Spend More Money, America Needs You!

It's funny I should come across this article today, I have been thinking about this very thing for some time and was waiting for someone brave enough to come out and say it. Thanks AP for the article, "Americans' saving more, spending less" by MARTIN CRUTSINGER, and it's so very true.

Of course over 70% of our economy is based on consumer spending and considering everything that has happened in the last year, it is understandable that Americans would be a little more than freaked out about our economic prospects in the next few years and would want to start saving as much money. How could you not feel like that? Everytime you turn on the news, or read the newspaper, it is littered with terrible economic news, layoffs, bailouts, bankruptcies, it's hard to not get emotional about it. Unfortunately, if we are to stave off what could be a very horrible and prolonged recession, we must do the opposite of what seems to make the most sense, we must spend our money.

Now don't get me wrong. I was one of those who scoffed at the idea of President Bush telling us to spend our money after 9/11, and while it does seem to be a very macabre idea, he was right, although one could argue he could have made his case with a little more finesse and charm.

When all of us stop spending our money all at the same time, what happens to the rest of the economy? What happens to the 70% of the economy that is now trying to figure out how to keep their doors open. Not only were retailrs dealing with an economic downturn months in the making, what happens when people essentially stop spending all together? More layoffs, business closings, bankruptcies.

It will only get worse and more prolonged, unless of course, we start to behave like we would on any other February when things are good. We must spend for the good of the country folks. Spend now, and spend a lot.

Alright, you don't need to spend a lot, but quitting cold turkey isn't helping things either. We need to be more considerate of where we spend our money. We need to be thinking about our small businesses, our local businesses, the ones who are not getting billion dollar bailouts.

These businesses were the ones who felt the economic downturn first, when our elected officials continued to ignore please and warnings from those who felt it first. They are the ones that impact our economies the most. Small businesses, dollar for dollar, have the most significant impact on our economy, not because they are huge, but because they are so many.

What kind of things should we start thinking about when we are shopping? How does this business affect the local economy? Do they pay fair wages? Do they support other local companies? Are they sustainable?

These are the kind of questions we need to be asking, whenever we are shopping. It's not that there is something wrong with capitalism, it's that we have been rewarding businesses who lie, cheat, and steal for too long. We have been supporting businesses who are not interested in the longterm impact on their community or their environment. We need to support businesses who are interested in their impact on their community and environment, and their longterm sustainability.

It's not just about making a buck, it's about a system that rewards great ideas and products, not those who know how to work the system best.

Street Fashion, The Sartorialist

I have always had a thing for fashion. Secretly of course, I am a fashionista. Here is a fantastic new blog I came across today that has been around since 2005, and it captures fashion when it should be captured, on the street. Check out The Sartorialist for some great fashion on the street.

Now for some music, Gym Class Heroes

Check them out!

Gym Class Heroes, Clothes Off!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NUxMgzHdic&feature=related

GYM CLASS HEROES: Peace Sign / Index Down, with Busta Rhymes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuJiPsOEEKs

GYM CLASS HEROES: Cupid's Chokehold / Breakfast in America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiiU-Fky18s

Gym Class Heroes - Guilty As Charged, with Estelle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DGPVMe7m40&feature=related

http://www.myspace.com/gymclassheroes

Senate Approves Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Nov. 4th, 1999, Overturns Key Provision in Glass-Steagall Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN
Thursday, November 4, 1999
202-224-0894
SENATE APPROVES GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT
VOTE PAVES WAY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES MODERNIZATION
The U.S. Senate voted 90-8 today to approve S. 900, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which will repeal the Depression-era barriers that separate banking, insurance and securities. Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, issued the following statement:
"I believe we have passed what will prove to be the most important banking bill in 60 years. It overturns the key provision of the Glass-Steagall act that divided the American financial system.
"Over time, the market and the regulators have used a variety of innovations to try to undo this separation. As a result, we have substantial competition occurring, but it is competition that is largely inefficient and costly, it is unstable, and it is not in the public interest for this situation to continue.
"The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act strikes down these walls and opens up new competition. It will create wholly new financial services organizations in America. It will literally bring to every city and town in America the financial services supermarket.
"Americans today spend about $350 billion on financial services – on fees and charges and interest. Most people who have looked at the potential for providing financial services under a more rational system believe, as I believe, that there are tens of billions of dollars of savings for the American consumer that will be produced by the reforms of this bill."
http://banking.senate.gov/prel99/1104grm.htm

Want to Know More About What's Going on in Your U.S. Government?

Try C-Span ! It has a wealth of information and you can watch your Congressional Representatives or Senators LIVE! They also have many other government meetings on too. If you ever wondered how the political process works, or what actually happens in Congress or the Senate, C-Span's the place to be!

Are You Registered To Vote?

If you aren't you can use the League of Women Voters website to find out how to register, what's on your ballot, where you vote, and much, much more!

Voting is one of your most important duties as a citizen in a democracy, so make sure you are registered and ready to go!

Lose Your House, Lose Your Vote

Here's an article from Michigan talking about the GOP trying to block votes of folks who have had their houses foreclosed.

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.
“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.
State election rules allow parties to assign “election challengers” to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can challenge the eligibility of any voter, provided they “have a good reason to believe” that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a “true resident of the city or township.”
The Michigan Republicans’ planned use of foreclosure lists is apparently an attempt to challenge ineligible voters as not being “true residents.”
One expert questioned the legality of the tactic.
“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

Obama campaign files suit over ‘voter-foreclosure’ plans

http://michiganmessenger.com/4463/obama-campaign-files-suit-over-foreclosure-lists