As long as you don't use oil. Or buy food. Or buy anything that has been produced outside of the US. If you do, then you will be feeling the new record high oil prices courtesy of incompetent Republican economic plans and pro-Wall Street policies by Bernanke at the Fed.
From bad to worse in the GOP economy. The dollar has fallen through a very important support level $1.50 - €1 so if the greenback fails to bounce back quickly this could hit the free fall that many have been predicting. So what does this mean in America? Exactly what happened yesterday, which was a nasty inflation (stagflation) report courtesy of high energy costs.
Oil hit yet another new high, breaking through the $101 figure. Looking at the trends in oil, while it could drop back into the $80s though realistically, there is little preventing another climb. Just about anything can make the prices go back up (Turkey invading Iraq, hurricane, rumors, you name it) and now that the $100 support level has been tested and kicked aside it will be much easier for it to go up again. The Democrats really need call out the GOP and McCain in particular on this. These results are directly linked to years of bad policy by the Republicans. If we fail to drive this point home early and often, shame on us.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent last month, more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting.
The January surge left wholesale prices rising by 7.5 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace in more than 26 years, since prices had risen at a 7.5 percent pace in the 12 months ending in October 1981.
In his desire to help out Wall Street his policies are brutalizing average Americans who can't keep up with rising costs. This troubled economy is still in the beginning phase of unraveling and Washington is doing its best to drag it out.
This isn't like the S&L crisis of John McCain's 1980s where a few billion could patch things up. We are looking at hundreds of billions of dollars of bad business that were allowed because of GOP policies. It's not as easy as writing a few checks and hoping it will work out. Specific policy by Republicans brought us here and it's going to take a few years to get past this. We now need to decide if we are going to throw good money after bad to Wall Street or help minimize inflation for the general population. At the moment, it's all for Wall Street.
Meanwhile McCain can only talk about permanent tax cuts for the wealthy (who have already prospered enormously under Bush) and read Greenspan's book. Sheesh. The GOP simply can't see what everyone so easily sees. The economic boom only applied to the thin layer at the top while everyone else struggles. If that's what McCain wants to promote on the campaign trail, good luck in November.
Except for the late 1990s, pay has been stagnant for more than a generation, barely keeping pace with inflation. In 1973, the median male worker earned $16.88 an hour, adjusted for inflation. In 2007, he earned $16.85.
For many families, the stagnation has been moderated by the addition of a second paycheck as more women went to work, and their pay rose over the same period.
But the largest gains went to workers at the top of the pay scale. Now, economic worries are rising fastest in households with smaller paychecks, and that chasm is widening.
"Over the past decades, whether inflation was much higher or lower, or incomes grew faster or more slowly, there has never been such a wide divergence in the experiences" separating richer households from poorer ones, Richard Curtin, the director of the University of Michigan's consumer survey said in summing up the most recent figures.
Oh great. He's ready to do whatever it takes to help out Wall Street who are loving his rate cuts (i.e. free money) and his puppet-like behavior. If this means crushing average Americans with a weaker dollar and more expensive oil (notice how it's risen!) he's fine to do so. As long as Wall Street likes him. I can see why Bernanke doesn't have any friends but buying them like this is really painful for the rest of us. Can't he just go on Facebook and find someone who will befriend him?
Given all the dangers facing the economy, the Fed "will act in a timely manner as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks," he said, indicating additional rate cuts were likely.
But he said the Fed has to be mindful that growth should pick up later in the year.
Perhaps, but not really a given at this point. Each assessment of the economy in recent months has been worse than the last. There is no shortage of trouble thanks to failed GOP policies but to kowtow to Wall Street - who created these problems and did a brilliant job of selling this junk - and add to the already high inflation is not the answer.
Republican economics at work again. Is this what they call compassionate conservatism?
Here's a sign of how shaky the economy has become: Wal-Mart says its shoppers are redeeming their holiday gift cards for basic items — pasta sauce, diapers, laundry detergent — instead of iPods or DVDs.
Merchants had hoped shoppers armed with gift cards would provide a lift after a dismal holiday shopping season — partly because shoppers tend to spend even more than the value of the card. But that didn't seem to happen last month, and retailers are feeling the pain.
Yippee. Record growth and low unemployment. Too bad they were only good times for a few. With consumers responsible for 70% of the US economy, who will be consuming when there's no money left over to consume? Will the Democrats stand up to the lame duck and unpopular president or will they roll over, again? We are in a different economic era but Washington hasn't seemed to catch up and act, though everyone in the working world is painfully aware of the new truth. Barbara Ehrenreich is really spot on.
But hellooo, we've had brisk growth for the past few years, as the president has tirelessly reminded us, only without those promised increases in personal income, at least not for the poor and the middle class. According to a study just released by the Economic Policy Institute, real wages actually fell last year. Growth, some of the economists are conceding in perplexity, has been "decoupled" from widely shared prosperity.
Forecasts prior to the announcement were for a soft 70,000+ new jobs though the results were much, much worse. The US economy is going in reverse thanks to years of Republican policies. The economic boom that most never experienced (outside of the board rooms) is crashing down. The unlucky Americans who never bounced back from the last Bush recession are sinking even lower. The new report says 17,000 jobs were cut. Meanwhile, oil prices are booming and wages are softening. This all translates into stagflation.
Job losses were widespread. Manufacturers, construction firms and a variety of professional and business services eliminated jobs in January — reflecting the toll of the housing and credit debacles. The government cut jobs, too. All those cuts swamped job gains in education, health care, retailing and elsewhere.
Wage growth also slowed, another indication that employers are tightening their belts amid the economic slowdown.
Exxon Mobil said on Friday record oil prices boosted its fourth-quarter earnings to $11.66 billion, the highest ever operating profit by a U.S. company.
Net earnings per share at the world's largest non-government-controlled oil company rose to $2.13 a share from $1.76 a share last year. Net income in the year-earlier quarter was $10.25 billion.
In an interview with the London-based daily al-Hayat, Ali al-Naimi also said the kingdom was now pumping 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd), in line with analysts' estimates it had stepped up output above its formal OPEC allocation of less than 9 million bpd in order to meet seasonally strong winter demand.
"The condition of the market is sound currently, supply and demand are equal, and global reserves are fine," Naimi said, adding that world inventories were in line with the five-year average.
He said OPEC would have taken action if there was a need, adding: "But the condition now shows that all market fundamentals are sound."
Who needs an energy plan when Shell and Exxon already have one for us? We need more government by special interests, for special interests. Big Oil will continue to give lip service to alternative energies and place pretty flowers on their adverts but they will never, ever make a serious move beyond oil. Shell just posted the largest profit ever in the UK to the tune of $27.6 billion for 2007. How'd it work for you?
Instead of spending trillions to make a mess of the Middle East, isn't it time we spend some of that on building a long term energy plan? The GOP has no faith in the American ability to create something new and better but that should not stop others from moving down that path. Instead of giving tax breaks and free drilling rights to Big Oil, let's use that money to help launch the energy programs of the future. Some of the new ideas may not work and others will but anyone who doesn't believe in such possibilities really needs to step aside.
