Consumer spending drops for second straight month

And the forecast for the next couple of months is not looking good either. The steady rise in gas prices, the delicate economy and then Katrina is really taking its toll on the economy. (Hey Greenspan, what about the impact of gas prices now?) With no jaw-boning in sight and no relief from high gas prices it's not going to turn on a dime no matter what is done along the Gulf Coast. Congress and the president keep suggesting energy programs that will continue to put more money into the traditional fossil fuel business and might eventually offer some relief in the next 5-10 years but as for the near term, forget it.

All of the tough talk about keeping America safe won just enough votes in the last few years but now that that too has withered away, what happens now? We're not safer, the country is running a massive deficit that is being snatched up by China and Japan, the war in Iraq is a mess and we have a GOP who can't seem to balance the budget because they're too busy dishing out tax cuts to the wealthiest while sticking the middle class with the bill. So how do they get the country out of this slump?