A recent Beliefnet thread exulted in the American economy, which was said to be "roaring." It's roaring all right -- in agony.
Today's stock market news from the Associated Press: "Higher oil prices and sliding consumer confidence sent stocks plunging Tuesday as a weak sales report from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. raised concerns about discretionary spending. The Dow Jones industrial skidded almost 185 points."
Just how high are those persistently elevated oil prices? Today's close was 72 bucks a barrel, which means the price of gas will remain about where it is for the forseeable future, exerting inflationary pressure on all other goods and services across the economic spectrum. The oil market is nervous: "Some of the top international concerns keeping prices elevated include diplomatic tensions between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear goals, violence in Nigeria and rising energy demand in China."
The drop in consumer confidence in May was "the steepest since hurricanes pummeled the Gulf Coast last year."
However there is hope. As Atrios puts it so well, "Republicans are apparently pushing the 'economy is great and voters are too stupid to know it' line. That's a great strategy.
"Look, wages have been flat for years and we're reaching what is hopefully the tail end of a decades-long systematic undermining of various elements of our society/economy which provided the middle class with a bit of economic security. All politicians needs (sic) to begin to understand that simple fact."
Atrios is referring, of course, to the systemic legal massacre of unions, the neocons' favor-the-rich tax code, and the exporting of decent jobs. I hope he's right, that this deliberate economic strangulation of the middle class will soon come to an end.
Meanwhile, Venezuela's socialist caudillo Sr. Chavez took another step toward becoming the U.S.'s absentee landlord.
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