Americans Cut Back On Spending, But Don’t Worry, Salvation Is Nigh–UPDATED
October 6, 2008 / 9:17 am • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierThe New York Times reports the cutback in consumer spending:
When the final tally is in, consumer spending for the quarter just ended will almost certainly shrink, the first quarterly decline in nearly two decades. Many economists, who began the third quarter expecting modest growth, now believe the cutbacks are so severe that the overall economy did not expand either, and they warn that a consumer-led recession could be more severe than the relatively mild one earlier this decade.
[Ed: The one that wasn't reported because Clinton was president? That one?]“The last few days have devastated the American consumer,” said Walter Loeb, president of Loeb Associates, a consultancy, who said he worried that the constant drumbeat of negative news about the economy was becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. “They all feel poor.”
Hmmm….I wonder why Americans feel so poor? It’s not like the press hasn’t been gleeful about a potential American economic implosion.
Hopefully, Americans are paying off debt. They’ll spend more for Christmas. They’ll spend more if Obama is elected because the press will glorify and edify his name and proclaim this:
Appropriately subtitled in German. Watch the whole thing…groovy things are to come! And there will be no more tears, and no more sorrow:
Life is REALLY, REALLY, um……, really, really, really bad now, but it will be so much better soon. Hang on hippies, salvation is nigh!

UPDATE:
I’m not sure that even The One cans save us from this.
UPDATED AGAIN:
Comment from rrobin:
Really, Melissa, instead of acting like we’re amused by this whole Obama election travesty, it’s time to fight. It’s long past the time to give ourselves the luxury of just playing with trolls around here. We can’t just play while everything we hold dear just slips away…
I’m responding here because for some reason I can’t comment. Anyway, to clarify:
I am not amused. At. All. In fact, let me lay out the point of the post since I obviously didn’t communicated clearly. The press has been a participant in the economic debacle. They decide what to print and how to print it and it makes a difference. Journalistic integrity is a farce. Had there been honest reporting, the Senate democrats’ despicable conduct regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failure would have been reported–but it’s Demorcats so they get a pass. The American public has FINALLY been informed about the mortgage crisis, but most of the information is coming out AFTER a Trillion dollar spending bill passed that is not going to work and in fact further enables bad behavior.
I am not amused. The Press desires to put Barack Obama into the Presidency so badly, they will not give all the facts about Obama so people can make an informed decision.
I am not amused. Congress Democrats played around with the “rescue bill”, played politics and packed the bill full of pork, and acted like the asses they are, with seeming indifference for the American economy, because a bad economy favors Obama, don’t you know? They so desire power, they will take the world economy down a freaking black hole to do it? It’s too late. No matter what happens, the next four years are going to stink, no matter how the press tries to spin it if Obama is elected. With a McCain presidency, the Republicans will be tagged for a disaster that McCain himself tried to prevent–oh and President Bush, too. But we don’t hear about that because the press bias is so complete, so egregious and so pathological.
So no, I’m not amused. I’m enraged. And now, my blood pressure is up, thanks! And what makes me even angrier is that we have a candidate who pussy-foots around and won’t name the problem because he’s a Senator who thinks he’s better than everyone because he’s part of the “In Gang”. So no, he won’t go after his fellow Senators because they are part of the same inbred, elite problem.
For McCain to have an ice-cube’s chance in hell at being elected, he is going to have to LEAD. He is going to have to not come across as a mild-mannered Senatorial negotiator or focus on his Maverickness. He’s going to have to explain why his ideas are so much better and do it in a persuasive way. Does he have it in him?
For all the press bias and for all the Democrats willful destructiveness, Americans will respond to a positive, rational, optimistic message–like the one that Sarah Palin articulates so well. Coming from McCain, it will have even more punch. He has the experience and hard-earned stripes which is in stark contrast to Obama’s lack of experience on the one hand and his disturbing “experience” on the other.
In this post, I was attempting to demonstrate the press bias, the collusion and delusion of the Democrats and the real-world consequences, and also to show the foundation of Obama’s ideology. Obama is a leftist socialist Hippie clothed in a tie and wearing a bright smile. He is dangerous for America and must be defeated, but he’s viewed as a savior by his followers. Just like the bailout, they will find out, too late, that they’ve been duped. Or, they’ll be so invested in their perspective that they will follow wherever Obama leads. And that’s a frightening thought.
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com

11 Responses to “Americans Cut Back On Spending, But Don’t Worry, Salvation Is Nigh–UPDATED”
By mer on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
How about Reid pulling a Schumer last week? “…a major insurance company on the verge of bankruptcy…”. Just like Indymac. If they did not do it on purpose, then they have to be the two stupidest people in DC. Either way they both probably belong in jail for their actions/words.
Sarah needs to take John behind the woodshed and beat some sense into him. Maybe Cindy will help.
By ViolaJ. on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Melissa, you lost me completely on those two clips. I don’t understand them at all.
By Paul Gordon on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Right after signing the bill, Bush warned that “This was going to take awhile”. That warning was on CNN, FOX, and a number of other websites.
For some reason, it seems to have disappeared. Perhaps some of you remember it, and know where that warning can be found.
Thanks.
By Dr. Melissa Clouthier on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Paul,
Yes, he said that. The implication of this bill, though, was that it would restore confidence in the market, thus stop the nosedive on Wall Street. Clearly, people investing in the companies listed on the NYSE didn’t get the message to be confident.
Or maybe they are confident: Confident that the bailout isn’t going to work down the road.
By Glynn W. on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Doctor,
I always enjoy your alternative universe. But it is increasingly divorced from the real one. Consider, maybe . . . just maybe, the reason why your heroes are tanking is because they have fucked up every single thing they have touched (Iraq, Katrina, the whole economy, etc) for the last eight years.
If you want to get angry about something - perhaps you should start there.
Just a suggestion.
By Dr. Melissa Clouthier on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Glynn,
I leave the hero worship to the Obamatons. I distrust the government generally and those who think they know what’s good for me in particular.
This bailout was a move to make American taxpayers pay for bad government policies which encouraged giving money to people who couldn’t afford to pay back and when Bush and McCain wanted to regulate this politically correct policy which Democrats Dodd, Schumer, and Franks promoted for political reasons, the DEMOCRATS wouldn’t let the bills come to the floor to even be discussed.
And NOW we’re supposed to elect Senator Obama, who in 2 YEARS, racked up the second most donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
So while this whole system is utterly corrupt, let’s not forget that specific people, policies and partisanship got us into this mess: Thank you Democrats.
Anyone who votes for Obama is willfully ignoring the facts.
By Glynn W on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Now Melissa,
The line (and the movie!) you have been passing about Democratic support of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) being responsible for the bailout is really funny and all - but once again is divorced from any actual facts.
Why?
Because the institutions that at the bottom of the sub-prime mess are NOT COVERED by the CRA! Never were. And that was because of the deregulation push by your heroes. In fact, the real banks founded in response to the CRA (like Shore Bank of Chicago) have largely avoided the nonsense of unregulated institutions (like Countrywide.)
And, while I know real facts and logic are the enemy of the GOP, I still have one more question. How were the Democrats responsible for initally batting down Bush’s Bailout Bill - when more Dems voted for it than Republicans?! Please explain.
And when 150 Billion dollars of sweetener (bribes) were added to bring Republicans that neither Bush nor McCain could force to the table - exactly how is that laid at the feet of the Dems?
Loony McCain was running about “suspending” things, and generally making an ass of himself - maybe you should point a few fingers his way.
Again, just a suggestion. From the Land of Reality.
By Paul Gordon on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Something that struck me about the headlines today.
At one point, the Dow had dropped almost 800 points
“See there, the bailout didn’t do any good!”
(in spite of Bush’s warning that this will take a while).
But, at the close, it was down about 370 points.
Forget percentages; my shaky math seems to show it recovered a bit over half the loss.
If this is the Apocalypse, why did it recover anything at all? Why didn’t it just keep going down?
Is it remotely possible that it is adjusting to a new equilibrium, will eventually stabilize there, and the world may still be here for a while yet?
Just wondering
By bobn on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
The press has been a participant in the economic debacle.
Pbbbbbbbbbbbbt!
Only in ignoring the immensity of it the most of the past year and a half.
I’m planning on voting McCain, BTW, (he’s right about the war on terror) but the idea that this was caused by CRA or GSEs is pure wingnuttery. The GSEs have been regulated by OFHEO - part of the *executive* branch - since 1992. Someone else here already dismantled the CRA argument.
And the Bush SEC sat on its hands, allowing increased leverage and “voluntary self-regulation” of the huge investment banks while doing nothing about the total chicanery of the ratings agencies. Imagine what this would be like had the toxic sludge mortgage securities actually been rated as toxic sludge instead of AAA.
This happened on Bush’s watch for a reason.
By Trish on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
I don’t know why anybody else feels poor, but I know why I feel poor–I AM poor. If I cut back my spending any more, the stores will be paying me to shop.
And you know what? Government policy had nothing to do with it.