, who do we borrow the money from and why do they keep giving it.


emysemys said:
I just wish there were a way to force "them" to balance the budget. I'm not allowed to spend more than I take in. Why is the gov't allowed to? I heard on the radio a couple days ago that ALL of the money being paid to gov't pensions is borrowed money.
 

Len B

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If there is a Wegmans Grocery Store in your area check it out,They are going to hold prices on a lot of the products that people buy on a weekly bases through the end of 2011. Most of them are the store brand, I have tried a lot of them and they are just as good as the big name brands (in my opinion).I am in the same situation as Yvonne I can't spend more than I bring in, So always looking to stretch the value of my dollars.This is the only business that I know of that is freezing prices, and I think it's a great idea. Len
 

ALDABRAMAN

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It will affect everything. I bought a dozen shinners that was $10 last week, today they were $12.

I passed by Walgreens, they advertise 3 t-shirts for $10, bet they do not have my size 4X, LOL.
 

Yvonne G

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and a pound of zucchini that cost 79 cents a couple weeks ago is now $2.49. (But that might just be the time of the year)
 

Terry Allan Hall

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Seems to me that our politicians (who, at least in theory, work for you and I) need to take some pay cuts...why should people, who don't have a job that contributes to America's strengths, make considerably more $$$ than those who do have a job that contributes to America's strengths?
 

shellysmom

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I agree with Terry. It's almost as if voting is simply choosing between the lesser of 2 evils. Give me more options, please!

As for the economy, I believe it's still in the toilet, and I'm guessing will be there for a long time. We're still trying to sell our old house that we moved out of over a year ago, and it's literally worth half as much as it was when we bought it 4 years ago. Crazy.

I feel bad for all those who've lost their jobs or homes. Not everyone has the resources needed to "adapt" (as one of the newbies commented) and start out in another field of work.
 
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