December 5, 2008
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News: Unemployment & Low Pay Done Us In
Deepen unemployment woes continue to feed the maelstrom, which has sucked in just about everything else. Housing crisis, healthcare crisis, credit card crisis, retail crisis, you name it. Why it too so long to openly admit the recession has got to be a political agenda thing. How could a nation be in one of worst recessions of a lifetime and not even know we're in any recession at all? This demands an outright investigation of culpability. But here we are, trying to keep from going over the cliff. Just like home mortgage, people default for lack of pay. Just like home credit card debt, people default for lack of pay. Just like medical needs, people go without for lack of pay. Just like Christmas shopping, people back way off for lack of pay. How can there not be a recession when 75 percent of our country's workforce has their pay reduced while all the expenses (naturally) go up? Brilliant! What has Mr. Bush done about it? Why, bring out his economic advisor, Paul O'Neil, to explain to us that we're not in a recession, neither is there going to be one. Where are accountability and culpability at the highest levels? Fortunately, the credit card industry is now under the care of someone other than Mr. Bush and has the best chance of recovery. Pity for the retail industry, though. There goes unemployment again.
It's still not a cakewalk yet, however. The critical Christmas shopping will have gone away before complete confidence returns to the credit card industry in February with government regulation and security.
Meanwhile we, who have kept our records clean by paying on time and not going over-limit will still have to pay a price. Our rates will jump, limits will reduce and FICO ratings will smudge, but we'll survive. Let's not fault the credit card industry, their sins are minor. Where are the jobs? That's not minor.