Sure, we're the richest country but who does hold all the money?...

[speaker]

The careful consumer is brought to the front as one of the causes of the coming recession. We're encouraged to spend more to help stabilize the economy, in these days of credit card lapsed payments, foreclosed home and trillions being spent on a useless and destructive war. Trillions that could have been used to send kids to college, stem the tide of lost homes, rebuild our infrastructure and fight the war on poverty and drugs.

But the American customer doesn't really have it to spend. Money that lasted for the month is gone in three weeks.

"Inflation rate is worst in 17 years

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Higher costs for energy and food pushed the inflation rate up by the largest amount in 17 years in 2007 even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas.

Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, with consumers especially feeling the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.

For December, the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3 percent, down from 0.8 percent in November, as food costs were flat for the month and energy prices rose by 0.9 percent after an even bigger 5.7 percent jump in November."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy_73

[Timmy]

and why does the media continue to propagate this fallacy that america is the richest...

we are importing through illegal immigrants roughly 20% additional population that is the poorest of the worlds poor

we are financing the world economy through our consumerism

we are propagating nations like Israel with 3-5 billion dollars a year in foreign and military aid

we are policing the world (right now in particular in Iraq and Afghanistan) and policing the worlds sea lanes

we are in a manner the potentate of the United Nations providing the world with a world government (we are the majority financier of the world bank)

AT WHAT POINT EXACTLY DOES THE US CITIZEN WHO IS POOR OR MIDDLE CLASS, WHO IS GOING TO FAILING SCHOOLS, WHO IS LIVING WITH UNSTABLE JOBS AND OVERBURDENED WITH DEBT.....AT WHAT POINT DOES THE MEDIA AND THE AVERAGE PERSON CARE ABOUT THIS NATION AND THE CITIZENS OF THIS NATION?

JUST EXPLAIN THIS TO ME! WHO CARES ABOUT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

[Dumbfounded]

Even those who are careful how they spend & invest their hard-earned money are being punished right along with the rest of the nation.

Oil prices: The energy sector can not give one proven reason as to the high price of oil and its by-products.

None.

They charge high prices simply because "they can" and their de-regulation by Bush has made the oil industry one of the "world powers" to be contended with;An autonomous entity unto itself, if you will.

The "trickle down" effect of high oil prices is reflected in higher prices for everything, esp food as the shipping sector and their wholesalers/retailers are FORCED to pass on higher costs to the consumer who has no choice but to eat, take medication and drive to work to make more money which disappears down that "rabbit hole" in which
most tax revenue "mysteriously" reappears in the coffers of-The credit/banking industry, the oil companies and the insatiable war machine which eats money and innocents to stay alive.


More than ever, we have been backed into a corner as to how we must allocate our dwindling money between food, medication, insurance, utilities and rent/mortgage payments.


Bush's bankruptcy bill has made BASIC SUBSISTANCE more difficult than ever as those literally forced into bankruptcy are now fully obligated to pay back their creditors if and when they have enough money to "get back on their feet.

[mesue]

Filing bankruptcy isn't the cure all either. Maybe it's time to turn the TV off and live within our means. Stop listening to what the media has to say and start listening to what our paychecks and bank accounts are saying.