Its the Economy, Stupid!

So is the economy really that bad? Yeah, gas is twice what it was a few years ago, but that’s about it. Housing is cheaper so that kind of makes up for it, no? Most other things are the same. There is no big price hike in your weekly grocery bill, at least nothing that you would notice if it wasn’t in the news every day. Corn is still 4 for a dollar, milk now costs less than gasoline a gallon, and frozen pizza can still be found for $1 each. No one in the United States should be starving from what is happening and now many more people can afford to buy a house!

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is talking about raising interest rates and talking about inflation rather than recession. In fact he played down the high unemployment and says the danger of the economy crashing and burning are coming to an end. Thanks to the Fed’s interest rate cutting I’m now making less money and the stimulus check just led to me getting a new TV… but did it really change anything? Thanks to the presidential elections spending has been very high this year, so what’s an extra few million going to do? One economist says, “Rising interest rates now would be the kind of policy the Federal Reserve pursued in 1929… Is that the kind of signal a central banker and student of the Great Depression wants to send to fragile markets?” What is interesting to see is that no one can say why raising the rate would be bad other than because it was bad in 1929… but in that circumstance stocks were at all time lows, not all time highs. Times like this make me wonder if the Fed really has any idea what they are doing? What happened to the whole “Free Market” thing anyways?

Speaking of Presidential spending… Clinton is stuck with the largest presidential campaign debt in history. Not counting the $11.4 million she lent her campaign, which by all rights she should loose, she still owes $9.5 million to venders! Romney spent over $44 million, but it was clear from the beginning that he was just financing the thing himself. Giuliani meanwhile had only about $3 million in vender debt. Some people are actually stupid enough to keep giving her money to help pay down her debt, but it might come to Obama to step up and help her. Interestingly, Clinton’s biggest bill is nearly $5 million to the firm of pollster and senior strategist. This could go one of two ways 1) The bill just goes away as the intent was just to give to the campaign anyways or 2) It is an excuse to raise money to pay off the debt so a close buddy gets a big pay day. Either way I don’t like it!

But there is an even better way to get the economy back on track… Gay marriage! Seriously…gay marriage could give a big boost to the economy, and is suspected to do just so in California. Weddings means hotel bookings, restaurants, florists, and related services all getting lots of business. The Mayor of West Hollywood sees it, "The good news for California is that in the face of probably the worst budget problems the state has ever faced, the LGBT wedding industry is going to be a financial shot in the arm." A study issued this week by UCLA's Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation and the Law projected that gay men and lesbians will spend $684 million on cakes, photographers and other services over the next three years unless voters reverse the high court's ruling in the fall. In addition, gay weddings will generate $64 million in tax revenue for the state, $9 million in marriage-license fees for counties, and some 2,200 jobs. Even Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who twice vetoed bills that would have legalized gay marriage but has supported the court's decision sees the value, “I hope that California's economy is booming because everyone is going to come here and get married." If this doesn't help stop the religious right push for federal laws banning same sex unions, nothing will.