Life In The United States

Talk about out of touch:

Bush Says US Not Heading for Recession














The centerpiece of government efforts to brace the wobbly economy is a package Congress passed and Bush signed last month. It will rush rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 to millions of people and give tax incentives to businesses.

"I believe that our economy has got the fundamentals in place for us to ... grow and continue growing, more robustly hopefully than we're growing now," he said. "So we're still for a strong dollar."

However in the real world:

New Day, New Low for Dollar

NEW YORK- The dollar dipped further Thursday, reaching a new low against the euro, after data confirmed that the U.S. economy nearly braked to a halt at the end of last year - limiting the Fed's options as it tries to steer through the housing and credit crises.

Who's Cutting Jobs?

Sharper Image
Stores Closing: 90 of 184

Movie Gallery
Stores Closing: 400 of 3,500

CompUSA
Stores Closing: 103 stores will be sold or shut down

Ethan Allen Interiors
Stores Closing: 12 of 300+

Sofa Express
Stores Closing: 44

Levitz Furniture
Stores Closing: 76

Macy's
Stores Closing: 9

PacSun 'Demo' Stores
Stores Closing: 154 Demo Stores

Kirkland's
Stores Closing: 30 to 130

Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant & Catherine's
Stores Closing: 150

Talbot's Kids, Mens
Stores Closing: 78

Sigrid Olsen
Stores Closing: 54

Jasmine Sola
Stores Closing: 23

Krispy Kreme
Stores Closing: Undetermined
In the first nine months of fiscal 2008, franchisees closed 25 stores, the company said.

Starbucks
Stores Closing: 100 and slowing expansion by 34 percent

84 Lumber
Stores Closing: 12

Home Depot
Stores Closing: 3 call centers closing

Pep Boys
Stores Closing: 31

Rent-A-Center
Stores Closing: 280

Rite Aid
Stores Closing: 28

Sprint Nextel Corp.
Stores Closing: 125

Zale Corp. said it has slated 23 more stores to shut down by the end of July, for a total of 105 doomed stores. The jewelry retailer will lay off 140 workers and absorb 85 unfilled positions at its headquarters in suburban Dallas.

Wilsons Leather announced plans to shut down most of its 260 mall stores nationwide, leaving more than 1,000 employees out of work. Wilsons' remaining stores will focus on women's accessories.

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told his newsroom that 100 positions would be cut, primarily through buyouts and eliminating vacant positions, although layoffs were not ruled out.

Chicago Tribune employees were notified on Feb. 13 that 100 jobs were going to be cut through layoffs and buyouts.

Lehman Bros., the fourth-largest brokerage, announced it was going to layoff 1,300 workers in its mortgage division, which will result in a $40 million charge.

Wal-Mart will be laying off dozens of employees involved in its apparel business, which it is shutting down due to sluggish sales, and moving some jobs from Arkansas to New York.

Yahoo's job cuts will mark the company's biggest purge since it jettisoned 650 workers in the wake of the dot-com bust seven years ago.

Morgan Stanley is planning to layoff 2 percent of its workforce -- about 1,000 people.

Yeah, the economy is robust for sure.


In closing I'll leave you with a great Bush Quote.

On one issue particularly worrisome to American consumers, there are indications that paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline is not out of the question once the summer driving season arrives. Asked about that,

Bush said "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. ... I know it's high now."