[Shady Grady]

I know people who want to go to college but cannot because they cannot get a student loan, they are working in the meantime, trying to save up what they can and hoping for some more financial aid to open up. But at the same time I know of people whose parents can afford to send them to college (and pay for it) but those same students are also obtaining financial aid from the government. Since their parents are footing the bill, what do those students use the financial aid on? Here are some things I have overheard: big screen TVs, car payments on a new car, new designer handbags, alcohol, massive kegger parties, and shopping sprees.

Also, there are a lot of people being laid off right now. The place I work has cut back on my hours. A guy I used to work with (worked in the same building, not for the same company) was laid off because they could no longer afford him. He was a car detailer for a Chevy dealership. He has been laid off, a customer service manager has been laid off, and 3 mechanics have been laid off. One of my friends has had 3 jobs in the past 6 months. One place was paying her minimum wage. Then she got a new job at a restaurant in Lexington. She quit that job because her paychecks were bad, the bank couldn't cash them. This place could not even afford to pay their employees for time they had worked. I know of radio station employees that have been laid off because of salary, and others who are still there that are not receiving any benefits such as health insurance. They are just working there so they can have a job in uncertain times.

I will agree that it is not horribly bad. People still drive cars, people still spend money on things they don't need like sports tickets, etc. but it's definitely worse than it was even a year ago. Retail stores are not hiring many, if any at all, holiday help. Kohl's in Richmond is not hiring holiday help because they cannot afford to pay extra people. They are giving all regular employees anywhere from 10-20 hours per week, supervisors at least get a guaranteed 40 hours per week.

It could be a lot worse, but it could also be a lot better.

You have some good points. But sometimes, we have to blame ourselves. This country is now the product of greed. Myself included. We have become accustomed to the idea of having the best of things. The banking industry is in such bad shape because people overspent. Instead of buying a $100,000 house, they got a $250,000 house. The banks are also at fault for approving those loans. But this hasn't happened just under the Bush administration, this has been coming for a long time. And Bush did say eight years ago, we need to drill in the US, but tree huggers don't want that to happen. If we had started eight to ten years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess. Gov. Palin wants to drill more in Alaska, tree huggers don't want to. God put coal and oil in the ground for a reason, and that is for our use. But back on the subject of bad times: Have our huge credit card bills come from things we needed or things we just had to have? And yes, things aren't the best right now. I have a small business with 25 employees, and at times we struggle. But the last thing I need right now is higher taxes, or for the coal industry to fall apart. But as far as the college thing, there are enough grants for people to go to college if they cannot afford it. They just have to take the time to fill out the paperwork. And I don't refer to college grants as handouts, I am talking about people who are just too lazy to get a job. Those are the handouts I don't like. I hope every child who wants to go to college gets the opportunity.