Have You Heard Bush Telling Americans Not To Worry Lately And To Just Go Shopping Because The Fundamentals Of The Economy Are Strong?

The other day I was complaining because Toyota added $1,000 to the price of my new Prius for no reason other than that they could. I'm lucky I was able to pay it without having to cut back on something else in my life-- like a home payment or medical care. I wasn't always so lucky. There was a stretch in my life when I certainly wouldn't have made it without the help the federal government gave me with food stamps. To this day when I bemoan (silently) all the taxes I have to pay, I think about how grateful I should be that the government invested in me when I really needed it and gave me at least a year's worth of food stamps.

Nevertheless, I was saddened to read on Wednesday that in September food stamps hit an all time record-- up 17% from last year. Over 31.5 million Americans used them in September. The economy has tanked and unemployment has skyrocketed since then. And economists expect it to get much worse before it gets better. The last food stamps record-- 29.85 million people in November, 2005, was the result of emergency benefits for victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Victims of the Bush Economic Miracle are getting hit much harder.

[A]nti-hunger groups said the economic downturn is the main reason behind the higher figures.

"It's a disturbing trend," said Ellen Vollinger, legal director with the Food Research and Action Center. She said she expects more people will turn to food stamps as unemployment figures rise and the economy remains weak.

One in 10 Americans were participating in the food stamp program as of September, said Dottie Rosenbaum, analyst with Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.

That's approaching the all-time high of 10.5 percent of the population that used the program in 1994, and is similar to levels seen in the early 1980s, she said.

States that have seen a drop in job numbers and increase in home foreclosures such as Florida and Nevada also have seen a marked increase in food stamp use, Rosenbaum said.

Food banks are struggling to meet increased requests for food, said Maura Daly of Feeding America, a network of food banks.

"The tough economic time that our nation is facing is having a tremendous impact on the level of food assistance needed across the country," Daly said.

How do I know things are going to get much worse before they get better? I'm awake. We're just escaping from years and years of violently antisocial financial and economic policy based on greed, avarice and the law of the jungle. The NY Times reported yesterday that the retail sector is an unmitigated disaster. Should that surprise anyone after years and years of hollowing out the economy, shipping jobs overseas, destroying labor unions and redistributing the nation's wealth upward?

The nation’s retailers turned in the worst sales figures in at least a generation on Thursday, starting the holiday shopping season with double-digit declines across a broad spectrum of stores.

...The International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry group, described November’s figures as the weakest in more than 35 years. Declines were recorded in every retail segment the group tracks, with the biggest coming from department stores, with sales down 13.3 percent compared with November a year ago, and specialty apparel retailers, down 10.4 percent.

Republican members of Congress and-- I suspect-- some reactionary Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party (I can't wait to see them vote), are making a bad situation worse. Jim Bunning (R-KY) should be hauled before a court and asked to explain why he shouldn't be charged with treason. After watching Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) playing games with the auto executives on TV today, I'm inclined to think he needs the same treatment as Bunning. Corker voted for the ill-conceived Wall Street bailout for the banksters. Is it that he just hates workers? And many of the loudest advocates among the union busting Republicans who joined Corker on bailing out the banksters, agreed with him that the American automakers can go to hell. Among them are several facing re-election in 2 years: Robert Bennett (R-UT), Kit Bond (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and John Thune (R-SD). We need to watch this crew closely.



UPDATE: LOOKS LIKE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS HAVE AGREE TO RESCUE THE BIG 3

That's good news... maybe. The devil, as always, is in the details. And we don't have those yet. It looks like the idea is for short term loans until Bush is back in Texas.

[I]t was the Labor Department’s report of 533,000 jobs lost in November that seemed to put a final halt to the hand-wringing on Capitol Hill and prompted the Democrats to announce that they would draw up legislation for votes next week.

“Today’s announcement of major job losses and findings from Congressional hearings from the last two days make it clear that Congress must work on a bipartisan basis to provide short-term and limited assistance to the automobile industry while it undertakes major restructuring,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement.

She added: “Congress will insist that any legislation include rigorous and ongoing oversight to guarantee that taxpayers are protected and that resources are directed to ensure the long term viability and competitiveness of the American automobile industry.”

...But some Republicans, including Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior member of the banking committee, have said they will oppose a taxpayer financed rescue for the automakers under any circumstances.

Some conservative House Republicans have called openly for allowing one or more of the auto companies to fail and enter bankruptcy.