Money | 10/09/2008 7:52 am

wowOwow Economic Crisis Reader Forum

The extraordinary market gyrations of the past year, and what CNBC is calling the "Cascading Crash" of the past ten days, has made the economy Topic A everywhere. What is happening in your own life, family, community, retirement account? And what measures are you taking now? Here’s the place to vent…and the place to offer ideas for helping all of us get through one of the most critical moments in our country’s history.

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We have had our house up for sale since June, a contract that a woman had on it fell through, now it seems hard for anyone to get a mortgage to buy a house, and ours is not a large home. My husband has macular degeneration and is no longer able to do any work around the house which is the reason we put it up for sale. The type of health care that McCain talks about would be laughable for him. He gets shots to his eyes every month which cost $2500. each, so a total of $5000. a month, no insurance company would cover that for the $5000. a year he wants to offer. We get by with the HMO and help from foundations which cover the differences. It would be impossible for us otherwise. We are looking for a place to move when we do sell the house. There are a lot of apartment type homes for people who make under a certain amount in Houston and a lot of 55 plus that are very expensive. But the limited income places are set where what the two of us get from Social Security and his very small pension, we are over the government amount. It makes everything very hard to handle.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/09/2008 6:20 pm

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Snadbee, that is one beautiful cat you’re holding in your picture. He looks huge or you are just itty bitty. I know what you are saying. McCain’s $5,000 doesn’t come near covering my medical situation. Not even close. I will be sending you good thoughts that your home sells and you can find a suitable place to live soon.

By M L Staats on 10/09/2008 6:40 pm

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Ml, My surgery in January this year was over $300,000 and I am not even sure what the total Doctor bills are. Plus that insurance is a tax right off for families with children. He said nothing about the rest of us! i know on Monday that getting the wires out will be $2,500…So gee Thanks McCain!

By Jennifer Dooley on 10/09/2008 7:02 pm

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Jennifer, even if you had the absolute best insurance, 20% of $300,000 is a huge chunk out of any savings. I understand and I worry for you and all of us. And, yes, what about those of us who don’t have children, we just sort of get swept aside.

By M L Staats on 10/09/2008 7:18 pm

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Ml, I was fortunate to have the surgery done at LSU in partnership with Tulane. So what was not covered by insurance, was written off. The surgery required a team of 5 surgeons and they videoed it. They do not get to do, what the did to me very often. But the point is that he is clueless to what medical care costs. and my children are now adults, one of my Sons has mast cell disorder and has to be on meds 24hrs a day. So clueless is just what it is. Oh did you hear what Cindy McCain said about PTSD. I am sure you can google it. Boy does she have mental health experts peeved along with a whole lot of Vets. I think maybe she makes Palin look smart to McCain. That or Cindy questioned him about maybe he has ptsd and he told her “no, no, no, “over and over again. That has nothing to do with my temper!” I was trained right, I am not like the enlisted man.”

By Jennifer Dooley on 10/09/2008 9:54 pm

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before blaming those w/children? take a hard look at the prez’s, congress’s health care—-

By gulliver fourmyle on 10/09/2008 10:14 pm

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Thanks for your thoughts M L, with BB it is a little of both, he weighs 20 pounds, I’m about 5 times that, somedays I can hardly lift him but he’s a joy to have around, I’m sure your boy (girl?) is too. As Jen D says below,I too had a couple of brain surgeries some years back and ended up on S.S. earlier than I expected. Those bills were cover almost entirely by the insurance that my husband had at the time because I was just trying to start my own business. But like her’s they were out of site. You can’t have “cheap” medical problems nowadaysl

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/09/2008 7:23 pm

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Sandbee, It is a crying shame that you have to go through this. I was really hoping that some kind of universal health care would be coming with a new administration but with this financial crisis I don’t see it happening any time soon, I don’t see anything good happening any time soon. We are in for a very rough few years, and I’m sure it is no consolation to you that you are not alone. We’re pulling for you, hang in there and keep reaching out to your wOw buddies for support.

By EKA - on 10/09/2008 8:00 pm

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EKA, I think most of the time I am pretty numb about all of it anymore, it’s just when I here some of the solutions that seem so ridiculous to me that I start getting frustrated. I know so much of what doesn’t work. This site has been great, both for support and for a way to get so much information from so many interesting people.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/09/2008 8:12 pm

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Sandbee—-the Ancient Greeks were pretty clever—-one really hit me—-he said, ‘the only true surprise in life is age’. i guess we should feel lucky to ‘get-there’? i wonder—-in ignorant youth, i was routinely ‘saved’—-motorcycles, skiing, scuba-diving, the San Fran ‘Hong-Kong flu’ (after a 5-day shivering coma, ya wake-up, start coughing out scabs, long as a burnt bacon slice, about the same appearance)—-tumors, on and on—-oddly, youth never notices—-that takes time—-maturity—-is it worth it do ‘only the good die young?’ well, if that’s the case, sure-as-hell want ‘overtime’—-

By gulliver fourmyle on 10/10/2008 2:34 am

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Guess I will live forever, but it is those close calls that are the rough parts - like you say - car crash, internal bleeding, brain aneurysm, if you stay under the radar, you stay around.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/10/2008 5:41 am

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Sandbee, This article is possibly one of the most important ones I have read on the financial crisis, and it ties back to what Volcker was saying, indeed what every economist has been saying lately. We need to be more worried about the credit crisis than the DOW right now, and it gives us a way to track, http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/explainer/2008/10/09/dont-watch-dow I’m going to drop the link in a couple of sections of wow so more people can share it.

By Diana T on 10/10/2008 12:34 pm

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Thanks for the link, Diana - much appreciated. Hey, off subject, but I’m being slammed by “Mommy Dearest” in today’s “Do You Believe in the Supernatural?” section for posting comments in a women’s forum. Gee, I thought today’s women were more progressive in their thinking than that. Isn’t such thinking the source of sexism today, like that which keeps women’s wages at 79 cents on the dollar compared to men’s? I’m glad you’ve always been open-minded to people like Frank and I, who enjoy intelligent conversation with women, and accept countering views, so long as they’re subject-driven, not personal.

By James the Game on 10/10/2008 2:36 pm

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Don’t worry about it. Perhaps, Mommy feels threatened by real men like you and Frank, who are just as comfortable with conversations with women as they are with men.

By Diana T on 10/10/2008 2:49 pm

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James, I would hope that all of keep our eyes open for the results of this very important meeting this weekend. Far more important than watching the pundits. These meetings, as a columnist wrote this a.m., just may be the muched watched for October Surprise. I hope so. I hope that certain minds arent’ trying for something silly but dangerous.

By Diana T on 10/10/2008 3:05 pm