NoisyRoom.net

By: Jeffrey Klein
Political Buzz Examiner

If it is still true that people vote most honestly from the pocketbook, President Obama is going to have to process some bad news that is more wilting to most voters’ psyches, than the high, confiscatory gas prices at the pump.

A study conducted and released by the Federal Reserve yesterday, 39 percent of American’s net worth evaporated between 2007 and 2010–plunging from $126,400 to just $77,300–roughly on par with where they were twenty years ago in 1992, according to according to Ylan Q. Mui’s Washington Post article yesterday.

As usual, the poorest families suffered the biggest loss of wealth, with the black community suffering a more than 53 percent decline over the same time period.

The promise of retirement built on the inevitable rise of the stock market proved illusory for most, while home ownership, the primary storehouse of rising value for most became an albatross.

It was the implosion of the housing market that inflicted so much of the pain, with the median equity value of Americans’ suffering a staggering 42 percent decline from about $95,000 to just $55,000, during that time.

And as home equity represents just over half of their assets of the middle-class America, every downward drop translates into sharp pain.

The survey also showed American families hunkering down even further on the spending side, with many not even carrying a credit card balance; but, among those who did, the median balance has dropped 16 percent, from $3,100 in 2007 to $2,600 in 2010; and more striking, the number of American families with no debt rose to 25 percent.

So, as consumer spending represents 70 percent of the U.S. economy, is it no wonder that such a “freeze” in American’s shopping instinct has caused a solid recovery to elude us.

These are certainly dark times, with no viable solutions in sight from President Obama and the Democrats in Washington, DC.

However, there is a shining light on the hill…

North Dakota, whose largely, politically Conservative government threw open their doors to the oil and gas industry, has seen their land owners rewarded with incredible oil lease and royalty income, while the rest of the state prospers from having, by far, the lowest unemployment rate in the nation—3% at the end of April 2012, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting.

And these jobs pay handsomely, with the average oil worker salary at nearly $100,000 nationwide, according to industry data provider Rigzone, as reported in Blake Ellis May 23, 2012 CNN Money article.

And Ed Cross, president of the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association said that in his state, even high school graduates make an average of $60,000.

In Harper County, where the population is just 6,200, oil companies have already created more than 500 new jobs in the past year, with many filled by out-of-state workers, leading to the county’s first population increase in more than 100 years.

“The oil companies aren’t hitting any dry spots,” said Mike Lanie, economic development director of Harper County. “This is looking like it could be the largest economic impact in the state’s history, and for many people in these small towns, this will be a blessing.”

SandRidge said it expects to be drilling in Kansas for at least 15 years, and Lanie says, “I hate to say boom, because that usually means there’s going to be a bust, but this boom doesn’t look like one that’s going away any time soon.”

The good news is that a June 11, 2012 Rasmussen poll finds 60% of Likely Voters say it’s at least somewhat likely the next president will be a Republican, which includes 34% who see this scenario as Very Likely. It also reveals that the GOP has a 45 to 39 percent continuing edge over Democrats to take control of the Congress in November.

Therefore, it is clear that “Likely [American] Voters” realize exactly what it will take to bring us all a holiday trifecta of Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and an Abundant New Year.