This can’t be happening

For over thirty years I’ve listened to a litany of lies and subterfuge from politicians and pundits about the wrong headed New Deal policies of Franklin Roosevelt. The global economy called for new ideas and well we just couldn’t have another 1929 because we had protections in place. Earlier this year our President said we weren’t in a recession. John McCain said the fundamentals of our economy were strong. Both McCain and Obama went along with the bailout as did most of the rest of Congress and the President signed it into law.

Wise people have long said that those who do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it. I wonder what the punditocracy will say now. How will Fox, CNN, CBS, MSNBC et al spin this?

Wall Street joined world stock markets in a precipitous plunge Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping more than 400 points in early trading and all the major indexes falling more than 4 percent. The growing belief that the world will suffer a punishing economic recession has investors furiously dumping stocks.–Huffington Post

Read more here. The good news is that oil futures are down to $65 a barrel.

Recession

I noticed that when driving on the New York State Thruway that driver’s were actually obeying the speed limit. Even the big trucks were slowed down. I normally get passed a lot and this time it didn’t happen much. Despite what the pundits and our nincompoop President have said Americans can’t take much more and are changing their driving habits. An article in the New York Times highlights these changes.

Stung by rising gasoline and food prices, Americans are finding creative ways to cut costs on routine items like groceries and clothing, forcing retailers, restaurants and manufacturers to decode the tastes of a suddenly thrifty public.