- Text size


My Budget 360
October 11, 2009
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Last month the American Community Survey detailed the painful 2008 year for American households. This is a comprehensive survey looking at multiple financial, economic, and social characteristics of Americans. What we find is that the average American is having a tougher time maintaining a hold on the middle class dream. This isn’t a revelation but it does help us determine what to expect in the next few years. The American family in fact over the past decade has maintained the illusion of middle class living by going deeper into debt because of stagnant wages. The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve allowed this to occur by injecting liquidity and creating a credit market that had no brakes.
Read entire article

Comment Rules
October 11th, 2009 at 11:08 am
But our Dear Leader says otherwise, because he saved us all, remember?
roaddog6 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:17 am
slavery is freedom
Rhonda Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Roaddog,
Yes, you are correct. That is one reason why I laugh when today’s “blacks” want reparation funds for slavery back years ago. To those in slavery, when it came to be “free”, they learned that being in slavery was a form of freedom to them. Outside of those walls, they would die slowly. Remaining where they were, they were free to still live and to work and to maybe even love and to feel useful. Therefore what is there to “repair” financially today by those who never lived back then where views and understanding were different, but appropriate for the time?
In other words, you are correct. Slavery is freedom. I guess it just depends from winch we see the “sphere” from.
Rhonda
PS: When I am in demand to have pictures of me to be all over the internet and magazines, that is slavery. I am then working at the whim of millions of men (and many women). I wonder what it all means in the end? Of course maybe we should first define what the “end” is. No?
roaddog6 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
rhonda–the “end” to some means a new beginning. It’s all perspective I guess. Is one a defeatist or an opportunist? Now is your turn to be an opportunist and send me all the nude photos of yourself to me as soon as possible so I too can have a new beginning of another job taken into my own hands.
Rhonda Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Roaddog,
Well, since you are a man here who can lighten up somewhat, something that almost no other man here seems to be able to do, let alone understand that there are enjoyable things in life, and since you want to take matters into your own hands (naughty, naughty–hehe), I will send you that nude picture of me. It will be one of my choice, but coming from me directly, I am sure you will do what is necessary with it (and your gifted hands–hehe).
Rhonda
roaddog6 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
pant,pant, pant!!
tailgunner Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
If nobody is middle class then everybody is…
This has been an incremental effort by the global elite powers that be over the course of many, many years.
It has been carefully orchestrated to the point that every generation is as a new breed, completely out of touch with the next. In this way, each generation is dumbed down a little more than the next, while simultaneously believing that they and their ideals and way of life is superior or “cooler” than the previous. Imagine our surprise when the next generation has the same disposition, with new fads, new traditions, new favorite movies, new musical tastes, and new morals and values which continuously get reinvented for each new stock by the controlled media and school (indoctrination centers).
http://realitybloger.wordpress.....the-world/
Corporate Death Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I want reparations for my family’s serfdom in old Europe….{sticks hand out} Gimme
Rhonda Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Corporate Death,
What currency, if that is the form of reparation, must you be of interest in? What if the old European country does not exist anymore? Does your reparaton request go to the European Union?
Rhonda
Seal Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
ME TOO…! “Corporate Death” and make that in GILDERS..! Gold Gilders…
Oh and RHONDA, I have been watching you for some time…Can I have one too, sweetie? I am referring to an explicit of you???
PS I would also, as ascendant from Cherokee Tennessee slaves, request reparations from USA in Cherokee Gold, (forget the CSA dollars) but also repay me for losing “little log cabin down in Tennessee” “my seventh-heven” as Jimmie Rodgers sang it so well…
And PPS Rhonda please that photo you described.
stupidamerkin Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Well I also want reparations for all the BS I’ve had to endure so far all my life.
I wouldn’t say the world owes me a living, but an apology would sure be nice.
Suprslep1 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Reparations = food stamps, subsidized housing, electric bills, phone bills, free medical .etc. Not to mention. Slaves were fed, clothed, cared for medically. etc.
justjosh Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I couldnt agree with you more in every aspect. Its easy about black americans to whine about their grandparents being enslaved when they have no concept of the meaning of that word. To slaves then, the meaning of “freedom” was being able to own a home,land,right to vote and have a family that couldnt be sold, and the right to pursue a trade. That is all they wanted and they got that.
Unfortunately the history the US government hides from black americans, was the fact that the South planned to free slaves in their own time, which was 20 years in order to keep the economy afloat and from collapsing. Abraham Lincoln threw a tantrum and said do it and do it right now, and a war ensued because the southern states didnt want the Federal Government sticking their noses where it didnt belong and today you wont even see a history book that tells about how black slaves fought for the south in return for their freedom and UNLIKE the union, black confederate soldiers were ALLOWED to carry firearms. Ofourse you have to do some digging to even find a history book that mentions that in this day and age.
fightnirish63 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
The best slaves are the ones that think they are free.
brad3378 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
What ever happened to Obama’s promise to tax the rich and offer a middle class tax cut? We just can’t have a thriving economy if the top 1% of the rich hoard 95% of the wealth. We need to have money start flowing again or we’re doomed!
george bush sr. Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Trickle down economics. a thousand points of light.
Emmanuel Goldstein Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 4:36 am
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Unconquered Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 11:04 am
JOBLESS IS RECOVERY
We The People Says Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
War is Peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
access Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 11:19 am
monopolization centralized power = tyranny .. Look at whats been happening to farming in america http://www.youtube.com/user/hi.....2T_7IZojbI
October 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Time for action and no more talk. We need to brain storm and do things to help fight this. For example, I bought a lot of conservative political shirts from Alex Jones and otherwise. Use reverse propaganda! I refuse to ever go out in public without a conservative political shirt. The only way my shirt will be stripped from my body is off my cold, dead torso.
Something easy and stupid like that could get a lot of people thinking as you walk through the mall. Treat your choice of shirt like your firearms, and never give them up!!!!
SPIRITBLADE Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:24 am
My thoughts precisely-
Lots of people bitch about the truth…
Soon, the truth will be hidden from all but a few, don’t stop.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:16 am
The economic demise of the U.S. – by design.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:26 am
There is no ‘middle-class’, hell it died when i was a kid-
There will have to be a revolution, before the ‘middle-class’ can return-
(and then only AFTER the Messiah returns).
Suprslep1 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
True- one man youst to be able to work a job and support his wife and kids and have a decent house and car. NOW both parents are working just to survive!!!!!
Educated Simian Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Wake up.
There has never been a middle class. There are two types of people only: those in control of the means of production, and those who work for wages doled out by those in control.
Some people earn a little more than others, but you are all wage slaves. period. If you earn six figures or earn below the poverty level, guess what, you are all part of the same class.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am
“WakeUp” http://www.archive.org/details/WakeUp_542
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
__________________************
__________________************
__________________************
October 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am
The Dollar has lost over 97% of its value since 1913, by what is called “inflation”. They try to make it appear that the price of goods increased instead of Dollar value declining – it’s the same damn thing! Inflation is caused ultimately by the overprinting/overissuance of money/script. It is simply a way to steal from everyone including what is already stuffed in our wallets.
The middle-class are the backbone of any nation and are certainly under fire as of late.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I wonder, does this article mean that I might not be able to have my middle American dream and get myself into Playboy Magazine?
Rhonda
roaddog6 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:36 am
rhonda—I don’t think they’re taling about wet dreams.
Rhonda Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Roaddog,
Oh? You mean no men in my life by the millions making me the most precious desire of theirs? So sad
…..Good-bye American dream…..”Bye, bye, Miss American Pie” (hehe).
Rhonda
roaddog6 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
rhonda—noooo! don’t take the pie away!
Rhonda Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Roaddog!
You are funny. Because most men here are so into only hard core in attacking everyone else, I doubt very much that just about any of them can understand your manly statement to this woman.
OK, I will make sure that the “pie” stays with me always, although I might share it once in awhile with some guy who is willing to take me out to dinner. That way the “pie” can be the dessert–hehe.
Rhonda
BJ Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Roaddog…
You been had! Rhonda’s a dude!
jackpontiac Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Help me, Rhonda
Help help me,Rhonda
What kind of pie? With whippn’ cream, I hope!
October 11th, 2009 at 11:39 am
” The owners of this country know the truth, its called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”
George Carlin
Who girl Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Right on!
“How far up your a$$ does the government’s d@@k have to be before you realize their f**king you.”
Bill Hicks
fasttracktoww3 Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 3:01 am
“Wake up you idiots! Whatever made you think paper was so valuable?”
-Kurt Vonnegut (Galapagos)
October 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Naturally the knock on effects are where it’s at as the debt mounts and people spend more and more time at one or more jobs. The real victims are the children who will become more likely to be neglected – child abuse/battery, emotional distress as parents fight over bills, and even their diets are going to suffer. Many kids are already near zombies with video games because the parents are too tired or angry at life to participate. Lives and potential maybe ruined thanks to the greed of bankers running the regime of control.
Road rage is way up here too. I drive a bunch and I’ve never seen so many angry drivers willing to fight to the death over perceived transgressions. It’s insane and rapidly coming to a boil. My prediction is another mass shooting by somebody who has lost it all as it has been quiet for a few weeks now.
Highlanderess Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I work customer service for one of the major tv/internet companies and let me tell you. When customers’ service has been suspended for non-payment they go ballistic. Some actually think they should be able to not have to pay and still get service. Customer’s have been known to make comments like “you’ve suspended my internet/tv. What are my children going to do this weekend”, or even things like “then why don’t you come over and watch my kids”. The parenting is truly pathetic nowadays. Damn, in my childhood days it was “go out and play and be home for dinner”.
Don’t get me going on the crazy drivers. I just wish there were traffic cops available on the expressways to ticket these dumb bastards who weave in and out and tailgate doing 70-80 mph.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Yesterday, I went to the mall for the first time in probaly a few years. People are still whipping out those charge cards.
Gary Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Yep. Trying to tell a credit junkie the economy is collapsing is like trying to tell a heroin addict about the negative effects of his addiction.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
The “American middle class dream” was exactly that: a dream. At the time everyone thought we were a free country with abundant capital resources and that there was a bright future ahead, we were already enslaved and didn’t even know it. The whole “American Dream” was a popular illusion.
October 11th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
All of those credit cards, easy home loans has made you Ameicans easy pray. We knew you would fall for it and the hammer is coming down on you and before long most of you will be on the outside looking in, unless you are in a FEMA happy camp.
Coco Lemon Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Yeah, I fell for it bui I just quit paying them back after they increased the interest rate and tripled the minimum payment. I can screw them too.
October 11th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Grr. I thought the filter system was fixed. I left two comments here and since I know about this system, I did what I thought was not happening again. They both were deleted. Therefore I am about to experiment with this comment. If it gets up, then all that will mean is that I left both comments and did what I did afterwards during a busy time for comments in this ariticle because nowadays there are more than one server taking care of the articles (at an added expense to Alex Jones, by the way) for our benefit.
Rhonda
October 11th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
(This time this should make it up. If it does, then I will know to slow down next time, as most who complain about disappearing comments should do or else the servers become over stressed. Of course I will be surprised that after I submit this the the first attempt appears.)
Grr. I thought the filter system was fixed. I left two comments here and since I know about this system, I did what I thought was not happening again. They both were deleted. Therefore I am about to experiment with this comment. If it gets up, then all that will mean is that I left both comments and did what I did afterwards during a busy time for comments in this ariticle because nowadays there are more than one server taking care of the articles (at an added expense to Alex Jones, by the way) for our benefit.
Rhonda
nader paul kucinich gravel Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
REPRISE CHARLIE FOXTROT
US of israel B52 cheney Nobel peace 911 false flag NAFTA nation Treasury theft 7 nation army Persia nat gas Of mice & men Red dawn 2010 Mil spec anthrax Pres carter smile Chickenhawk roost American holocaust Mossad megaphone USS liberty & trident James blunt no bravery Jericho III north america Tillman tight 3 round group Nile is not just a river in egypt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyu07k4iZpE
earl the earl of earl Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
So…Rhonda…you are Alex Jone’s wife, aren’t you???
October 11th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
According to Bob Chapman’s report: The median household income has fallen $1,860 over the last year – wiping out a decade of slow gains – to $50,303.
October 11th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
MONEY EQUALS SLAVERY: THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. MONEY ISNT POSSESSIVE, NOTHING IS POSSESSIVE WHEN YOU ARE A SLAVE, COOPERATION AMERICA IS OWNED BY THE BULLY BANKS WE ARE BORROWING FROM THE LENDERS; GOLD & SILVER IS MONEY. PAPER THAT IS NOT BACKED BY GOLD IS NOT MONEY, SINCE 1913 WE HAVE ALL STILL BEEN SLAVES.
October 11th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Makes sense to me.
October 11th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
”The planet cant afford the greedy middle class” signed : The NWO
October 11th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
You people are useless eaters.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Talk with your kids, don’t let them join the military, the police dept., or any other types of security force. Those who control the wealth, control all these and will use them to kill you if you refuse to become slaves.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Job losses seem to be going back up even at a time that a lot of people are hired for Xmas work. The first of the year seem as if it will really contract big again, even barring anything the PTB do. Oh well, try your best to eat well now, the future looks very dark.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:00 am
SLAVERY IS FREEDOM.
ARE YOU INSANE
How about I make you a slave and see how free you feel.
Your way of thinking is sick.
We have people like you in our Government and that is why the country is going down.
Damn wierdos
joe blow Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 10:00 am
you should read a book once in a while
October 12th, 2009 at 7:59 am
China is so thankful that we were so willing to give up our middle class life style TO THEM! All our jobs, all our money, all our technology, all our children’s futures!
And the Politicians, Bankers, and Corporates were so helpful to rid of ALL the progress America made in the last 50 years toward building a middle class. China use to say we were being “decadent and self-serving” capitalists but, it seems that they have now swallowed their words and embraced our charity toward them.
So, as we lose everything we have, we can feel good about how our sacrifice has allowed for incredible corporate profiting, insanely huge banker bonuses, and political pandering on a truly historic scale!
America is such a giving country…..imagine giving up an entire class of hard working people so that, there will only be rich and poor left. I’m so amazed at our sacrifice!
October 12th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Debut single by Bristol based ‘Light of Atta’.
<<<>>>
‘Turn to Gold’
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObj.....p;s=143444
October 12th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Here is a perfect example of what a secure job and the money earned was like in your parents time:
A middle class single earner family with an income of $150.00 a week lived in a fair sized home ( over 2,000 sq. feet ) That cost under $10,000 with a mortgage of $90.00 or less. That included interest, amortization, taxes and insurance. Percentage wise ( the proper way to evaluate then and today ) that consumed approximately 15% of income.
Today the average couple is struggling with mortgages that are consuming 50% or more of their income.
We’re being squeezed left and right, and there is no end in sight. That is why I am building a shipping crate container home out of old shipping containers.
Shipping containers are incredible, and provide a fantastic opportunity for people with little money and resources to have an inexpensive, strong, efficient, livable home. I am sure they would make amazing survivalist or even daily living arrangements.
http://www.thecomingdepression.....e-housing/
October 12th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Obama The Antichrist has flipflopped on every promise he’s made. If you ask me, he’s the best candidate for the Antichrist. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a blatant lie, and idiots like my father actually believe him. I knew from Day 1 that he was going to pull all this crap. Nothing is more correct than gut instinct. The best thing to do at this point is to all get together, and head down to South America. If we all band together and organize, we can do what our own forefathers did…start our own country!
October 12th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I never voted for a one world government.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
There are 2 classes one is the Poor Class and the one that the Elite likes is the Rich Class. There is not middle class. The poor class is the one they want to get rid of.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:04 am
i’ll wait for the movie to come out
October 13th, 2009 at 11:53 am
the American dream it has been dead for some time!!!
October 13th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
richards Red *
I have heard of the container homes. Are you building at this time? If you could post some information on how to get started I would greatly appreciate it.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:36 am
America goes to the highest bidder. We have The United States going once, going twice. Sold!!! To the little chinese guy in the front row… let’s Take our country back and gain control of that whip! Revolution! no more wage slavery. take back our jobs NOW!!!
October 15th, 2009 at 3:46 am
EndSlaVe MoveMenT? NOW!!!