They don’t know what to do

So I woke up this morning and as usual was listening to NPR and the discussion was focused on President Obama signing this massive stimulus package. On the surface that may sound like a good deal after all, at this point everyone agrees that the economy is in shambles and needs some help like yesterday. Crazy to imagine that just less than a year ago, Americans were running around spending money like kool-aid and now folks is holding what shekels they have left close to their vest.

I don’t know but I am starting to wonder does Obama and his crew really know what’s going on and do they really have some solid answers to attempt to fix this problem. I will admit I don’t know all the specifics about this stimulus deal but what I have heard has me feeling a tad confused about how this is going to solve the problems we face as a nation.

So Jane and Joe Worker will see a few extra bucks in their pay checks, I believe the figure I heard was $8 a week for a single person and $16 a week for a couple….um, how the fuck is that going to stimulate the economy? Some behavior economist I heard this morning was saying that with small amounts like this that the average Joe is going to see unlike the big stimulus check of last year, people are more likely to actually spend these small amounts of money rather than save. Ok, Mister Educated Economy Man, but um….I think you are wrong. Folks are not going to foolishly spend that extra $32 a month on fun shit, sorry but we have tasted the juice of hard times and even a former shopaholic like myself is down with saving. I just don’t think its going to work.

Problem as I see it is, we still want to hold to this model of Americans as consumers and now Americans with any iota of common sense are realizing that spending for the sake of spending is a bad idea.  I know that by and large Americans have short term memory but with credit lines reduced and no more equity to tap from, we are confronted with the reality that American wages have not kept pace with reality for most folks. I’m sorry but now that creditors have come face to face with the fact that the average Joe has no money, I just don’t see that easy credit being extended anymore.

Gone are the days of buying a car with no cash down or only a thousand down. Instead folks will be fixing up their clunkers and we will be like the cats in Cuba driving these rides until they really cannot run any longer. Shit, I just heard a story about how in Westchester County NY, the auto repair places are doing a booming business. Folks cannot afford new cars, who has 20-30G’s just sitting around to buy a car outright? Yeah, I thought so. Nobody.

Look Obama and company, right now all your policies sound like the same shit that has been done before…O-man I like you, you seem like a cool cat and your wife and kids are adorable but where is the change? I know some of us keep saying give you time. Well I hate to tell you but some of us are drowning, we need that same energy and drive that convinced a racist nation to vote you in. Honestly watching you try to be bipartisan is starting to piss me off, guess what? Them republican cats have no intention on working with you, so quit trying because all you are doing is pissing off folks who voted for you.

I don’t know but maybe Obama needs to start reading James Howard Kunstler for ideas on how to really stimulate the economy, whatever he does though it better be quick since states like California and Kansas are facing some rough times.