They Say it’s Not a Recession… It’s a Slowdown…

I don't know about you but I'm just not comfortable seeing stock brokers crying on Wall Street in the middle of the day.

It's rare, if ever, that we see the media working with the government to hide anything. But they are both delusional if they think very many people believe them when they say, "it's not a recession... it's just a slowdown."

They want us to believe we're not in a recession so we can keep spending, or keep the economy stimulated as they say. And in this case everyone loses if the money stops pouring in, including the media outlets that rely on advertisement capitol to fund their corporations.

But the fact of the matter is nothing is slowing down... Everything is speeding up. People are losing their houses at a rate never seen before, credit card payments are falling behind faster, gasoline prices continue to rise more quickly and energy costs continue to grow more rapidly...

The only thing slowing down is me in my car, trying to conserve gas... And of course spending is way down as the dollar continues to nose dive and the Euro continues to rise.

Even Jay Z flashed Euros in his Blue Magic video as if to say, "the dollar ain't' shit son..." He might be getting it but the rest of us are losing it quick...

On Thursday President Bush announced a plan to help "stimulate" the economy by cutting taxpayers federal checks. The plan calls for individual rebates of up to $800.00 while family rebates would be as much as $1,600.00.

In the meantime the Democrats are calling for the stimulus plans to send out much less at $200.00 per individual and $400.00 per family. I guess it's why I'm an Independent...

I definitely can't side with the Democrats on this one as $400.00 barely heats my home for a month, and would definitely not send me out on a wild shopping spree.

What I found most interesting though was a comment made by a politician on CNN the other morning when he said that the poor and middleclass needed the money more because they are the ones who go out and spend it.

The statement sounded more to me like, "poor and middleclass people are the only ones stupid enough to spend money in the middle of a recession."

I'm not sure he meant it that way but it did make me realize the reason rich people have money... They hold on to it for dear life while we get ghetto fabulous with our tax returns and spend the money like it's contaminated.

I know one thing for sure... When the stock brokers start jumping off Manhattan high rises I'll know for sure the recession is officially here.

Be careful with your money people, spend smart and save for the rainy day... the storm clouds are upon us.

One Love, Ivan Sanchez - Your Friendly Neighborhood Author