[driftless2]

"hard times"

I like most of what you said, but compared to what I've seen in the past, we're definitely not in hard times. They're just not quite as good as they were a year ago. 5.5% ue rate is still rather good. I don't see the bellies shrinking much on most of the people I see. When I think of hard times I think of the thirties and the Dust Bowl days. We're not anywhere near that.

[itsPatAmerican]

I was using "hard times" as a campy, old-timey term for recession, my own private joke. Sorry.

My point is that this is nothing compared to the 30s or even the 70s. I'm sick of reading about how this is the worst we've seen since _____ --you fill in the blank :-).