Falling into the U.S. economic ditch; job loses and bankruptcies everywhere

The depth of the economic ditch we are in here in America has officially hit home.

A good friend of mine lost his job today because the Boat retail company he works for in Warwick, RI had to file bankruptcy.

The company was healthy for decades, and for many years he made a great living selling boats there.

This year was different.

There were complicated management issues at the company that played into their demise, but the economy certainly didn't help.



In 2008, oil prices soared to over $100 a barrel, gasoline prices in New England hovered around $4.00 a gallon and the cost of materials, food and just about everything else we buy as consumers increased.

Clearly not a great year to invest in a recreational boat.

My concern now is, will he find another job? He has a mortgage and bills and a kid to support. The help wanted section in newspapers is awfully thin these days and the foreclosure section is a lot thicker than it used to be.

I'm optimistic enough to believe that someone as talented and likeable as my friend will have no trouble finding another sales job, and maybe even a better one, but it might take longer than it should.

Zooming out of Rhode Island and looking at the big picture, this is a problem everywhere in America; there have been nearly a half-million job losses since January, mainly because of poor decisions made by President Bush and his administration over the past eight years.

And who would have thought mortgage finance behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurer American International Group (AIG) and investment banks Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns would nearly collapse?

Unfortunately, Bush still holds firm to the delusion that the U.S. economy is "strong" and says the recent disaster on Wall Street is merely an adjustment.

I am counting down the days until we have a new president in office, whether it be Obama or McCain, because it can't possibly be any worse than what we have now. Not that a new president will be able to fix eight years of damage in an instant, but at they are talking about ways to put us on the road to recovery.