Starbucks has announced they will give anyone who comes in and says they voted a FREE cup of coffee. I hope that includes a latte. However, in California the law doesn’t allow giveaways to encourage people to either vote or not vote. Other companies are simply giving away their products on November 4, and you don’t have to say you voted. You might want to get up early on November 4, to take advantage of all the giveaways.

Starbucks Coffee announced it plans to close 600 under performing stores, and eliminate as many as 12,000 full- and part-time positions.

President Bush’s tax cuts kept the economy humming along for the past 7 years, after the dot com crash during the last part of the Clinton Presidency. The economy had to fall eventually. Today the stock market fell again, marking the first official day of a bear market.

Even worse, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah told oil consumers Tuesday that they should get used to high prices and not blame the country for the spike in the price of crude, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

We need far more investment into alternative fuels to offset the impact petroleum will have on our economy, especially since the democrats in congress voted down a bill that would have allowed more drilling for oil.

Things are going to get tougher, especially in the housing market, so save your nickels and dimes. We’re heading for a recession. Let’s hope it doesn’t become a depression.