Slowdown? Try Screeching Halt!

While I am actually sick to death of hearing and reading about the war in Iraq, what is really bugging me this week is our awful economy and where it is headed. Unfortunately, I can not discuss our economy without addressing the substantial effects the war has had on our country and economy. Sadly, a good deal of the blame - directly and indirectly - can be placed on the staggering amount of money our government has spent and will spend in the future on the war, as well as the fear factory the administration likes to keep churning, which dominoes into so many areas such as consumer confidence and Wall Street.

Really, all I want from a financial position, is basic necessities met - adequate housing, steady flow of utilities, food and household items comfortably aquired, a few extracurricular activites for my children, and access to medical care when needed. We are not extravagant people, and have no need for flat screen televisions big enough to teleport all 6 of us, $50,000 cars, a 3000 sq ft home with a view, or vacations in the Bahamas. We have lived reasonably comfortable for several years now (albeit with very little savings), but for the first time in a long time I am genuinely worried about our finances. With gas prices quickly approaching $4/gallon, I am finding myself having to cut out certain activities - particularly ones that involve driving. Also for the first time in a long time, I am reevaluating my cooking and food preparation tactics to see where I can cut costs. This week I could not find a decent - meaning with nutritional value, not the $.79 loaf of filler materials loosely resembling an edible substance - loaf of bread for under $2.25. I recall not so long ago my favorite choice being somewhere around $1.49. The bananas I used to buy for $.33/lb are now $.50/lb. It all adds up, especially when feeding a family of 6, to a 3 figure increase in our food expenditures. Utilities are also on the rise, further necessitating a reevaluation of the family budget - and I am getting scared.

Back to the topic of war, right now the seemingly accepted cost of the war is about $3 TRILLION dollars - and of course much of that is not real-time expenses, but borrowed money so my children, grand-children and probably great grand-children will likely continue to experience the financial effects of Bush's war on Iraq. Regardless, instead of using that money to research, develop, and implement renewable energy sources to reduce our dependence on oil (and help our environment), we have blown it on a useless war. By showing investors that there is a greater return in military industries, we have hurt other industries and our economic stability. Being almost obsessed with attacking Third World countries and causing oil producers anxiety about future oil production, has helped drive up the cost of oil - again, hurting our economy. And all of this damage to our economy coupled with no end in sight to the war, typically causes people to not invest and not make major purchases - doing even more harm to our bottom line.

To add insult to injury, President Bush continues to refer to this sad economic situation as a "slowdown", applying a monetary band-aid he calls an economic stimulus package. Why not call a spade a spade? Personally, I have more respect for someone who readily admits a mistake and then works to rectify it - I'd even pitch in to help. But no, let's just spend even more money our country doesn't have on over-priced gasoline and food. I have a hard time even enjoying that fact that I am getting a nice chunk of money direct-deposited this week, when I know that there is no real sign of a let-up in our financial troubles anytime soon.

I naively believed that once we navigated the early adult/new family financial growing pains, and settled into careers, most things would be ok. I never expected to live a lifestyle of a celebrity, but really didn't think at my age I would be adjusting, evaluating, and sacrificing to assure that our basic needs were met. But to my defense, when I started actually paying attention to our society and government, President Clinton was in office and things were going pretty well. I looked to people 10 and 15 years older and reasonably expected to be in their stable shoes. But that was before the 1-2 punch of George W. Bush and The Iraq War. While, I don't know that it's totally fair to blame Bush for everything, he certainly hasn't done much to help us out. For me, the light at the end of the tunnel is our new President, whoever he or she may be. I would love to see a quick end to the nonsense in Iraq, subsidized health care for everyone, and government support of research and implementation (in the forms of grants, tax incentives, and basic cheerleading) of alternative energy sources. But I am thinking maybe I need to check my expectations at the polling booth and just hope for the best.

On a related note, for grins check this out to see how you would spend $3 trillion.

Middle Class Definitely Can Be Rough

In a recent article written by one of my peers, the topic of the middle class population falling through the cracks was discussed. The author states that many middle class families can not afford insurance nor out-of-pocket medical costs, but also earn too much for social services, leaving them in a tough spot. Yet, many people receiving government aid feel they can not afford to work because they would then lose their government benefits. I can certainly relate to this! We are a family of six, and by the authors numbers are just above middle class income "limits". While we are able to live fairly comfortably, we can not afford the $420 a month to insure me. My husbands employer pays his premium, and our children are insured, but since I only work part-time and can not get insurance through my employer, we are going on a wing and a prayer that nothing medically bad happens to me. Unfortunately that's just not realistic. A year and a half ago I broke my hand, and the emergency room visit alone cost $600! Therefore, I was unable to see an orthopedic specialist as recommended and consequently live with sporadic pain in my right hand. It is hard for me to not get emotional regarding this topic because I feel I work very hard to be a responsible and productive member of society, yet health insurance is a luxury for me. From my investigating, I have determined it is pretty difficult to get government health insurance for a rather healthy adult, although it would be easier if I had a chronic illness. Even if I could quit working and definitely get government health care, I would still essentially be paying a premium because of the loss of income from my job - I just wouldn't have the copays, I suppose. Either way, it's definitely a catch-22. I am truly hopeful we see some government reform of the health care crisis in our country when we get our new President.

The author also addressed education costs and payment among the poor and middle class. Again, there is a large gap where those that earn a little too much but not quite enough fall. I believe it is great there is such a thing as a Pell Grant and other subsidies for our citizens that qualify (luckily I got this one since we have a large family and are not anyone's dependents!), but agree we could allocate more funds to help those families that can't afford to save for their children's education and subsequently are unable to afford to pay the tuition bill when it comes around. Agreeing with the author, not having a college education is almost not an option these days - but it also doesn't automatically secure employment. It is sad and scary to think of a young person in their early twenties aquiring such large sums of debt with no idea what their future income will be. I have taken out a loan for school as well since the Pell Grant didn't come close to covering my expenses and tuition, but at least I know what my husband earns every month and will likely continue to earn and can decide whether this is a debt I can afford to acquire. My children were blessed with large sums of stock when they were born, but with inflation I still worry about paying for college. In the meantime, I encourage my children to practice and be successful in their chosen extra-curricular activities beacuse Plan B consists of a recording contract or NFL draft pick!

Kidding aside, I, as well as a most of the middle class population, work hard to pay our taxes, support ourselves and our families and generally not be a burden on society. While I do these things because I want to and they are the right things to do, I would like to see our tax dollars going somewhere other than what seems to be a never-ending war amongst other frivolous expenditures our sometimes disconnected government has deemed necessary. On the other hand, we are not victims - we must at least bring these issues to our politcians to make our voice heard and then vote for those who might have a chance of making some of these changes. Being a fairly optimistic person, I am thrilled that these topics are be discussed - even if my faith in Washington is waning.