The "haves" and media pundits who insist about being upbeat about the economy just don't get it

It's almost willful ignorance.

Unless you have unlimited spending reserves, every tick upward in the cost of things I would consider non-discretionary like :

gasoline
food
housing
healthcare
prescription drugs
heating/utilities
tuition

is a dollar that you no longer have to spend on optional consumerism - cars, tvs, second houses, furniture, home improvements, restaurants, IRA contributions, clothing, toys and anything else you would care to name. Since we all know that consumer consumption is about the only thing left propping up our illusionary economy - I think the damn thing is about to go south in a big way.

How many stores, restaurants and other assorted small businesses will close in the near future? The banking and real estate industries are on life support as is the car industry and just about any other industry you would care to name (oil companies and health insurers seem to be the exception.)

How much has the cost of the "non-discretionary" items listed above gone up in just the last year, let alone the last 5 years?

We know the truth, it is reflected in our leaner pocketbooks and wallets, - but we have leaders and politicians and media propagandists who seem determined to push untruthful drivel.

Let's confront the truth about the crappy state of our economy and then work together to change it for the better.

They shouldn't be made to suffer.

they just prefer to whistle past the grave yard and repeat to themselves that things will be okay, because they don't have any real world abilities. If things go to shit as I think they will, these tools will be out of a job.

They probably exist almost entirely on 1099 Dividend income. (I speak of the "haves" class, not the punditry where you may be correct- they (the pundits) don't have any actual skills except those of cheerleading or misleading, although one of those has been a sucessful path to the Presidency).

They can't make money unless we give them our money for their various products. So they have some motive not to let us all just stagnate.

there is no news anymore. It's just propaganda. Right now, they want us to spend for Christmas, so they're telling us what they think will make us want to spend. If they did a bunch of stories about how much it was going to cost to heat our houses this year, how much food will cost this winter, and what gas prices will be in two months, what would happen?