Recession or Depression in the USA?

ooppss...I almost forgot to answer your question about whether or not we will come out of this recession...I think we will come out of it...but I also think it will get worse before it gets better. I don't think we will end up in another depression (although, at the rate we are going, I don't think it is totally out of the question), but don't expect things to get any better until the government does something about the cost of gasoline and the cost of healthcare.

Thank you for your upfront and honest observations, it's nice to see that people can discuss differences of opinion without arguing. And on some points maybe I wasn't quite clear. On the banks and corporations end, I do understand they are businesses, and they are there to make a profit. What I am referring to, and I should have stated this in my original discussion, is the shady dealings that some banks and businesses practice in. For instance, subprime lending, which as anybody who watches the news knows has caused a huge mess for a lot of people. Personally, I don't believe in adjustable rates, the only time I have seen these rates adjust is to go up and up and up. And with corporations I have seen so many instances where they have lied to their employess that it sickens me. For example, not long ago here, a major plant was bought out. The new owners stepped in and told the employees, 'we are not going anywhere, your jobs are safe'. A few months later, they were closing the doors for good because the company sent everything overseas. My husband's employer has also lied, strung it's employees along, moved people around across the nation saying that it was a one time deal, a year later they were doing it again even though in their words, it was a one time deal. Now they are promising more restructuring, more layoffs, more permanent job losses, and more transfers. We moved 500 miles because of this, bought a house, and now they are saying we may have to move again. This has caused a tremendous amount of stress for many working men across the nation, and their families. Maybe I am a bit bitter right now, but I don't think it's right that a corporation can play with people's lives like this. Yes, the corporations are in business to make money, but who is it that makes the money for them? It's the little guy working hard for his paycheck, without people like us, they wouldn't have a business. Thank you again for your response, I try to keep an open mind about things, and I believe that we should be able to state our opinions without bickering like Congress. LOL

Bickering like Congress solves nothing. Unfortunately, those of us who know this are, for the most part, too poor to get elected to office. I am also certain that our congressional representatives would take the time to read all the letter that we are so often encouraged to write to them expressing our views and opinions. LOL Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) are good for certain situations, but as a general rule, I don't recommend them to the average customer. ARMs are usually marketed by offering a low rate at the start for a certain period of time. However, at the end of this time period, your rate increases to a ridiculously high rate. This is called "ballooning." Now, an ARM may be a good thing if you know that you will be able to pay off the loan before it balloons. This may be ideal for real estate investors or businesses, but it is usually not a good idea to for the average person to get into. The reason ARMs earned a bad reputation is because banks saw an opportunity to cash in by recommending them to people who were trying to get financed for homes. The plan they pitched was that the homeowner would agree to the ARM at first, then try to refinance with a regular mortgage before the ARM ballooned. The details of loans can often be hard for people to comprehend, or may be hidden in the fine print, so it is important for bank officials to make sure people know what they are agreeing to when they sign the loan agreement. So, what happened was that the homeowners couldn't get refinanced when the time came, and when the payments went up as a result of the ballooning, the home owners lost their homes because they couldn't make the payments. As for your comment on the jobs being sent elsewhere, I know people who have been affected by this. One of the main problems we have with this is when jobs get sent overseas. Thank Ronald Reagan for this problem, because he is the one who signed the NAFTA agreement in the 1980's. Otherwise, businesses will often relocate to different areas for multiple reasons. There again, it all goes back to the bottom line. They are hoping to increase profits by reducing operating costs. This is especially common when a merger or corporate buyout takes place. Let's say that a company buys out a factory in your area. They probably already know in advance that they are going to relocate it. Now, this may mean that they have to break down some equipment and ship it to the new location, but they also know that they can sell the old building(s) that housed the business, use the money they get from the old building to make a down payment on the new building and to finance the set-up of the new establishment. The basis behind this decision is that they can often get cheaper labor, and if they are lucky, they can get that cheaper labor in a location closer to where they will be shipping the new products than the old factory was. All this will equal lower mortgage payments on the new building, lower salary costs, and lower shipping costs...which all equal more profit to the business when all the numbers fall into place... I don't necessarily agree with it as being a good business practice, but when you own a business, you can do with it as you please, and all decisions go back to the bottom line...boosting profits to investors and business owners...

I'll tell myself that the next time I am at the gas pump or when the bill collectors are at my door. *walks away shaking head*

I have an idea, maybe Congress should stop voting themselves raises, I think they make enough money considering they aren't really working on the REAL problems that real people face and they are getting paid from our tax dollars. Why don't they put their raises to a vote by the people? Talk about useless spending, it's right up there with earmarks. And you are right, our country is always the first to help everyone else, they need to start helping people here.

It would be nice if our paychecks went up along with prices.

Thank you, in recent weeks from watching the news and reading I have become aware that it's not just here in the USA that things are bad, but across the globe. My husband and I used to take road trips on occasion, but now with gas prices we just can't afford to. And as for home heating, I am using electric heaters because I just didn't have the money to put oil in the tank. I don't know how poor people are heating their homes. For some it comes down to a decision between eating and keeping warm. Maybe the ones in government should go stay with some of these people for a week or two to see how the other side lives. Maybe then they would realize just how bad things are.

Maybe we should ask Exxon what they think since their profits were in the billions last year. I don't know that Bush really controls the gas prices. I think that some of these people who work in Washington should go live with someone poor for about a week just to see what life is really like. And yes, we do need a president who will stand up for us, unfortunately I don't see that happening either.