Where were these people in June of last year when the foreclosure rate reached its highest in more than 50 years? Why weren’t they concerned that one to two million additional homeowners are facing foreclosure this year because of the subprime mortgage crisis? What about the subsequent decline in construction projects and sales of home products, which will decrease the ability of people in those industries to meet their obligations?

Have reporters forgotten that U.S.-based companies still depend on American consumers for a large portion of their profits? We have a service-based economy since many of the manufacturing jobs have been outsourced to other countries. Most service sector workers don’t make enough money to keep the financial engines of this country running at the speed to which we’ve become accustomed.

And what about rising gasoline prices? During the price increases in 2006, I heard one man say that he needed a second job to pay for gas to get to the first. With gasoline and heating prices on the rise past last year’s still higher records, the cost of other necessities rising with them, and housing equity dropping like a rock, there’s not much money left to finance frivolous things. Lenders have reported that even people who had good credit are falling behind on their mortgages and credit card payments.

At some point all this bad news had to affect employment. Last week the Labor Department announced that unemployment rose to a two-year high in December and job growth has almost stopped.

Forgive me for sounding a little sarcastic. I’m outraged that the mainstream media wasn’t concerned until upper income people started cutting back on high-priced coffee. Thank God for the journalists on PBS, who have been reporting the truth for months. I even alluded to it in an earlier post.

Now that major institutions are feeling the winds, it’s too late to avoid the storm. Our economy is in for some serious turbulence. Hold on for a bumpy landing.

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