Late, clumsy — trying (tardily) to be more in touch with the public than Bush has seemed to be, or Bush's father in 1992? There has been wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too much hype (I suspect much of it directed in the Dems' favor, given the nature of the media and its politics as well as its sensationalist character), but there definitely are some problems to be seen. How can the economy _not_ be harmed by gasoline costing us as much as $4.00 or more a gallon, for example? I also believe (despite the hype that clouds this issue) the debt problem arising out of the housing bubble is serious. (Not every place is like here in Detroit or in Cleveland, with double-digit totals of homes for sale on a typical residential block. Although what's interesting is that some of the worst-hit places are those which have been growing explosively not only during but before the housing bubble, such as Las Vegas, the contemporary model of suburban US lifestyle rather than developed California in some ways. Growth, growth, growth — and now slamming on the brakes.)

But obviously this is a problem with the definition, because with the precipitous drop we're likely now in the midst of can't be captured with that definition. But technically McCain was probably absolutely correct to say we weren't before, but are now, because we've passed a corner where things are obviously on a steep downward trend now.

Maybe it's just me, lol, which is possible, but seriously – the deniers have been soooo vocal – I think of op-eds by Bill Kristol and others, maybe even George Will.

Is this not a big deal? Laughing – eh, what do I know. I'm just a blogger, who lives outside Cleveland, epicenter of foreclsoures and payday lending problems and subprime mortgage failures and job loss after job loss…

[Scroll to bottom right to see pie-chart graphs on views of the economy.]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=...

“Let's all go shopping [in Washington]!”

http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/09/25/bailout-d...