Where is the US economy headed?

EXTRA! There's now a report that says Chyrsler is going to be laying off 10,000 workers from their plants to downsize. I guess okie doesn't work in those plants. That's going to add to those that have lost their health insurance benefits, and add to the unemployment ranks.

Later that same evening, ci, I wrote a pretty long editorial (in my own words, not a cut and paste thing) about health care insurance in the US. Just as I hit submit, the dreaded Critical Error message came up. I will have to start over.

rjb, Subsequent to the report about the 10,000 getting their pink slips, the following report said they're laying off 13,000.

I've spent many minutes often to respond to some posters, and a2k just wiped it out! The best way to save yourself that trouble is to use your word processor page, then transfer it to a2k. That way, if it doesn't take, you can try again.

I was going to say something along the same lines, cicerone.

How many times have you been asked to re-enter your screen name and password? Realjohnboy and Cicererone Imposter are bad enough. Guswhatever must be a real challenge. I envy RJB.

Regularly, but my screen name pops up by clicking on the ID box.

Where is the ID box?

Do you guys have any idea what you are talking about?

I meant the Username box. ;*

gus, rjb is usually on the ball, but I can be out in left field.

No, I don't. I am just a dumb redneck from the red clay country of Virginia.

Try hitting the back button, then copy all of your text. After you get the site to work again and verify your post did not post, as I think it might sometimes even when the Critical Error appears, then just paste what you copied into a new post. That way, no need to rewrite the whole thing again.

No, I'm not rich and never was. I've had to work for everything I've ever done, including paying for every dime of college.

I've been around long enough to see the difference of how people live now as compared to the 50's, and my parents told me alot about the depression. The average new single family home size in this country has grown from 983 square feet in 1950 to 2,349 square feet in 2004. And the percentage of Americans owning their home, the American dream, has grown from about 44% in 1940 to about 69% in 2005. Does that sound like we are living worse in this country?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/owner.html
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/annual05/ann05t13.html

cicerone, go to England or Europe and see how people live in tiny flats, and drive roller skates down narrow roads, then come back here and tell me with a straight face how bad off we are here.

Hey, okie, Your trying to compare our life today to the fifties isn't even relative. I "lived" during the depression and all during WWII. The real comparison is between now and before Bush took over the white house; that's less than a decade ago.

We have six million more Americans without health insurance - since Bush took over the white house. We've lost over three million factory jobs since Bush took over the white house. Most middle class families lost buying power since Bush took over the white house. Most American's debt doubled since Bush took over the white house. The savings rate for Americans is the lowest since the depression. Job creation is the lowest since Hoover.

These are real comparisons that makes sense. Try to live in the "real" world of today; not half a century ago - or the 19th century.

Another "good" old American company on the move.


Hershey sends jobs south

Pennsylvania chocolate maker Hershey is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico, officials said yesterday. The company said it will cut 1,500 jobs and close some plants.

Hershey currently employs about 13,000 people at 20 plants in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The planned cuts amount to 11.5% of the workforce.


"Whenever they move something out the country, that's not good news," said Dennis Bomberger, of Chocolate Workers Local 464, which represents Hershey workers.

hershey is packing it in in eastern ontario too . there is a hershey plant in a small community (smiths falls - about 20,000 inhabitants) nearby . plant will be closed by year-end - going to mexico .

and look at chrysler - they are hanging in the ropes .
a/t german news sources , daimler will have no choice but to bite the bullit ; that is , to "divest" itself of chrysler .
they have been trying to sell chrysler cars in europe but europeans are just not buying . the big cars (chrysler 300 etc) are gas guzzlers and the smaller cars (chrysler PT) are outdated by european standards .
apparently china's largest automotive manufacturer might be willing to pick ov the carcass and see if there is any meat left on the bones .

meanwhile , toyata is building another plant in ontario/canada .
hbg

Why not? You are bellyachin about how bad it is and I was simply injecting some reality into it. Jobs going out of country started long before Bush took office. It has happened, it is happening, and it will continue to happen because people in other countries are more willing to work for less. Reality, cicerone, is that this is a world market. We are not insulated from the rest of the world, and we cannot expect to live like kings here while the third world lives in mud huts. Such a mindset is not only unrealistic, but arrogant.

To continue to be the richest country in the world, we cannot rest on our laurels and act like spoiled brats, learn nothing in school, expect luxurious wages while working at McDonalds, go home from school or work and stop and buy a half dozen lottery tickets, cigarettes, and beer at the local convenience store, then pick up a movie at Blockbuster, and then go home and lounge on the couch eating expensive junk food and watching stupid movies.

Another question, where did people work before Henry Ford started assembly lines? Your posting of car companies laying off people is nothing new. What do you expect when everyone is buying Toyotas? What kind of cars do you own? Industries shift. Some scale back or go out of business, and others start up. This is nothing new. You need to look at total jobs and unemployment figures in this country instead of worrying about one particular company. The only thing that stays the same in a free market is change. Things will always change. You can count on it.

You're right about that.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/16/8349/97267







Where is our economy going? Downward.

The housing market is only just beginning to show the effect of hyper-inflation of home values. This year and next year, millions of families will have their adjustable rate mortgages interest rates go up significantly; a large percentage are going to lose their house to the bank. This will mean an even larger glut of houses entering a market which is already overcrowded. Prices will continue to plummet.

Over half of the jobs created in Bush's 'job expansion' have been in the housing and residential construction markets. You can say 'buhbye' to a lot of those jobs this year.

Cycloptichorn

okie wrote: cicerone, go to England or Europe and see how people live in tiny flats, and drive roller skates down narrow roads, then come back here and tell me with a straight face how bad off we are here.

okie, How many times do we need to spell it out for you? We're talking about what Bush did to our economy - not compared to other times (half a century ago) or other countries (all third world countries).

FYI, Japan is the second largest economy in the world. They also live in very small homes. What does that prove?

Updated:2007-02-16 13:41:53
Is GM Readying to Scoop Up Rival Chrysler?
By Megan Davies and Kevin Krolicki
Reuters
NEW YORK/DETROIT (Feb. 16) - General Motors Corp. is in preliminary talks to buy Chrysler, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.



The talks were first reported by the trade journal Automotive News. GM and Chrysler parent DaimlerChrysler AG declined to comment on the report.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler rose in reaction to the report. GM shares slipped at first but then moved higher.

Automotive News, citing unnamed sources in Germany and the United States, said the companies were engaged in high-level talks about GM buying Chrysler Group in its entirety.

The source who spoke to Reuters, however, said it was questionable whether GM would want Chrysler's finance business, having recently sold its own finance arm.

Speculation surrounding a possible sale or spinoff of Chrysler has built since DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said earlier this week that all options were open for its struggling North American unit.

DaimlerChrysler shares were up 3.5 percent to $72.72 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. GM shares were up 19 cents at $36.63.

Analysts have questioned whether GM would benefit from a merger with Chrysler, since both automakers are struggling with excess production capacity, sliding sales and a heavy exposure to trucks and sport utility vehicles.

David Feinman, a fund manager who specializes in distressed debt with Havens Advisors, said he doubted that GM would complete a deal to buy Chrysler.

Feinman, who does not own GM debt, said both GM and Chrysler have too many overlapping models, and any merger would have to result in even deeper cuts to jobs and output.

"If they do merge, there would have to be massive streamlining and there would be hundreds of thousands of more jobs loss," he said.

He added, "The only one to benefit would be Daimler because they would get rid of Chrysler

Regardless of the outcome. Chrysler is a dead duck. And mosty if not all it's workers will soon be among the ranks of the unemployed. That is an economic disaster in the making.