Four Headlines

I'm not even going to bother telling you the sources; you'll figure it out soon enough. One headline reads, optimstically "Consumer Spending Jumps in August." The next is slightly less of a cheerleader, "Spending Climbs But Wages Don't." The third goes for realism, "High Gasoline Prices Lift Consumer Spending in August." The fourth must be, and is, a business publication, "Consumer Spending in US Stagnates."

Closer investigation shows that consumer spending rose by 0.5% in August, virtually all of which was higher gasoline cost, and consumers had to increase credit card debt to pay for it. The economies in Europe and China are crashing, the Middle East is in turmoil and threatnening to come unglued, and drought is slamming this country with no end in sight. Only 29% of large companies forsee hiring, down from 56% six months ago.

And yet voters "generally feel the economy is improving" and Obama is gaining in the polls as a result of it, which proves that people in this country are immune to facts and hear only what they want to hear. We will walk off the cliff with happy smiles on our faces.