I recently had a conversation with a friend who relayed to me her belief that employment in the US most likely is about only 85%. Officially I think it's about 90%, not taking into account those who have dropped off the unemployment lists. I'll buy that some have given up and that some are under employed (forced to work part time or for less than industry standard). So, let's say that employment is around 85% (unofficially). Pair that with a cute statistic I saw in the news that about 70% of those employed are afraid of losing their jobs. Interpolated, this could mean that just about everyone who has a job is afraid of losing it. This is fear factor.
Let's also combine the fact that President Obama's approval rating is falling. According to a newscast I watched (sorry I can't remember which one, might have been CNN), the low confidence in job security is to blame for this loss of approval. Seems like kind of a long shot to me. After all, Obama has done a whole bunch of things in the first six months of his presidency which could affect that rating. Also, let's remember that Obama was not just a candidate, but a super candidate that we all hoped would save us. (New Hope, anyone?) Based on these ideas, I think we can say that Obama may have started out with a high approval rating but it was based on him turning out to be Superman or maybe Spiderman.
Folks, the issues in this economy go way back to the beginning of George W. Bush's reign of terror. Some go back even further. US finances have long been based on faulty notions that there will always be more money and if we run out we'll make more. Turning around this sort of thinking and getting the military away from buying $1,000 hammers is going to take some time. It won't happen overnight or in six months. It won't happen even in four years. All the president can do at this point is make a start. The best we can do is support him and offer up whatever knowledge and experience we have of sound financial practices.
It's not his fault.
No comments:
Post a Comment