by Jenna Oskowitz

Marilyn Geewax, moderator for "Money Matters," began the Friday afternoon panel in a sullen manner. Describing the state of the economy today, none of the panelists could give an optimistic outlook.

"We are going to try to look at our demise in a positive light," said Geewax, national economics correspondent for Cox Newspapers.

Geewax said she may be unemployed soon, so she is taking the state of our economy personally. Describing how current economic issues could impact voter decision in the November election, five panelists gave their views and opinions on just what is happening on Capitol Hill.

Juliana Measce Horowitz, research associate for Pew Research Center, presented disheartening statistics assessing the current state of the economy. Comparing the cost of living to one's income, 64 percent of Americans felt their income was decreasing. This number increased 6 percent in a five-month period.

From February to July 2008, the percentage of voters who found it more difficult to afford gasoline than taxes, home gas/electric and health care increased from 60 percent to 68 percent. The percentage of Americans who find it more difficult to afford food rose from 27 percent in February to 38 percent in July.

"Those are intense numbers on the economy," Geewax said. "What is going on is big in a historical way."

Economist and research director at The Williams Institute, M.V. Lee Badgett, tried to present information that was not as discouraging. Addressing the role of same-sex marriage in the coming election, Badgett depicted a bright future for them.

"There has been growing evidence of increasing approval of lesbian and gay marriages," Badgett said.

The importance of the same-sex marriage issue has declined since the 2004 election.
Badgett said that 75 percent of Bush voters in 2004 — compared with 68 percent of McCain voters in 2008 — consider same-sex marriage to be one of the most important issues. Among Democrats, 35 percent of Obama voters in 2008 considered the issue one of the most important, compared with 41 percent of Kerry voters in 2004.

Panelist Missy Frederick, staff reporter for the Washington Business Journal, gave the audience a shock when she listed restaurants and stores that have recently closed because of the declining economy.

"Starbucks is closing 600 stores, Bennigan's restaurant chain has gone bankrupt and will close all restaurants, and 11 major restaurants right here in Washington have closed," Frederick said.

After she announced a few of the local restaurants that closed, Butterfield 9 and Colorado Kitchen, a few members of the audience and panel gasped in disbelief.

"People are trying to cut corners where they can," Frederick said. "Anything considered a luxury or not a necessity, people are cutting out."

As Americans are trying to cut the unnecessary, the government tried to jumpstart the economy by awarding rebate stimulus checks.

"The checks were supposed to help but faded," said Richard Leong, senior correspondent at Reuters.

The possibility of a recession feels as though it is hovering over our heads. Leong said that the auto industry, housing and banking are dealing with some major problems right now. On top of all our nation's problems, the credit and loan industry is failing too.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own half of all mortgages in the country," Leong said.

By allowing the U.S. Treasury to bail them out of trouble, "they could be facing billions of dollars in lawsuits," Leong said.

With the new digital market revolution, not only are the jobs of journalists at stake, but the effect trickles down through industries.

"Let's say you want to buy a plane ticket, you now use the Internet to purchase tickets at a better fare instead of using an actual travel agent," Geewax said. "And then what if the airline decides it needs another plane, but they can't afford it, so they try to get out a loan, and the credit industry is suffering."

Geewax said there are layers of problems in the economy, and it has become a nexus.
"This is going to be a very rough time," she said.