THE WATCHFUL CONSUMER - OUR ECONOMY TODAY

THE WATCHFUL CONSUMER

The economic saga continues. This is clearly discernible in the continued loss of jobs, increasing number of foreclosures as well as retrenchment in the arena of employment. The EDD has been severely overwhelmed with processing unemployment checks, its number of claimants increasing on a daily basis. The bankruptcy courts have been inundated with petition filings, a great number of such were Chapter 7 petitions or what is know as the straight or consumer bankruptcy. Last month alone, it was estimated that 598,000 individuals lost their jobs. Foreclosures are still not a thing of the past and unfortunately a great number of homes are still lost as a result of unemployment.

To date, we have seen a number of vast economic plans, created by the government in an effort to provide a solution to the crisis that has greatly affected most Americans. The Senate’s approval of an eight-hundred & thirty-eight billion dollar economic stimulus plan, by a 61-37 vote is a clear manifestation of its goal to address the fiscal dilemma of the country. The Senate hopes to reconcile the major differences between the bills passed by the House and the Senate. Focus is on the State’s cut of forty billion dollars from the seventy-nine billion dollar state fiscal stabilization fund proposed by the House of Representatives. The Senate’s version of the bill aims to protect the middle class from having to pay the “alternative or millionaires” tax that was originally conceptualized way back in 1969. The aim of such tax is to effect a change in the different deductions, personal exemptions, state and federal tax that can be availed of for deduction purposes.

The Senate has likewise approved the $15,000.00 tax credit to first time home buyers in an effort to stimulate the real estate market. After all, the American dream centers on the realization of owning a piece of real property that one can call home. True, the market values of most homes may have gone down significantly but it is inevitable that its value will again increase in due time.

Another aim of the bill is to subsidize private health coverage for those that are unemployed and to allow access to Medicaid coverage for those who cannot afford to maintain health insurance.

Yes, the consumer is being watchful of the economy, his own individual expenditures, the value of the U.S. currency, as well as the plans of the government to alleviate the hurting economy beset of any immediate viable solution. The State’s economic machinery has started to turn towards recovery. It is not yet in full force but the road to recovery is clearly on its way.

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