Why “The Real” State of the Union?

The reason for using "The Real" as part of our name is quite simple: so many half-truths, exaggerations, implications and just plain lies come out of Washington every day, American citizens don't know who, or what, to believe. Since the cornerstone of our democracy is an informed public, we intend to help Americans understand what has been happening to our economy by providing essential facts, objective and comprehensive analysis, critical thinking and thoughtful commentary on important economic issues. The truth may be elusive, but it is our only objective.

The Grim Truth About Our Economy

Everyone knows our economy is in terrible shape, but few people realize  the roots of today's severe recession go back 30-40 years. Few people also realize we are at a critical point where we must aggressively rebuild our economy or face the following painful consequences in the near future.

  1. A significant decrease in our standard of living
  2. Sluggish or no real growth in wages and GDP
  3. Severely limited job opportunities, especially for young adults and the middle class
  4. A shrinking middle class – the backbone of our society and economy
  5. Reduced Social Security and Medicare benefits
  6. Higher taxes and large cutbacks in many government programs
  7. Social and political upheaval as we have seen happen in other countries under economic stress

The world will not end, but life will become very unpleasant for a great many people. Americans in the middle and lower income groups will be hardest hit, but nearly everyone will suffer, as they have in the current recession .

This grim future doesn’t have to happen, but it most certainly will if our political leaders continue to deny reality and repeat what didn’t work in the past in the hope it will work in the future.

The longer we keep treating the symptoms instead of curing the diseases infecting our economy, the harder it will be to recover and the longer it will take. This is the unavoidable conclusion reached from the analysis of our economy's long-term trends in Thin Ice – and Melting and the reason behind our goals.

Our Goals

Our immediate goal is to educate everyone about the real state of our economy because our government has deceived the citizens of this country for decades and is still seriously understating the threats to everyone’s economic future.

Anyone who thinks our economy will get back to where it was in 2007 within the next year or two is sadly mistaken. We could stage a remarkable recovery in the next 5-10 years with a strong national effort, but no one in Washington is even talking in those terms because no politician wants to admit the scope of the problems we face or make the tough decisions necessary to rebuild our economy.

If everyone knew how our economy’s fundamentals have eroded over the past thirty years, they would understand the dangerous economic situation we are in and why we must start rebuilding our economy immediately, before it is too late.

There is no question we can rebuild our economy, but nothing will happen without strong, honest and unselfish leadership from our political leaders in Washington. Unfortunately, the culture in Washington is the opposite of what we need and it will not change unless Americans become better informed and demand better performance from their government.

The Real State of the Union wants to increase awareness and understanding of our impending economic crisis and what we must do to avoid it. To build a better economic future for all Americans, everyone must work to achieve three national goals: rebuild our economy, restore our government’s financial integrity, and reclaim our democracy.

Why is our economy failing?  How can we stop the meltdown?

book coverIf you don’t know what’s in Thin Ice – and Melting: Why Our Economy is Failing and How We Can Stop the Meltdown, you don’t understand why our economy has been declining for the past thirty years and how our government has failed all of us by denying the problems exist, pretending everything was OK when it wasn’t, and doing nothing to address the causes of our economic meltdown. Make no mistake - the current recession is only the tip of the iceberg we will hit in 5-10 years if we don’t start rebuilding our economy NOW.  Read More…