Could Falling Gas Prices Help Our Economy?

As our economy slips further and further into the pools of recession one can only ask: How far we will fall until we hit bottom? Economists believe that we will continue on this downward trend for some time longer, but I believe there is some hope for a faster recovery. I realize that the government is stepping into the situation and trying to dowse out the fire by dumping massive amounts of money onto it, but I believe that the real answer is in the declining gas prices.

Before this recession ever got started our economy was seriously hindered and limited by the cost of fuel. Everything that we as Americans buy is transported by trucks or ships. Because of the former increase in gasoline prices the cost of shipping products went up, and as a result of this increase many consumers saw the effect on store shelves. Americans tried to accommodate for the rise in gas prices by purchasing less and being more conservative with their money. This conservation resulted in the economy progressively slowing down until the big economic crisis in September.

The lowering of gas prices makes this recession a little bit more manageable. Just imagine average Americans living in these times of trouble and still having to pay $4 a gallon. I believe if that was the case this recession would not be just a recession; it would be a huge downward spiral into a depression. However because of the lower gas prices consumers can let out a tiny sigh of relief.






Even though it is very true that the gas prices have been lowered due to the economic crisis I feel like these new prices can really help our economy get back on track. The couple of dollars per gallon that have been cut is equal to an economic stimulus of $240 billion. In my mind I believe this takes an enormous load off of the government, who if not for the lower gas prices would probably have to give relief to many more Americans. Other blogs agree that the lowering of gas prices will take a huge load off of Americans and the lowering of gas prices may prove to be a factor in an economic turnaround.

Other blogs do not agree with my opinion that lower gas prices will have a better overall result because they believe that we cannot trade the effect it will have on the ecology for the effect it will have on the economy. All I have to say to this is the only reason Americans can worry about the environment is because of the economic stability that this country has. Other countries that are less fortunate then us cannot worry about the economy because they have to make a profit by any means possible. The difference is that America is a country that is established enough and powerful enough to actually consider trying alternative fuels and new means of production. I believe that if this economic crisis gets to a certain point then America will no longer be able to be ecologically friendly and will have to resort to dirtier methods in order to make a profit.

CEO's Meet On Capitol Hill Fourth Time In Two Weeks

The CEO's of Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors are meeting for there final time to try and ask Congress for a 34 billion dollar bailout, which according to the CEO's, is crucial in helpinig Americas economy. At the begining of these trials there was harsh criticism on the CEO's when they each arrived in there private jets that all cost well over millions of dollars. Now however, there is an interesting shift in character by these men. This time instead of arriving in there private jets they all drove there hybrid cars and even promised they would work for a 1 dollar annual salary.

There are major reasons that congress might seriously consider this bailout package. One reason would be the number of employees that each company currently has. Acouple days ago, the labor department reported job losses to be 533,000 in the month of november. If there were no action taken toward helping the automotive industry, it would lead to even more problems that our econmy would have to face. It is very important that congress help in some way but not pay the 34 billion that the 3 CEO's are asking for. The automotive industry is not the only industry struggling during this time. So it would be inappropriate that congress give the automakers what they might not even deserve. The automotive industry is a very big part of the economy and should get a partial bailout from congress.

Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, accused of insider trading

In June of 2004, Mark Cuban, sold his stake in the website www.mamma.com. Cuban owned 6.3 percent of the website, but sold it all after a conversation with the chief executive of the company. The Security and Exchange Commission claims that the information that he was told led to Cuban selling his stake in the company. The issue is if the information that was given to him was truly "inside" information. This case is still in the early stages, and very little details have been given to the public. In my opinion he should have never sold his share of the website, even if he did know that the website was not going to do so well. Cuban has made over a billion dollars as a tech entrepreneur, and should know the laws about insider trading. Even if he did end up losing money with his investment into mamma.com, he can afford it. This was a stupid mistake that can end up sending him to jail for over a year. This case has been compared to the Martha Stewart case, which as we know didn't end very well for her. Also, Cuban has been trying to purchase the Chicago Cubs for some time now and the MLB will probably not allow Cuban to purchase the Cubs, even if the Chicago Tribune sold the team to him. This was a stupid mistake for Cuban that he will have to pay for one way or another.

Article from Dallas News

At Times of Financial Hardship, Company Executives Sitting Pretty

Last Tuesday I was utterly disgusted to learn that throughout all of the economic hardships that have plagued this country for the past month that the CEO’s of Ford have been asking for government money while they themselves are flying private jets. The real aspect of this story that really angered me was the fact that Ford is cutting so many jobs and this mean that countless number of people have lost their source of income. I believe that if the CEO’s sold their private jets, which go for hundreds of millions of dollars a piece, this would enable countless numbers of people to hold onto their jobs.

After I learning about the whole Ford incident I was naïve enough to believe that Ford was the only company which had executives that did not give two cents about the blue collared workers. The fact of the matter is that blue collared workers are the backbone of a company, without them a company would cease to exist. I was all too disappointed to learn that Ford is just one of many companies that have grown careless towards their hardworking employees. The main company I will talk about is the local bus company by the name of Pace.

The main difference between Pace and Ford is that Pace is not running to the government asking for money; on the other hand Pace is actually reporting earnings. The issue I have with Pace is that they are increasing the amount of money it will take to ride a bus. Why this fact is an issue is because Pace top executives are seeing a major increase in their paychecks. Some executives are seeing an increase of as little as 4% but a good amount of executives are seeing increases as large as 35%. All of these people make over $100,000. With regards to Pace, my main issue is not the pay increase for top executives because of the fact that regular paid employees are still keeping their jobs. My main issue with Pace is simply that people should not pay more money to ride a bus, especially with our flailing economy.



Americans are already hurting financially because of the fact that the price of living is still on the rise. Combine this with the fact that many people do not have a real strong sense of job security, and you suddenly realize that a simple bus fee can really start to make people nervous. An increased bus fee as well as an increased price on food starts to add up for people who live their lives from paycheck to paycheck. Instead of increasing the salary of top executives and as a result increasing bus fees at this moment couldn’t Pace have waited long enough until the economic troubles blow over.



I know that this is America, the free capitalistic society of the world, and with all the riches that come with this society there are also the lows that this economy goes through. I also realize that in America hard work and time often result in a person succeeding in life. But never have I ever heard that it was okay to sit back and relax as the poor get poorer while the rich get richer.

And that’s just my take on things.

Goverment Bailout Efforts

The goverment is taking substantial steps to help get americas economy back on track. Every day the our goverment spends millions of dollars to keep banks and buisnesses alive to get americas economy back to where it once was. How much is our government willing to spend? Try 7 trillion dollars. The goverment says that it would not reach that substantial of an amount, but optimist say that the goverment has no other choice but to keep dishing out money to prevent a total collapse in the economy. But the 7 trillion dollars might not seem as bad as one thinks. Government says that a large amount of the 7 trillion dollars is investment, which might help in the long run. 1.2 trillion has already got back to the fed after putting in 1.6 trillion earlier in the year. But as the year moves on, more struggles in the U.S keep developing. Recently the struggles at automaker companies like GM, Ford, and Chrysler have gotten the countries attention and might include even more spending from our goverment. Here is some interesting information of the recent plans by goverment to help save corporate america.

AIG: the government is willing to spend 152.2 billion
Automakers: 25 billion dollars to help transition to more fuel effcient cars
Fannie mae, Freddie mac: Another 200 billion to bailout mortgage finance giants

Bakke vs. California Sets Precedent

With college rapidly approaching for me, I thought there was no more important issue than college admissions. In 1978, the precedent for all future college admissions was altered and set by the landmark case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. In 1973, Allan Bakke applied for admission to the University of California Davis' Medical School with an above average grad point average and test scores. On the application, it was required that all students check a box on their ethnicity. Upon doing so and turning in his application, he was denied by the University. Not willing to accept this, he reapplied in 1974 with the same grades and scores, only again to be denied. As he looked more greatly into it, he found out much detail about the system used to accept students: they had a quota of certain amount of students per ethnicity each year in order to achieve diversity. Upon recognition, Bakke believed his dismissal to be unconstitutional because he had better grades than many accepted minority students did; he took this to court. After years of argument, the supreme court ruled 5-4 in favor of Bakke that it was unconstitutional to give a quota in order to accept students, however they also determined that race is a legitimate factor when considering applicants.

The outstanding effects of this case affect applicants everyday and are something each college applicant should know about. When considering students, it is no longer an issue of whether you are being denied because there were already "too many of your kind" admitted. This sigh of relief can be attributed to Allan Bakke and his fight. Thanks Mr. Bakke, when I get denied from college, I'll be able to blame my poor work ethic, not minorities.

Oklahoma Abortion Law

Oklahoma is currently getting sued by the Center for Reproductive Rights for a law that requires a woman to see an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion. The decision to get an abortion could be due to reasons such as: financial hardships, pregnancy resulting from rape, a teenager unable to support a child, health conditions, or a married woman that already has children. The Center for Reproductive Rights argues that this law “intrudes on privacy, endangers health and assaults dignity”. Furthermore, this law would not excuse rape victims that may be traumatized by the pregnancy and could be further disturbed by viewing the ultrasound. This fact is enough of a reason for Governor Brad Henry to veto the bill; although his veto was overridden.

An ultrasound can provide information about the size of the fetus, if there is more than one, the condition (heartbeat and if there are any abnormalities) and during the second trimester, the gender could be shown. Under this law, the doctor would describe the fetus from an ultrasound such as the one shown above.

Personally this law disgusts me. It is difficult enough to decide to even carry out an abortion. But after having made the choice, there is this added “obstacle” of being subjected to an ultrasound and a description of the possible life inside of you. That is certainly the point of the law, as State Senator Todd Lamb said, “I introduced the bill because I wanted to encourage life in society”; although Mr. Lamb did not stop to consider if this life would be welcome and if guilt is the key to a woman keeping a baby. For instance, a rape victim would probably not want to be encouraged to produce the life of someone that may have traits of her rapist.

Overall, I am pro-choice and I do believe a there are better ways to decrease the rate of abortions than applying laws that guilt the woman and intrude on privacy. The option of an abortion will continue to be present which many Pro-Life groups have become aware of. They are turning towards reducing abortions by “providing pregnant women with health care, child care and money for education” instead of banning them. Creating positive options in the event of unwanted pregnancies is more powerful than creating uncomfortable requirements.