I thought I would inaugurate this blog by offering a view of the country that first came to mind during the 5 th district congressional race in 2006. At that time I was a paid staffer on a campaign and was expected to contribute to the overall effort as well as my particular niche.
It was during that process, that I tried to be insightful and narrow the focus of the campaign by singling out what I thought was important to voters and what they were being told was important.
That year, illegal immigrants were the bane of every conservative candidate along with terrorism, biofuels and taxes. But I wanted to broaden the list to include what I thought made the country click.
After the prosperity, real and imagined, of the1990s and the first five years of the new millennium, it dawned on me that what made the average citizen happy had little to do with the burning issues batted around campaign forums. What was most important could be simplified and condensed intofour main categories.
Each had an offshoot, to be sure, but in essence, here's what they are.
Low interest rates.
Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, managed to hold together one of the most economically prosperous periods in American history. And he did it with one tool; interest rates. Low rates, a strong dollar, and cheap foreign labor made it possible for Americans to have it all.
110 percentfinancing on homes with no money down, a booming economy and stock market
made even high school graduates feel wealthy. You might remember the "wealth effect". Everyone spent like the new paradigm would last forever. Homes and everything that went with them were affordable. Auto's, furnishings, and good times, most on plastic, were made possible with easy financing and low interest rates.
Cheap food.
Grocery budgets became a thing of the past. Now the grocery budget was combined with entertainment (budget?) , and included regular evenings out to upscale franchises, the reward for hard working, duel income families.
Too busy running the kids to soccer practice, let's eat out! Making too much money to take the time for a family meal, let's eat out!
Restaurants proliferated like rabbits. With cheap food it was possible to literally have your cake and eat it too. And for those who did eat in more often than not, groceries comprised less than 10 percentof the average wage earner's income. Plenty of money left for further consumption.
Cheap Gas.
Once considered a budget item for few and a mere irritant for many, the cost of gasoline fell between a latte at Starbucks and a pack of cigarettes. A cold can of Coke cost nearly as much as a gallon of gas at the neighborhood convenience store. In 1998, oil was priced at $11 a barrel.
Predictions are that gasoline may reach that figure by the gallon.
As a non-budget item, gasoline fit right next to public education as one of the biggest bangs for the buck to be had. College was another matter; an item that entered into the budgetary process like a heavy weight boxer, demanding a rematch.
SUV's prowled the highways, going off road only long enough to get to Safeway. Again, low interest rates coupled with cheap gas and cheap food made it possible to purchase a vehicle with a stickerthree times the average IRA.
Sports/Entertainment.
From the NFL to SNL, CBS to PBS, CD, DVD, etc., etc., etc., this country loves to be entertained. Massive salaries paid to athletes,
Hollywood and Network TV stars, make stock options and golden parachutes look pale by comparison.
Oversized children, otherwise known as sports fans, will pay any price to take in a sports event. Whether it be the Olympics, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, March Madness or your kid's soccer game, we live for sports and entertainment.
The rise of billion dollar theme parks during the last 15 to 20 years speaks volumes of our maturity level. It's no wonder that the new 18 is 21, the new 21 is 26, and adults who should respect their age act like complete idiots when their team loses or the lines are too long at Disney World.
Well, there in brief is what I consider the wind that powers the mill we call America. Forget negative savings, global warming, terrorist threats, and illegal immigration. If these four components cease to mollify the multitude, the rest won't matter.