State of the Union

A man's wealth is not measured by his riches but instead....

Good thing!! with the state of the economy only the very rich are getting richer and the rest of us are rapidly losing ground.  I used to think I was middle class; a professional woman in a good job.  Now I think I'm hanging around like a pinata, waiting for the next blow.

And I'm luckier than most I guess, I carried tiny credit card debt, my mortgage was almost paid off, I do have a car loan, and my retirement account is a train wreck but eight months of supporting a full-size family and I wonder how on earth people are doing it.

It's been hard, and the cash reserves are running low but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Angie has found work in a professional position.  She was able, in this economy to find the job she wanted and to land it.  No small feat.  Of course, since it runs in the family she too is working in a non-profit.

So are things getting better?  Yes and no.  I think we're in for a lot of aftershocks, and someone needs to fix the situation that stated this depression -- unregulated banks to start with. To me it looks like deregulation was a bust.  And the feds can't fix the economy by lowering the interest rates if there is a next time -- do they offer negative interest rate loans?

I understand the reason for the bailout, and it wasn't truly to help the banks, but the entire economy but I wonder if the fix wasn't too easy.  How can some financial institution who takes subsidies turn around and justify paying bonuses.  That's like being a weatherman -- where else can you get a job that lets you be wrong every day and still have a job?  How can you get a bonus when you rip the economy to shreds?

So Obama, we're just barely hanging in there right now, and much as I want better medical care I can't afford to pay out of my pocket, and if you think my boss will say ohhh goody let's give her premium costs back to her, I want the drugs you're taking.

My only hope is that somewhere before I'm 70 and can retire (maybe) the economy will be better.  And maybe I'll be able to see a few of the places I've dreamed of visiting.

I wonder if that is too much to ask?