Regardless, the bigger point that I was trying to make before having to bang heads with "Stu" was that if I'm running into this crunch (and I'm thoroughly a middle class professional), then there are LOTs more people who have it even worse, since I know for a fact that there are thousands who make my daily commute as well (you should see some of the enormous traffic jams on I-270 south of Frederick!) who probably don't make as much money as I do with my job.
Also, I'm seeing the direct results of the gas price crunch through my wife's business. We live in a town where tourism is the main industry. She runs a specialty retail shop with another lady, and lately business has been tanking because the tourists are staying home. The entire town's economy is in trouble and there have been numerous businesses closing because of it. It's all directly related to skyrocketing gasoline prices, but if you listen to some of the supposed free-marketeers on this board, it's no big deal, and if people get thrown out onto the streets, then so what?
”Simple-sell your house and move closer to work, or find another job.”
You're exactly right! We chose to live where we do for two main reasons: 1) the cost of living in Pennsylvania is about half of what it is in Maryland, and 2) we absolutely did not want our children to grow up in Washington, DC or Montgomery/Frederick Counties, for obvious reasons, especially with their terribly corrupt, lib-dominated school systems. Moreover, even if I wanted to sell my country home and move closer, I couldn't since no one can get a mortgage now, and also because there is no reasonably priced housing to be had south of the Mason-Dixon line. My next door neighbor is a very good real estate agent, and recently she has been telling me horror stories about how the mortgage companies are digging in and throwing her clients, qualified potential buyers in every way with good incomes, under the bus when it comes to getting home loans. As a result, very few properties are now moving, and unless I want to move into deepest darkest Washington DC and live in the remaining housing projects there and deal with the corrupt government, I pretty much have no choice but to stay where I am and ride it out.
Again, as I said earlier, the point is not about me, but about the much bigger trend that I'm seeing all around me. That others can't see the same thing is troubling in the extreme.
If you think this thread was nasty-here’s one from quite a while back. Bookmark it or whatever, read at your leisure. (we retired folks have too much time on our hands LOL )There’s one other one that was even more vile, but I don’t know if I’ll come across it. I have to admit, Edwards was right-there are two Americas-and one doesn’t grasp the long-term ramifications of this. Thanks for being a rational person-wish FR had a lot more like you, but unfortunately, as reading this linked thread will show you, it’s easy to see where the rabid ones at DU get their ammo for calling all conservatives selfish, greedy, and uncaring. Not all ‘conservatives’ care about anyone else-just as all libs are not evil. By the way-there are several small towns in Ohio that depend on touristas for survival that are currently dying due to people not traveling-was on the news a few nights ago, so I get where you’re coming from there, too.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670991/posts?q=1&;page=1