Keepin' it real ...

Follow along with me for a minute ...

"How much of an impact Obama's recovery program had on the pace of job losses is up for debate. Obama has claimed as many as 150,000 jobs saved or created by his stimulus plan so far, even as government reports have shown the economy has lost more than 1.6 million jobs since Congress approved funding for the program in February." (read more here)

Likelihood of the Economic Stimulus Package having any effect what-so-ever throughout the remainder of this year is highly up for grabs.

Obama initially offered his stimulus plan as a way to put people back to work, a promise that 3.5 million jobs would be saved or created. The administration's predictions that unemployment would rise no higher than 8 percent already have been shattered, leaving Obama's advisers to caution that job growth takes time, even as recovery spending intensifies.

3.5 million jobs won't even make the US economy flush again, versus the number of jobs lost since the beginning of the recession. We know ... in the auto sector alone ... that we are far from done losing jobs.

But, not to be half-empty all the time ... we all remain optimistic of a complete recovery ... we just know it is going to take more time ... (more time? sigh). (In the meantime someone please tell those morons up in Washington to get it in gear!)

There is no question that the psyche of the consumer marketplace will be changed significantly, and indefinitely, going forward ... as stories of the American consumer at "ground zero" continue to populate, like these ...(listen) ...

What seems most certain is we do not need or want any pandering bullshit out there from an advertising and marketing standpoint.

And just as much ... we don't need it from our government.

Now, more than ever ... the message needs to be one of long-term value.

For a consumer culture that was forever, it seemed, lost in the shopping panacea of the last 2 decades ... we now have a brand new generation of young people ... who having done all the seemingly right things (gone to college for higher education degrees in record numbers, established good credit in record numbers, prepared themselves to join the ranks of their consuming parents ...),and are suddenly trying to figure out how to attain any employment - let alone what they thought they were preparing themselves to do.

They will be forever shaped by this experience. They will become even more discerning as consumers.

And in an age of twitters and texts ... I assume they will be lethal when they spot BS coming at them.

I learned from my 14 year old... just today ... how much sarcasm rules her generations output ... this site is all the rage right now ...MyLifeIsAverage