A Non-Partisan view of the Federal Government Shutdown

[cuse69]

Actually Duane started this thread in a forum " Off Topic - The Campfire " this is a section of the site devoted to most any topic not related to furniture.

[Morning Star]

Washington has been recession proof for years due to the fact that it has grown and prospered while the rest of the country has experienced a severe recession over the last five years. I travel to Washington on business and it has experienced boom times recently. Remarkable that a "shutdown" that has lasted for a week has caused the rulers in the city-state of Washington to gnash their teeth at the prospect of tightening their belts. This is particularly so given the fact that most of the government has not been shutdown and that like the previous 17 or 18 shutdowns that have taken place over the last 30 years or so, they typically end very quickly; usually in a few weeks at most.

[drcollie]

Washington has been recession proof for years due to the fact that it has grown and prospered while the rest of the country has experienced a severe recession over the last five years. I travel to Washington on business and it has experienced boom times recently.

I'm don't agree with that statement, I came very close to losing my business in 2007/2008 recession and was down to the last few hundred dollars in my store bank account and telling my wife we would have to list our house soon and the store was collapsing from lack of sales. She had to leave The Keeping Room and get a job with the country schools in order for our family to have health insurance as our business could no longer pay it. I had to let go all my employees and give up the lease on my warehouse facility as well. I survived but its still VERY far from being a boom town at least in the retail furniture business. I still work by myself in the store and my wife still works in the county school system.

I actually did far more business in the 1990's than I do today. Things starting going south in 2001 with the dot-bomb bust and then those idiots flying planes into the buildings in September of that year. I sold nothing - NOTHING for four months after 09/11, as the country was in shock. Then the following year we had the Sniper attacks which scared everyone so badly that no one bought anything or went out that entire period they were on the loose. Even today home prices here in DC still have not fully recovered from pre - recession levels. This Summer and Fall (2013) has been very soft for sales, and there are plenty of small businesses in and around the WASH DC area that have gone bust. Cost of living is very high here as well.. if there is a boom town here in DC, someone forgot to invite me to the party!

[MRSSQRDAWAY]

DITTO DITTO for me and my financial life. This a car manufacturing town . Empty houses all up and down my street. The recovery that has been written about for months has certainly not been here. A new home builder very close to me, to survive has been been roofing, installing replacement windows and pouring driveways. My own home has lost almost 50% of value. I was told by my banker I was throwing money away to even think about doing any more work on the property. I am a full time caregiver for my disabled vet husband of 54 years . Lived under many different governments, recessions, different countries, and still have hope for a better life for us all.

[MRSSQRDAWAY]

Sorry forum members, I just realized my posting was not directly about FURNITURE! Indirectly it was. To go over all the reasons people put off making a major purchase , like furniture, it usually comes down to the state of their personal finances. The economy. The security of their income.