Lunch With the Car Dealers and the 500 Point Plunge

HOW MANY CHANCES WILL WE HAVE TO INDIVIDUALLY PREPARE?

Today the stock market went down another 500 points. These are some tough times!

At mid-day I was eating lunch with local car dealers at the WA State Car Dealers quarterly meeting. Senators Franklin, Rockefeller, Rasmussen, Eide, and myself (along with a few House members) heard from the industry.

Competition from neighboring states is a big deal since only WA has a Business and Occupations tax. And, without a finance market, potential buyers stay away from the show rooms. Twelve dealerships have just gone under! Other owners are laying off dozens of longtime employees. One dealer reported laying off 25 employees last week. They are going under....FAST!

The industry is asking for a lower B&O Tax and to be able to charge the administration costs of document transfers as other states do. Without parity, out of state dealers have a competitive advantage. "We should support our industry," was the message.

This is just one of our troubled industries.

Please:
Pay off credit card debt...
Store a month's worth of food...
Have a crank radio...
Save as much money as you can for only necessary expenses

We will all be affected by this downturn. And no one knows what they will individually experience.