Are you better off now than six months ago..?

There was a question the Ronald Reagan (Republican conservative) once asked during his first election campaign against Jimmy Carter (Liberal democrat). Inflation was gone wild. Unemployment was at record highs. The economy was in the toilet. And our enemies around the world saw us as weak. The question was this...

"Are you better off now than you were four years ago..?

I have to ask since the time Obama has been in the office, "Are you better off now than you were six months ago..? I say no ! What do you say..?

nope. And the sad part is I can't see the bottom from where I stand. If I could see it, I would have a plan for the future. Right now it's anybody's guess.

I don't really know how to answer this. I have heard this through various presidential election seasons. Yeah, I am doing fine. Could I be doing better? Yeah. I guess. Um, are we all better off now? Yeah. We are. We are all together and making things happen. That's good. Could I go out tomorrow and buy a brand new car? No. Could I have done that in the last, say, 11 years? No. Now we are all living together and working together. Could my wife go out and buy a brand new pickup truck now? Now that we all are together and she works and has no bills to pay? Yes. So, yeah, we are all better off. We are put in a situation where we all have to work together as a family. Are we better off? Yeah!!!!!!! Reminds me of my youth, when family actually meant getting along and helping each other. Yeah. We are better off. Could I go and buy a McMansion? No. Not by myself. Niether could any of my familiy members, alone. Could we do it together? Probably, but none of us want that.

I don't really know how to answer this. I have heard this through various presidential election seasons. Yeah, I am doing fine. Could I be doing better? Yeah. I guess. Um, are we all better off now? Yeah. We are. We are all together and making things happen. That's good. Could I go out tomorrow and buy a brand new car? No. Could I have done that in the last, say, 11 years? No. Now we are all living together and working together. Could my wife go out and buy a brand new pickup truck now? Now that we all are together and she works and has no bills to pay? Yes. So, yeah, we are all better off. We are put in a situation where we all have to work together as a family. Are we better off? Yeah!!!!!!! Reminds me of my youth, when family actually meant getting along and helping each other. Yeah. We are better off. Could I go and buy a McMansion? No. Not by myself. Niether could any of my familiy members, alone. Could we do it together? Probably, but none of us want that.

This is a trick question, no?

This is no one liner.

Originally posted by dooper
This is a trick question, no?

This is no one liner.

No.. it's a rather serious question. Do you have an opinion as to how you think you are doing, or is it too early to tell yet. That could be an answer as well.

reply to post by Fromabove


Let's see. My business after years and years of growth is backing up.

The Director of Homeland Security suggested I was a potential terrorist because I am a combat veteran.

My taxes have already gone up, even though I'm a small business.

My taxes are going higher, although they called these taxes other things, like cap and trade.

Since we've only spent roughly 6% of the Stimulus, as we speed things up, we'll see massive inflation as they're printing money as fast as they can.

Massive and ongoing unemployment means business will not be picking up for years as fewer and fewer have jobs.

And you wonder why I ask if this is a trick question?

Well considering the fact that I made 111k last year and will make only about 85k this year I don't think so. I will be paying off two cars pretty soon though which will give me an extra 1000 dollars a month but whats the point when the fools are going to inflate my savings away. I will have saved about 12k by the end of the year due to not buying squat where as last year it seemed like I was always broke. I have to say yes I am worse off but by changing my families spending habits its getting better. I have known since the primaries that the bottom will fall out and have taken steps to prepare for it. I sure hope it chugs along another year or so because my preparations will be better but whom knows. I am hoping before the crap hits the fan that i'll have 1000 ounces of silver, 100% solar power for house, & 10k cash on hand but that will take another year to accomplish. If I could have knocked some sense into the old lady I would probably be there but then again she didn't get the hint until I spent 3.5 months at the house with no work. No matter how much I tried to tell Her she just assumed I was a conspiracy theorist and was being too paranoid. Now she see's a little bit of the light but doesn't see the full picture because then again she is still a sheeple.



Oh and for the record I thank Ron Paul and all of His supporters for showing me the light...... Also another point # Obama, Mc'Cain & all of their sheeple supporters I hope You guys don't prepare and suffer for Your stupidity and ignorance...

Regardless of who came in as president or what policies were to be implemented this financial crises will be in for the long run. It took 8years of rightwing "fiscal responsibility" to get us to this mess (for example waging a war of lies while giving out $1 trillion worth of tax cuts that do squat) its going to take longer than a year to see any improvement.

SG

I say no.....
I am in the transportation industry, and its all this CO. can do to keep its doors open and the 400 employees paid..
Freight is no were near what it was a year ago or 2 years ago, the demand of it has dropped %40 or more @ this particular CO.
I am sure there are lots of CO.'s that are in the same shape as this one, just barely makin ends meet.
If it stays like it is, for much longer we will surely see the affects, on a much much broader scale!

I would have to say that i am better off than i was. i am totally debt free but my house. my wife and i have quit using credit all together we don't even use our debit card hardly anymore just cash i find that it has the greatest purchaseing power. i quit buying brand new thing instead i shop for second hand bargins. i never realized how much of a waste it is to by brand new stuff. craigslist is my friend, i enjoy taking my 2 yr old daughter to the farmers market for fresh vegatables and getting out too talk to the old timers out about the country's current situation. so i guess i would say i'm doing better. i look at things very differently now. just my thought.
CrawGator406

I am doing better... My band is doing well and we are about to go on tour....
I am making more money than I was, so I am doing a little bit better.

better off no
able to live with less , yes
adjusted to drop of income before it actually came to be

things are tough but preparing by hardening helped

tough roads ahead people.

get hardened up for it...

I should probably say that for me it is a mixed bag. Some things are still good such as making some money in business, but others are not such as the lack of good credit lending and the cost of things slowly rising. I don't think Obama and the democrats are doing any good at all, especially on the economy and foreign affairs. But then it's only been six months.

Aside from occasionally being penalized for using cash, all is the same with me.

Considering that I started working non-stop since I was 14 years old and never had a problem finding a job until now, I would say I'm not better off. My husband took a pay decrease in January. We are still able to meet our obligations each month. I have lots of free time to try to cope with.

Waiting to see what is going to happen is the hardest part.

If your asking about me personally... then my answer is "yes" I saw this coming and made my own plans to take care of my family... if your asking about my town my country or the world at large??? then I would have to say no and its going to get a lot worse...soon...

to preface, the obama comment is so out of line it isn't even funny. (if i read that right.) what freaking kind of difference would 6 months make to a snowball that is now an avalanche that has been building since the 1980s (recent history that is)? i for one would love to see this partisan hackery and bashing STOP. it's doing no good. realize that one "party" is as bad or no virtually the same as the other when it comes to pandering and greed and ineffectivesness, with minor social and economic differences that fool some of the people all of the time..

hell no...been steadily and rapidly sinking for at least 4 years now (though it really all started in 1991 as near as i can recollect, with a few faux "good" years in there for some reason). i personally believe killing the unions and shipping jobs offshore started this snowball from hell running. and giving the banking and financial and fuel industries free reign iced the cake,

just look at how much everything costs for one thing. a loaf of bread is three dollars and a gallon of milk is almost five. prices for everything you can buy go up "due to fuel surcharges" and never come back down.

and then of course you lose your job and can only find one that pays half of what you used to make. and still have to pay exorbitant insurance costs...health, car, home, and utiltiies and college tuition. way, way worse off.

even the money we saved for some of this is flowing out like a pierced artery. and the interest rates they pay for savings are a freaking joke compared to what they make on our money. and don't get me started on the 401K and money markets and mutual funds we were led by the nose and often forced to invest in that lost my money and then some.

the working person gets it from all directions. pay taxes on income, pay surcharges, double taxation on spending, pay increased medical costs because others don't pay, pay more for fuel because capitalistic companies have a monopoly on something they have MADE us dependent on and oh no they can't take a business risk and less profit and then when they get in trouble who bails THEM out?

i think they want us all at rock bottom so that we have to start from scratch.

i will say though, there are some people who made some decisions (consciously or not) that are probably in better shape today...like those still of an age to have their well-paying jobs (haven't been axed because of age and closeness to retirement) who are picking up some sweet deals on homes and property now. but their time will come too.

along these lines, as an aside, do you think there is one particular middle class demographic that is getting hit harder than others? i swear that all my life, as a tail-end baby boomer, JUST as i get to the point where i should begin to reap some benefits of 25 years or 32 years of hard work, or just as i should qualify for something that's been in place for a generation or two, it's yanked away. sorry this last part was a pity me, semi-rant. but i really am about to just give UP.

p.s. as for the living with less comments? sure. a lot of us have been...some out of choice some out of good planning and prescience and some because there is no choic...but that's also sure not stimulating the economy or anything but our imaginations. is that a double-edged sword there?


[edit on 8-7-2009 by ~Lucidity]

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
to preface, the obama comment is so out of line it isn't even funny. (if i read that right.) what freaking kind of difference would 6 months make to a snowball that is now an avalanche that has been building since the 1980s (recent history that is)? i for one would love to see this partisan hackery and bashing STOP. it's doing no good. realize that one "party" is as bad or no virtually the same as the other when it comes to pandering and greed and ineffectivesness, with minor social and economic differences that fool some of the people all of the time..

hell no...been steadily and rapidly sinking for at least 4 years now (though it really all started in 1991 as near as i can recollect, with a few faux "good" years in there for some reason). i personally believe killing the unions and shipping jobs offshore started this snowball from hell running. and giving the banking and financial and fuel industries free reign iced the cake,

just look at how much everything costs for one thing. a loaf of bread is three dollars and a gallon of milk is almost five. prices for everything you can buy go up "due to fuel surcharges" and never come back down.

and then of course you lose your job and can only find one that pays half of what you used to make. and still have to pay exorbitant insurance costs...health, car, home, and utiltiies and college tuition. way, way worse off.

even the money we saved for some of this is flowing out like a pierced artery. and the interest rates they pay for savings are a freaking joke compared to what they make on our money. and don't get me started on the 401K and money markets and mutual funds we were led by the nose and often forced to invest in that lost my money and then some.

the working person gets it from all directions. pay taxes on income, pay surcharges, double taxation on spending, pay increased medical costs because others don't pay, pay more for fuel because capitalistic companies have a monopoly on something they have MADE us dependent on and oh no they can't take a business risk and less profit and then when they get in trouble who bails THEM out?

i think they want us all at rock bottom so that we have to start from scratch.

i will say though, there are some people who made some decisions (consciously or not) that are probably in better shape today...like those still of an age to have their well-paying jobs (haven't been axed because of age and closeness to retirement) who are picking up some sweet deals on homes and property now. but their time will come too.

along these lines, as an aside, do you think there is one particular middle class demographic that is getting hit harder than others? i swear that all my life, as a tail-end baby boomer, JUST as i get to the point where i should begin to reap some benefits of 25 years or 32 years of hard work, or just as i should qualify for something that's been in place for a generation or two, it's yanked away. sorry this last part was a pity me, semi-rant. but i really am about to just give UP.

p.s. as for the living with less comments? sure. a lot of us have been...some out of choice some out of good planning and prescience and some because there is no choic...but that's also sure not stimulating the economy or anything but our imaginations. is that a double-edged sword there?


[edit on 8-7-2009 by ~Lucidity]

one nice thing about being equal in America is eventually we all suffer the same, then at that point we get together and change things.

Originally posted by Southern Guardian
Regardless of who came in as president or what policies were to be implemented this financial crises will be in for the long run. It took 8years of rightwing "fiscal responsibility" to get us to this mess (for example waging a war of lies while giving out $1 trillion worth of tax cuts that do squat) its going to take longer than a year to see any improvement.

SG

People TOTALLY misunderstand how our system works. The president cannot legislate law or spending. That is the job of congress. The decline did not start until 2007 when congress changed hands from the Republicans to Democrats. BTW, I'm not defending Bush, but no one can lay this entire mess at Bush's feet and Obama is only exacerbating the situation by his radical agenda and Pelosi's radical spending.

In essence, no, I'm no better off. Last month, my company’s primary client filed chapter 11. 8 out of 11 of my close friends are unemployed. The value of my house has taken nearly a 30% hit. My taxes will be going up and in some regards, have already gone up SUBTANTIALLY since I'm one of those dreaded smokers and I will be losing some of the best medical coverage in the world here in the very near future.