To drift a bit further OT... PBP, I think you're dead wrong on this one. Trying to find a balanced, more less conservative media outlet in this nation is like finding a needle in a haystack. Doing it the Mythbusters' way, and you'll find one in a hundred. But, the left rules the media: New York Times, Altanta Journal Consitution, Houston Chronicle, the list goes on and on. I don't think I need to post all that's out there. It will be a waist of bandwidth. NBC IIRC, is owned by an anti-2A. Time Warner is only the icing on the cake...
Now, back on topic...
Is our economy going down the tank? Well, the long of the short of my answer is...maybe.
I think the media sensationalizes the situation to provide scare tactics and to make it one of, if not, the biggest issue for election time. IMO, I think people in general have this asphyxiation(sp) that the president is the key person responsible for the nation's economy. That is one of the biggest fallacies I know in govt. Yes, he does play an important role in economics, but there are far more key points that affect the economy...
The number one key is the almighty consumer. No matter what products, employment, or benefits businesses or the govt. provides, it's the consumer that ultamately drives the economy.
Unfortunately, with that, the main reason the economy is in a balance is the pure and simple answer: GREED. It's what got us here and it's what is going to sink us if we don't wake up.
We're electing the SAME people in congress that loves going nuts on killing jobs in the private sector.
We're buying too much stuff on credit, only to not pay it off.
We're buying homes that are way out of the means of supporting the payments...heck, you can add cars to this one, too.
We're not taking care of ourselves healthwise. We're eating McDonald's four times a week along with kids and wonder why our health care costs are going through the roof. I know there's other reasons of health care costs, but this is still a valid point of self infliction...
When it all comes down to it, consumers are at major fault. There's very few people in this nation that actually lives within their means. Now, we have a credit crisis. People racked up tens of thousands of dollars in CC bills and stuffed it into a 2nd mortgage. Then, go off and rack up the same CC's.
The reason why I'm hammering on the consumer is that there's already enough talk of fat cat CEOs, govt. not imposing equal tariffs on the East, and other issues that we blame. However, the greed that the average consumer has and irresponsible spending ultimatley is the blame. That's just my opinion, of course...