Why Christmas sales are bad

[gnofg]

The real reason why the economy is bad is because of the mindset the repubs bring. With the exception of Reagan the repubs are dour people. They always focus on the negative. Liberals on the other hand accentuate the positive and believe that human anture is inherently good. This ongoing dour sentiment eventually wears down the populace and they just stop believing and start hoarding for worse times . This kills the economy which depends on a positive attitude.

[eaprez]

1. I haven't kept up much on how the holiday spending was going...

....I did notice last Saturday that there was minimal traffic. I live near a very high traffic area and dread going out because of the traffic to the outlet stores and such -- but last Saturday there was no traffic. I went to the post office to mail a package on Saturday -- NO LINE! That's the first inkling I had that holiday sales may not be going well.

[bobweaver]

2. Plus the fact that they took all our money,

with the low wages they pay us and high prices they charge us. They try to blame it on taxes, but it's really the high cost of living and low pay that is the problem

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. upscale luxury stores are doing record high sales WalMart is doing poorly

[elehhhhna]

5. Those huge tax cuts aren't working? No way!!!

[lastliberalintexas]

24. Well, they're working for those who got them

She did say *luxury* sales were up, after all. :-)

[bobweaver]

17. My heart weeps for Wal-Mart. Not.

[liberal N proud]

4. Sales are bad because no one has the money for gifts

People are either unemployed, worried about being unemployed.
Many did not get a raise this year, some had pay cuts.
Personal income is shrinking, bills are higher, gasoline cost more, travel cost more, heating cost more, food cost more, health care costs more and they still are not talking inflation.
I was in the mall this last week-end and my wife said to me, "there sure are a lot of names on the Giving Tree" and there were, many more than I ever remember seeing.
The grinch is stealing Christmas, that is why sales are bad.

[hang a left]

6. I was in the mall last night.

It was very uncrowded. Toys R Us yesterday morning and it was a ghost town. Monday morning Taget had a pretty good crowd. Kmart was not crowded either. It certainly doesn't feel like Christmas' past.

[The Flaming Red Head]

7. No one needs me till after first of year (home health/assistance)

All at once. Call us back after the first. I lost 4 jobs in a week. No paycheck for 2-3 weeks and Christmas is only a day. My bills are still due whether they stick a phony holiday at the end of this month or not.

[rniel]

8. As a small family business owner

the christmas shopping season has been way below expectations for us.

[SiouxJ]

10. I'm a distributor (wholesale)

sales are down about a third. If it weren't for International customers (the low dollar helps there), we'd really be hurting.

[rniel]

11. AND I blame the El Busho for it!

n/m

[SiouxJ]

14. I do too! My business thrived all through the Clinton years

it's been slowly going down since chimpy took office. I've had to lay off people. My customers are going out of business left and right too. Most of them are mom & pop shops. Oh, but the repukes just keep saying the economy is humming along fine.

[wildwww2]

16. The repukes told the same lie during Reagan and Poppy Bu$h.

But I knew several people who stopped living in their cars and got a home after those two crooked scoundrels became ex-Presidents. It`s a shame this Bu$h can`t ever be a real President. Instead of just being on the receiving end of two stolen elections.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[bobweaver]

18. Clinton era: making money and making whoopee. Bush era: poverty and dying

[BlueEyedSon]

9. The reason I'm not shopping is not psychological.

No USA IT openings.
No Job.
No Money.
No Shopping.
Period.

[Ready4Change]

12. The Middle Class is sliding into poverty.

Many of them (us) don't recognize how vaste the slide is. They think it's just them as an individual, not as a whole class. That's why as many of them voted for Bush as they did. After all, all the media talks about is how GOOD the economy is becoming.

Meanwhile, unemployment rates are only staying up because people are accepting jobs at far lower wages, because they've been underemployed for so long now that they can't afford to NOT take lower wages. That's why businesses and stocks are so upbeat. Corporate profits are high, at the expense of their employees.

And those employees, feeling the pinch in their individual pocketbooks, are cutting back on their holiday spending.

That's why sales are so bad.

[demnan]

13. Yes they are

I actually went to the Mall last Saturday, and there was no hassle. That surprised me. But people just don't have the money to spend.

[Old and In the Way]

15. Consumer Confidence sucks.

That's the real barometer of our economy. Consumer spending is the engine that makes it go. It's a self-fufilling prophecy. People think the future outlook is negative, so they clamp down on discretionary spending. And that impacts on the economy....and that further depresses consumer confidence.

The Bush tax cuts were pretty stupid....they should have targeted the bottom 60% for the bulk of the cuts. That money would have been spent in our economy instead of being reinvested elsewhere.

These ideologues can't fix the problems, either. Their married to their political/economic philosophy and that constrains options to address the growing problems. Way too many yes men/women and syncophants are counseling Bush....it takes creative minds to deal with extrodinary structural problems we face and that is pretty well non-existant in this misadministration.

[MyDogSpot]

19. US Christmas sales will be dependent on the number of yachts purchased

this year.

Personally, I'm tapped out, even for Christmas tree tinsel.

[genieroze]

20. No, it's because all of our jobs are in India or China

and people can't afford anything.

[secedeeconomically]

21. The Rights has cultivated and lives off

by convincing themselves that they are the victims of a huge liberal conspiracy Therefore, they are constantly on the defending and the attack. And besides, who has time for Christmas when the raptures are right around the corner :)

[lebkuchen]

22. In Germany, the markets are packed--shoulder to shoulder

You have to arrive early to get a spot in the outdoor glüwein bar. A hot red wine mulls while a huge hunk of sugar soaked with rum is lit on fire and drips into the wine. The lights dim, and a cowbell rings for everyone's attention.

By 8:00 p.m. the Kriskindlemarkt is closed and everyone retires to a nearby restaurant. If you don't have a reservation, forget about eating downtown.

[Robeson]

23. First, a lot of people do not have the money...

...and second, perhaps us - the Liberals - campaign of starving the beast, is having an effect. My wife and I bought all our gifts this year from American Indian organizations because a large portion of proceeds from those gifts go back to the Indian Reservations. Every purchase we make from this point forward, will go to benefit someone who needs help. No more running to the mall to get that last second gift. It just ain't gonna happen. Maybe there are more people doing these type of things than we realize.

[lebkuchen]

26. Mall gifts have that uniform no-soul feel to them

If you've been to one Gap, you've been to them all.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. I did most of my Christmas shopping in Japan this year

Besides, everyone on my list (relatives) has more money than I do, and they have even told me not to worry about getting them expensive stuff, so I just make up little gift packages of tea, coffee, wine, candy, or whatever their favorite thing is, with a small but distinctive souvenir of Japan.

I'm also "adopting" two people from my church's Giving Tree. It's heartbreaking to see that once again, the top request is for gift certificates from grocery stores.