They Jumped Off the Cliff

I will turn around when people have gotten their debt paid off and put a little aside. Then they will start to replace the things that are broken, like appliances and things. The name of the game right now for consumers is reduced your monthly outflow. If people cut back to a level that they feel is sustainable, they will probably ease up a bit. Alot could be done if the government encouraged people to invest in FDIC insured CDs at banks. Then we wouldn't have to loan the banks as much, and the government wouldn't be taking on as much debt as it is through the sale of treasuries. Why this simple step is not being pushed is beyond me.

If tax dollars are needed to bail out a business then the business should not be allowed to outsource to a foreign country! How many extra jobs would that create? How ludicrous is it to take American's tax money and then send all the jobs overseas!

This is just the TIP of the iceberg. Like always, the government OVER reacts to any crisis. In my region, the FDIC has told all banks "No more development loans and to get them OFF the books". The banks are also shoring up their portfolios and denying loans to small businesses of all types. No small business, no development, means no jobs now or in the future. The FDIC mandates are causing banks to not renew on GOOD loans and sell them for pennies on the dollar to investors waiting in the wings. No investor, home buyer, or commercial buyer looks at land sold by developers, builders, homeowners, or businesses, but instead deals with the banks and their foreclosures. This is a vicious cycle, because homeowners, businesses, and developers can't sell their land because they are competing with the very people who threaten foreclosure. Something needs to be done to stop the spiral. If nothing is done, we will see the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the upper class. I guess that is the whole point? Not only are the big guys getting money from the government, but they are also getting it in the way of assets and payments from the middle class.

Two things to do to start up our economy. Live within our means and term limits for all elected officials.

Fix it? Most I know of that are lacking extra money are not buying, and the ones with money, are not buying. Alot of talk from many I hear is that they think the Government will collapse with-in the 1st., quarter of 2009. I think if consumers are doing anything. they are stocking up on food, and toilet paper. Alot of news is on the internet now, and people are not relying on the main stream news media to inform them or give information. Congress had a closed door session of recent, and that has only happened four times in U.S. history.

Hanging your hopes on smooth talking politicians is a fools game and I am suprised at how so many surcome to the temptation. Your only real hope is to be a contrarian in times of such instability - liquidate all your real estate holdings when all the condo flippers are running wild, hoard cash when the commodities are dropping like a rock and deflation killing capital investing (at present), and buy back into the market once the commodities market hits bottom and shows any kind of stability. By the way: If you think that our current economic troubles are awe inspiring, you are in for the mother of all future shocks. Think of the housing bubble as the mid ocean disturbance. The real Tsunami is still to come. Now think of the present drop in oil prices as a warning the same as the huge tsunami ebb that lures the unsuspecting to the shoreline. Forget Obama - you'd best be looking for high ground... If the future administration wants to really do something that is effective, they should, post haste, take necessary steps to stabilize commodity prices. The housing bubble is water over the dam and the damage is already done. Sure, the correction is painful, but the present instability of commodities combined with the spector of peak oil will drown us all if we aren't careful. Don Kamp, Canajoharie, NY.

Ths U.S. economy has been propped up on a house of cards for the better part of 25 years at least. Sooner or later things were going to unravel. The automakers are the epitome of this ficticious economy. They manufactured junk (for the most part) because they could not afford to do things any differently. It is not that they "don't know how" but rather, they are bound by history they cannot afford. In my opinion, it is the same across the entire economy. How did it get this way? The answer is simple: The Federal Government. Our federal government is too big and too involved in every aspect of our daily lives and economy. It is getting worse folks. They forge trade deals; meddle where they should not; alter the natural course of capitalism; morph what was once the American culture; legislate "change" when none is needed; induce fear and panic; and weaken the very fabric of society. The only way to improve our economy is to produce. We cannot produce anything if we are competing with slaves in the third world--all the while our borders are wide open. Borders. Language. Culture. We are losing all three. The deck is stacked agains the U.S. economy and Congress fumbles around as inept as always. We have successive presidents who are equally inept and completely devoid of intellectual capital. Read the tea leaves. The statistics are irrational and manipulated.

Cheryl, I do not think that well-informed people expect to see a turn in the economy in the near future. We did not get into this predicament in a short time and will not get out quickly either. When our government made cutting taxes on the people with the money the first priority and at the same time let ordinary folks fend for themselves, that set the stage for what we have now. Our government should be concerned with keeping our country operating so that everyone has a chance to support their families with minimal help. However, the blind mismanagement of recent years instead of competent leadership has allowed a total breakdown of our system to develop. It is interesting that vast sums were handed out by Paulson to several financial companies with no questions asked by the media and Congress was not deeply involved in the decisions. Now, when industrial (working) people are in need of some help, all kinds of reasons are given to let them fail, as it was their own fault. Obviously, the giant financials were also responsible for their problems, but the media did not call for their bankruptcies. Our country will not turn around until we have not bigger government, but good government, which is concerned for all of our citizens, instead of just the well-connected big operators. Our government has encouraged reckless behaviour by their own refusal to maintain an honest, sensible budget, and not keeping watch on conditions that lead to the financial nightmare we are going through. I do not believe we need to worry about raising taxes on the wealthiest five percent in the country as they have been well taken care of for some time now.

I wish Johnny Cash was still with us, I could see him making a comeback with a new bestseller.... How highs the debt Momma, 10 Trillion an rising, How highs the debt Momma....Their would be one problem, by the time the record was cut, the numbers would be in the kazillions.

You ask a tough question that will have many answers. None that will be correct. We are all on the same boat but we all have different types of life preservers on. I classify myself as a single white middle class person just tying to survive. I pay my bills (that continue to increase) and I see my allotted spending cash for each month getting smaller. The cost of living is still increasing but our pay is not. We are in a world wind of trouble. Luckily I still have my job but if I loose that, I am done. Gas has come down which helps but the day to day costs have increased. Our leaders of our country have forgotten the little man and what they have done to establish our country. We are the backbone. They just want to make sure they get theirs and survive at any cost. We have lost this country financially and it is all because of greed. So to answer your question, there is no answer unless they bailout us the backbone of this country. Give us the money and let us spend it to get caught up. Some of us will blow the money on idiotic things but the majority of us will get caught up and put the money back into the financial system and kick start our economy. These bailouts are only prolonging the situation and not fixing it.

The chickens are coming home to roost...I don't believe any bailouts are going to work.

Cheryl, How do people expect things to turn around? Your assuming things will turn around. They may indeed, the question is when and can we get a turn around before the next bubble bursts? It is very interesting that every time our leaders try to "fix" a bursting bubble, they turn around and create another bubble that will be waiting in works. Each "burst" is bigger than the last. From what I have read there are concerns that a new bubble is being created and this is the mother of all the bubbles my dear, the US Dollar bubble. Our government is trying to fix this current bubble with massive amounts of money (we all know that the printing presses are on overload right now). When the money bubble burst then Heaven really will need to help us. With unemployment being high and expected to rise here is something you should ponder.... What is the percentage of people living paycheck to paycheck? Something like upwards of 75 %. How many Americans have no savings? How many Americans live beyond their means? How many Americans pay their bills with their credit cards? Add enormous job losses to that, and you have a recipe for disaster. Why do you think Americans have been crying out to our government to "stop spending"? It is not because we are ignorant (like you guest Mr. Cole believes..good job holding your own on that interview by the way) most Americans realize, because we have been there, when you over spend, borrow, run up credit card debt, or rob peter to pay Paul...sooner or later the devil comes to collect his due!

Obamas team won't be able to do anything to turn this around either. The pendulum has swung so far in one direction for the past ten years or so, it will need to swing equally far in the opposite direction before things can get back to normal. I worry that all of the government intervention will just prevent the normal corrections from occurring. Everyone needs to buckle down and wait it out.

Which side of the Force? Appears to me the "Dark" side considering the ongoing actions of the government and the banks/corporations. From what I've witnessed over the last several months, the waste and greed continues unabated.

It would seem that your average everyday working poor/middle-class Americans get it and no one else does. The people that are responsible for keeping this economy going (the worker/consumer) are reigning in their spending while the Federal Government is throwing dollars around like a drunken sailor on shore leave in Thailand. What is the magic number of dollars that need to be printed to jump start an economy? No one seems to know. I've never heard of negative interest, but that doesn't mean one of the D.C. Wizards of Smart cannot make it up. Paying banks to borrow our money sounds like a great idea! This would ensure the lending institutionas a profit, raise their stock prices, and lock in perpetual growth. All at the taxpayers expense! I have a few ideas about how to get this all turned around and it starts with finding and holding accountable those who are responsible going all the way back to the Clinton Administration National Homeownership Strategy. One could also tap the vast Ivy League credentials that are flooding Washington to study the concept of sustainability. Manufacturers will never be able to compete if they are not keen on the wants and NEEDS of their market sector. If the auto industry wanted everyone to purchase the big powerful and safe SUV's they should have found a way for them to run on saltwater. The availability of cheap money led to the housing bubble that should have been popped years ago with a sharp rate increase, but government doesn't want to be seen as messing with progress. I offer my best wishes to the incoming administration. President-Elect Obama has his work cut out for him and his staff. Turning this economy around will not be the work of one man and his staff, however. It will take effort and sacrifice on a national level. The only thing I think the people of this Great Nation should ask in return is that nothing ever be allowed to destabalize our economy the way that these series of events have. The lessons of the New Dealers were obviously not studied to their fullest extent. Let us hope that the lessons of this latest economic challenge are not soon submerged in the wake of future prosperity.

Hey Cheryl , I just caught your interview with David Cole. You can tell him next time that I have bought and paid for five Ford trucks in the last nine years , but my next truck will be a Toyota made in the America. Tell Mr. Cole he can call me ignorant but I am not paying for union workers to sit home. The only thing that would change my mind is if they did file bankruptcy because then they would be being treated the same way my small company would be.

Death spiral has the pedal to the metal for the next couple years, barring some global miracle that turns things around. We'll all know when it hits the pavement with a big thud.

6.7%, 533000 job cuts, 1.9 million jobs lost in 3 months...Job cuts are really out of control. The critical step now is to identify companies out there who are providing opportunities in these tough times. Here's a pretty good site that specially unites these employers to save main street - http://www.jobstaxi.com/savemainstreet God bless America.

That team ain't going to fix it.