Hard Times: Travis Fox crosses the country to see how Americans are coping with the economic downturn.

Hi Travis,
I think you should focus on the average neighborhoods, not the chronically poor areas where this problem already exists. I don't mean to infer that they don't count, they do. But we're seeing strife at all levels of economic prosperity now. I suggest you contact churches who are receiving enormous increases in prayer requests for financial crisis issues. I also suggest you hit small businesses and talk to owners. Another area to talk to people, retirement communities (even Del Webb). People who usually seem to be well situated are beginning to tumble into this eddy of dispair.

AND one more thing, the guy from Bakersfield has got it right. Neither candidate truly knows how to get us out of this mess, they are guessing and depending on others. The question is, can the voters trust in those "others."

Cynthia

I a most concerned about a run on the banks. I am concerned even though the a/c's are guaranteed for up to $100,000. Also, I learned that the bank a/c's may even be guaranteed for up to $250,000. Pray tell, where is this money going to come from? From all of us, of course. No one will hand out freebees. As to any monies I have in a brokerage a/c, I was told not to worry about it. Big deal. How can I not worry about it? Thankfully, I have food on the table and a roof over my head. But for how long will I be able to sustain it? I was born during the great depression. I have memories of it. However, my feeling today is that, as Mr. George Soros said on Bill Moyers program this past week, Paulson is part of the problem. The other part is the stupidity of people who live beyong their means. As a child my father told me: Buy good things so they will last longer. If you do not have the money to back it up, do not buy. Wait until you can afford it. I wish the American people would learn this lesson. Of course, there are other factors which I need not go into. However, I AM WORRIED. I have children and grandchildren. What kind of situation are we leaving them? The whole thing is horrible. And what do I do if my money disappears? I must keep faith in myself and my country. Otherwise, there is no hope. And without hope there can be no life. I truly believe that our government acted too late. As Soros said: If what is being done now had been done a few months ago, we would be okay today. Quite frankly, I am disgusted with the Republican regime for the past 8 years. We do need a change. And, hopefully, Obama will be able to help us out. My father once said: A President is only as good as his advisors. ems

Hard times are here. Yes, that is what we are told often enough. After having spent 23 years in the U.S. Navy then retiring and working on the "outside" for a number of years prior to becoming disabled I must agree that some difficult times are in store for many U.S. citizens who have learned to live from pay check to pay check while running up huge credit card debt. While it's true that we now must live on SSDI and my military retirement check we feel blessed in that we still have medical insurance and a home which we own.

I recall as a youth living in the midwest my father who worked for the rail road was injured at work making it impossible for him to work. With a family of eight to provide for I recall that we ate a lot of dried potato soup, and oatmeal. Sometimes had canned ham from the food commodities program given to us by a friend who could not eat ham (dad woud NEVER apply for this (Welfare) saying if he could not support his family we would do without). We lived in a rented house that was impossible to keep heated during the cold winter days and longer nights with a coal furnace. I guess that we went without many of the things that others might have however we never went hungry. My mother counted every penny and made sure that each one was used to the best interest of the family. We survived and while it was no picnic living in that house in a winter when the temperatures dropped to -25 F we made it through that winter and others.

What I am saying here is that while its no FUN living on much less than what one is normally used to living with by keeping track of how one spends money, where each dine goes one can survive. We are fortunate in that we have worked all of our adult lives and early teen years which help when social security computes the amount of SSDI we have earned. We are fortune that we spent those twenty three years in the military and earned with my retirement check lifelong medical care. We are fortunate that we learned to live on much less during those years in the military when I earned less than six hundred dollars a month in 1975 supporting a family of four. We learned to make do with used furniture others had cast off, eating the cheapest foods on the commisary store shelves and shopping K-mart for clothes. We learned to live within our means so now despite the loss of a good portion of our income due to disability we are still fortunate and able to live within our means and not on credit cards. As I said in the beginning, we ARE fortunate during these times when so many are living on the streets. But then again we planned for these hard times by doing without things during the time in the military when the times were "good" earning the retirement and health care benefits.

Almost anyone who is abled bodied can go into the military now. Yes, one will have to go where ordered and yes one will have to live on less than what one may have earned previously but in point of fact one does earn enough to support a family and if one is fortunate one can get assigned to base housing which helps since there are no utility bills. The military is looking for abled body people and in these times it is much better than living out on the streets and the entire family gets "free" health care too.

I recall several years ago when sellers were receiving bids for as much as 25-50% greater than the list price and the line of qualified buyers for a single property was long. Escalation clauses in sales contracts were no longer theory but in full swing and used as common practice in certain neighborhoods. I have to admit there was energy amidst that was unlike any experience. There was no logic - couldn't anyone see that if a home was purchased for almost 50% more than the list price or that the inflated market supported numbers that were preposterous that eventually the bubble would go “Pop!” No one seemed to care; the players of the industry were anesthetized and there was quick advance on the horizon. This initial benefit was bestowed on the buyer to the seller and all disciplines in between. Everyone was smiling or trying to smile. The exclamation, “Regulate!” was a dirty word but the intervention needed most. I am not surprised that our nation is where it is. I believe that what we need is someone that can provide leadership by ushering the nation into behavior and action that will be conducive to healthy growth and civility. The state of affairs is what it is and not going to change and bypass the agony – We need leadership that will set a healthy tone for the country as well as conjure a high regard of the US globally. We believed that the campaign was about race but both races of people had the opportunity to frame the focus of their campaign independently. One chose the right focus and the other chose the wrong focus. I am happy to see that even race fades when the issues are dismal for all mankind. This too shall pass and God bless us all.

How about this WP: when you mention a town, and provide a map, the TOWN SHOULD BE ON THE MAP. Simple, eh?