Why I Won't Be a Cooperative Consumer

Today's consumer confidence number showed a decline. We are still very wary. We are still not consuming as evidenced by the retail sector's earning reports. The obvious reason is the high unemployment and the threat of losing the jobs that are still out there.

I, on the other hand, am self-employed and derive my income from two main sources. First, being a petroleum geologist, I have (had) a fair income from natural gas production. But, being that we have been too good at finding and producing NG in unconventional sources the last several years, making for a high supply versus demand, the price of NG has fallen to where my income now suffers.

My second source of income is from interest and dividends. The FEDs zero interest rate policies have effectively driven us interest income folks to zero income. CD rates are only around one percent out to a year...and with the possibility of inflation creeping in it doesn't seem wise to tie money up for more than one year.

Other options for income drives us toward more risky investments like bonds or bond funds, or higher dividend equities or equity funds. Though some still have an attractive yield they come with the risk of loss of principal...not good for those of us intending to live off that money for a while, and not a great option on the tails of the capital losses that most of us have sustained over the last year.

So, Bernanke and Obama, etc, have bailed out the banks, and the bankers are fat and happy. They are reporting huge profits, huge salaries and raises all while offering near 0 percent interest to depositors. But, bounce a check and get hit with a huge fee that is another source of their record profits. We non-Banksters, on the other hand, have lowered confidence, lower personal income, lower property values and huge losses of jobs.

So, until you "bail out" us commoners instead of creating a gravy train for those parties largely responsible for creating this mess, I will be on the sideline making do with what I have. Wearing clothing a few extra years, driving a vehicle that is a little older, growing my own veggies and fruit, going out to eat less...and paying less in taxes to boot.