Thirteen days from now we go to the polls, and there’s plenty of finger-pointing about who’s to blame for the economy coming from both sides. In looking at this, there’s one unmistakable truth that should be considered.
If it wasn’t for inflation, this wouldn’t be a bad economy.
Unemployment is the lowest it’s been in a long time and there’s plenty of job openings. If you’re trying to hire anyone presently, you know how difficult this job market is. But when you put in inflation running at a forty year high and energy price volatility, it adds up to one thing.
An economy where people are working and earning money, but can’t afford much. Workers are currently earning less, once their buying power is adjusted for inflation, than they did during the 2007 recession.
One side blames government over spending while the other mentions supply chain problems. At the end of the day, they’re both right although it’s not that simple. In addition to those aspects, one must also consider the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and out of control energy prices.
All of that adds up to an angry electorate. In the last forty years, whenever Americans felt pessimistic about their future, the President’s party lost a significant number of seats in both houses.
Currently Americans are more pessimistic than they’ve been in the last forty years. Our sentiments and feelings about the future are almost at an all time low.
Let me leave you with this.
My point in writing this is to try to add some perspective to our current situation. The politics of hate and finger-pointing do nothing but add to our frustration. And haven’t we had enough of that in the past three years?
I don’t know about you, but I’m rather tired of the insanity.
First we had a pandemic where they shut down most businesses. You couldn’t even go out and have a couple of drinks on a Saturday night to try to relax.
Then the economic problems hit and we all had to find new ways to keep our businesses rolling. Before all of this, I never would have considered a government handout. Somehow in all of this, pandemic relief became the norm.
Next we were in the middle of the pandemic and people were dying. I don’t know anyone who wasn’t affected in some horrible way.
They then lifted the last of the major government orders in June of 2021, and we had to get on with the rest of our lives. We needed to learn to operate our businesses in this new normal of virtual workers and buyers.
Now we have rampant inflation that even the Fed can’t get under control paired with the tightest job market I’ve ever seen. We literally jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
And they’re holding an election in two weeks.
Whether you want to or not, get out there and vote. No matter what your political sentiments happen to be, whether you’re voting for someone or against someone else, exercise your most basic privilege as an American.
Millions have died to give you that basic right. No matter what you’re feeling, don’t waste their sacrifice.
I was taught by the guys who fought The Big One and Viet Nam. We had a really simple rule in my house growing up.
If you didn’t vote, you didn’t have the right to complain about what was happening. You had a chance to do something about it that you squandered, so you should have the right to talk about it.
Don’t give up that chance when there’s so much on the line.
And no matter what the outcome is, let’s stop the name-calling and finger-pointing. After a while it just becomes juvenile.
On November 9th, let’s come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. For in the end, the only thing we really have is each other.
Let’s not be a red state or a blue one. Let’s all be purple.
And do so knowing that we’re right there with you. You’re not in this alone. We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. Whether you need Employee Retention Credits, M&A Due Diligence, Payroll Services, or Accounting and Tax Work, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
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