"It's the ECONOMY, Stupid!"
That slogan worked to defeat President George Bush Sr. in his re-election bid. And it worked, although never spoken of with those terms, to defeat the Republicans this year.
Here's a little story to illustrate my point. A fellow goes into a small store to buy some shirts. While he's browsing he hears the owner talking to someone at the cash register, telling him how terrible business has been and that he may have to close his store. The man looks at the shirt in his hand and decides maybe he better put it back. He might need that money for something else, if things are getting this bad. He leaves the store without making a purchase.
I honestly believe that a lot of the trouble we are in financially right now is directly caused by all the negative campaign talk the Democrats used to get Obama into office. We, as the American people, have talked ourselves into much of this slowdown and possibly recession. Yes, the credit card and mortgage businesses were ripe for a downfall, taking along the banks and institutions that invested heavily in their junk bonds. But the fall was as hard and as all inclusive as it was, because everyday people got scared and put the shirt back.
So, now that the election is over hopefully President Elect Obama can instill enough confidence in the American public to make them feel comfortable buying again. The Christmas buying season will be the test of any optimism or pessimism that permeates our country right now.
My advice? Don't charge presents that you can't afford, but be level headed and spend the money you would have normally if you can afford it. Stop talking negatively about the economy! Find something positive to say if at all possible. Encourage positive thinking and talking. We talked ourselves into this hole and we can go a long way toward getting out of the hole by talking ourselves out of it.
Don't stand at the counter bad mouthing the economy, and DON'T put the shirt back!!Labels: Economy, Obama, Presidential elections, Recession
Excerpt from a New York Times article:Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.”
It's over. It's finally over. You are probably like I am and relieved to have all those political ads and phone calls over with. A lot of people are celebrating over their candidate's victory, and a lot of folks are quietly resigned to their candidate's defeat, not just on the national level, but also in the local political arena as well. Now comes the really hard part ... to make all these sweeping changes work for the good of all Americans.
We have seen a sea change in American politics with this presidential election like no other in my memory. A change in the way the campaigns were financed and promoted. A change in the ethnic and gender groups that were represented on both National tickets. A change from the apathy and disinterest in politics and voting which seemed to be evident in years past to an excitement that sometimes bordered on mass hysteria.
The time for speeches is now past, and now the real work begins for President Elect Obama and his close aides. I can only hope and pray that he does move toward the center from some of his campaign rhetoric and truly make an effort to consider the positions of those who opposed him in this election.
I am one of those who did not vote for Obama, but I respect him as our newly elected President and will lift him up in my prayers as he begins the process of change that he promoted. I pray that those changes will not be short sighted quick fixes that appeal to the crowds, but thoroughly examined positions that advance this great Democracy of ours.
Yes, a change has been voted for by the majority of the people. May that change be for the good of all Americans, regardless of economic standing, gender, race, religion, or any of the myriad ways that we differentiate ourselves. After all, We are the UNITED States of America!!!Labels: President, Presidential elections, voting
We're having a Yard Sale today to get rid of a bunch of our own clutter, plus try to sell the furniture and odd and ends from my parents' home.
Daddy's recliner is in the yard sale. We bought it for hubby's dad, Pop, and then moved it up to Daddy's house after Pop passed away. I don't know what it is about men and their recliners, but you would have thought we were evicting Daddy from the house when we made the switch to Pop's recliner!! But his old one swiveled, and that made it unsafe for him to try to get out of.
The chair looks great, is extremely sturdy, but two dear old men sat in it during the last years of their lives. I'll be glad to see it gone.
We donated a bunch of Mama and Daddy's things when I cleaned out their house as best I could. But there's something about putting them in a yard sale that seems downright disrespectful, you know? But it doesn't make sense to keep it all, and at least some of it was still unused - gifts that were appreciated but never touched, or thought too good for everyday use - just stored away. Kind of sad. Note to self - stop saving things and start USING them.
We've reduced the price on Daddy's 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, too, and hope to find a buyer before we have to store it in the garage for the winter.
We plan to have one more sale this Fall, and hopefully finish getting rid of all of their old things and a bunch of our stuff, too, and then if we still have a lot we will do another one in the Spring. What's left after that will have to be sent off to the thrift store for sure.
We've had these boxes stored in one of the bedrooms we keep our plush animals and dolls stored in, so getting these out of the house will make it easier to get to our inventory.
Sifting through someone's past like this brings back all kinds of memories, but I can't keep it all. I've been steely eyed and put out things that I really would have liked to keep, but just can't. I won't miss them once they are gone, but it was harder than I expected laying them out to sell. Such mixed feelings are very normal I suspect.
We've been to many hundreds of these kinds of sales, but having one is going to be a new experience for us. Here we are in our 60's, and this is the first yard sale we have ever had on our own. Gee, another milestone has passed. LOL!!Labels: 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, Estate Sales, FOR SALE, nostalgia, Yard Sale
It takes living for awhile to get perspective on the recent wild swings of the Stock Market and the Economy. We had two young children and were living in a trailer when the Recession in the early 70's hit. We were a one income family, with few debts, but it was still a difficult time.
I remember that somewhere along in that time frame we tried to get a mortgage to build a new home on our lot, and although we qualified for the mortgage, we could not get the loan ... because mortgage money had literally dried up. Sound familiar? The big difference between now and then was that we were very good credit risks, but we still could not get financing.
God has a way of watching out for us when we really think He's turned his back on us. We were so disappointed in not getting that house, and now I am so glad we didn't. You see it was one of those split level kind where the front foyer has steps leading up or down to the living areas. I have a Movement Disorder. We would be forced to move out of our home if we were living in one that involved using steps every time you wanted to go just about anywhere in the house. But that's easy to see in hindsight, not so easy to accept at the time. And yes, some years later we did build on our lot, and we're still living in our Dirty Butter Estates on Hard Scrabble Hill.
But I digress. What I do remember very distinctly were a few Christmas shopping sprees where my credit was denied at the cash register, because I had charged over my limit. (Back then even going over a dollar was enough to have a purchase denied.) It was embarrassing, and it didn't happen very often, but it did happen.
When our older daughter started using her first credit card some years later we were mortified to find that if she went over her credit line the card companies would just up her limit, or gleefully charge over the limit fees. But they never stopped her from charging anything. And they never seemed to mind how many cards she applied for and got, either. It was like a bottomless well of credit, and she simply thought we were old fuddy duddies for even suggesting that this was not the way it should be.
She's older and wiser now, but has had some life threatening health problems that have her and her husband watching their money very closely now, after lots of health care expenses ran their bills up again. At least this time it's not from the free spending days of her twenties.
So, some people say we are in a recession, and some are even saying we are in the beginnings of another Great Depression. But hubby and I have seen the Savings and Loan implosion from the 70's, the long lines at gas pumps when we were only allowed to even try to get fuel on certain days of the week, interest rates on home mortgages up in the teens, and we've seen the Health South, Enron, dot com bust, and plenty of other scary events in our adult years. And now the current economic "crisis". This situation seems to be a natural consequence of way too casual a view that far too many people, and companies, have had for way too long about the risk of incurring large debts.
I hear and see on TV so much fear about the current problems, and I'm not saying they are not real problems, but what I am trying to say is that we Americans have dealt with bad economies and scary financial times before, and we have gone on to thrive and prosper. We have been burned before by poor choices, and learned from our mistakes, and been better people because of it.
I hope people will look at history, find some perspective on today's news, and breathe a little easier. I know my hubby and I do.Labels: 1970's, Credit Cards, debt, Depression, Economy, financial freedom, first home, handling money, home buying, inflation, mortgage, nostalgia, Recession
I remember vividly the first Presidential Election that I was interested in ... Eisenhower's! We were in about 8th grade I guess, so the teacher had us at the exact right age to really teach a lot about the US government through this event.
The conventions were on black and white TV all day long back then, with lots of interesting on the floor battles for this and that, and usually long drawn out votes for candidates before one was eventually picked. The excitement level was throbbing all over the place.
I remember Adlai Stevenson's famous shoe with the hole in it, not just from photos that have been preserved, but from the actual event. It was a glorious exciting time to be involved for the first time in this huge complex overwhelming process.
We made speeches for our candidates and had a mock vote, and I was so excited when my candidate won! I still have a campaign button with I LIKE IKE on it somewhere tucked away in a drawer.
I look at elections with a jaded eye today. Oh I'm sure there was lots going on back then that was uncivil and really nasty, but it just seems like politicians have lost something over the years. I'm losing the sense that they are truly trying to help people, and get the impression, regardless of what they say, that they are in it for the power and to further their own party's ambitions. It's been a long time since I have heard someone in office called a Statesman ..... because they're NOT.
I'm not going to get into the Obama/McCain campaigns of the moment, as I really don't think that's what this post is about. I just feel a yearning for the "good old days" where the impression I had (maybe a naive one) was that people argued heatedly, debated, spoke, planned, and ultimately worked through that process for the good of the country.Labels: Eisenhower, President, Presidential elections
This is a repost of my attempt to remember one of those who died on September 11th. I have chosen to repost it each September 11th.
I intentionally did not name her 13 year old son in the original memorial, because I am particularly cautious about children and the internet. But he's 20 years old now, and I wanted to see if I could find out how he's doing. So far I have not found anything specific, but I did find this 2001 article:
As reported in The News last week, Norma Khan, manager of member services for the Plumb-ing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association (PHCC), was on board American Airlines Flight 77, which was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon on September 11.
She left behind a 13-year-old son, Imran. At its annual conference, PHCC decided to establish a scholarship fund for Imran Khan.
We have no doubt of our industry’s continuing generosity.
# To contribute to the Imran Khan Fund, send checks to the PHCC Educational Foundation, 180 S. Washington St., Falls Church, VA 22046. Please make checks out to the PHCC Educational Foundation Scholar-ship Fund, with a notation that the donation is for the Imran Khan Fund.
So I'm hoping that means this young man is in college somewhere.
Norma Khan was on American Airlines, flight 77, on her way home to Reston, Virginia, on September 11, 2001, when that plane was hijacked and aimed at the Pentagon. She was 45 years old. She had worked as an organizer for fundraiser programs for non-profit organizations, and had been heavily involved in the Reston Multicultural Festival, held each September in Reston. She was a single parent with a 13 year old son, Imran.
Several people have left memorial comments on various 9/11 sites, praising Norma as a warm, loving woman who cared about people. She was a good mother to her son. There is no way that I can properly pay tribute to this lady that I did not know, but the many lives she touched during her lifetime are a living tribute to her that will last forever.
If you'd like to read more tributes written by bloggers to honor the 2,996 people who died tragically on 9/11, you'll find the whole list here.Labels: Imran Khan, Norma Khan, September 11th
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Dirty Butter,
help?
