I have friends who have lost their jobs during this past year that are barely scraping by, some even fear they will lose their homes by the new year.  I know parents who have had to tell their sons and daughters that having beans and rice for dinner several times a week won’t hurt them.  They’ve told their children that their Christmas gifts will be limited to items of much needed clothing; maybe they can get a new winter coat.

     The big news is that we’ve been in a recession since December of 2007.  Wow!  Ya think?  Gee, how long did it take them to figure that out? 

     Heck, we’ve been tightening our belts for more than a year.  Those of us on small incomes have been quite aware of this fact and yet it took until now for the NEWS to come out?  

     I guess for such a thing to be NEWS it takes having the wealthy suddenly discover that their BIG BUCKS aren’t going nearly as far now as in previous years. 

     Goodness, does this mean that instead of scarfing down a filet mignon or lobster for dinner they may have to cut back and have a NY strip steak, or God forbid, hamburger?  Do their darling sons and daughters have to forego one of their yearly Christmas gifts of new cell phones, Ipods, big screen TVs, Xboxes, WIIs, or another new car this year?  What a shame.