You Gotta Eat

Being  in traffic full time now means not having to read every story in the paper to see what's going on. I don't feel obliged to watch every newscast or dig deeper into a local story. If a story interests me, I'll read it. If not, I'll pass. I'm somewhere between being blissfully ignorant and overly well-informed.

One of the stories of interest to me is the new president's economic stimulus package, and how this stimulus package is going to "create" jobs. I don't understand how a government package is going to turn millions into wage earners. I don't see how it can be done. If it's so easy to do, why isn't it done on a regular basis? Jobs aren't created through government action. If anything these days, it's harder for the so-called "small" businessman to make it because of the goverment's policies. Look for taxes on these "small" businesses to go up, even though these are the last people who should be carrying more of a burden.

The problem with the economy is this. We continue to hear how dire things are. The news is bad every day. Things are bleak, times are tough. We need to save now more than ever. People heed these warnings and save. Except in bad times the word "save" is turned into "not spending". People aren't going to spend if they continue to think that times will be bad. Spending is needed to stimulate the economy, not another government package. Yet, why would people spend if they keep think they're going to be the next one's looking down the barrel of a gun? Just five days ago, I believed that I was going to be a victim of layoffs. That didn't happen, and I even got a job more to my liking. All last weekend, my thoughts were how I could make my existing savings go farther, not when we were going to paint the house or get a new dishwasher. The last thing I thought about was spending. Reading radio websites and hearing what's going on with the company that my friends work for has me in the mindset that I've only dodged the bullet temporarily. I'm circling the wagons a little more than usual, not looking to spend.

If ten people say "you look awful today" and one person says "you look great", you're going to believe you look awful- even if the truth really is you pretty much look like you do all the time. A non-stop flow of negative news can only lead to more negative results.

I drive home around 6:15 every night. My travels take me along a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that includes a Buffalo Wild Wings, Chilis, iHOP, and an Outback Steakhouse. Every night this week, all those parking lots have been filled. I've seen people waiting outside for a table. Every night this week! After a full day of hearing about bad economic news, that's the good news I take (figuratively) home.