flat. one. reasons they ve been flat, quote, unquote, because the benefits prices go up so much faster than inflation. so, the things that really matter. and actually, the price increases, worse or harder on a person because of the fact that wage is wages are a big part of measuring, quote, unquote, inflation, but everyday spending is actually up and in particular, we re getting killed. brenda: gary b? your take home cash and extra taxes, obviously, don t help, but, yes, when you have the discretionary spending, it s just not there, so there father, there is a and gary b. but, toby s making my point when he says everyday spending, that s what the person sees, but what they don t see, they forget about, they forget about that their rent is relatively flat. they forget the gas bills that they only pay once a month are relatively flat. yeah, if you go to the supermarket regularly or go buy gasoline and drive by every day and see the prices,
sounding, we re not that great. 1.8% print is not good. any way you look at it. what country looks better than us, including the stakt right now. i don t know, maybe chinese looks good right now. growing at 8%, hey, i would like the stock market tanked and huge inflation problems and some bureaucracy there. i don t think they re looking better than america right now. we re not having is right now. mike, what do you think of the growth? i can t think of any pop star lead in as compared to gary b. but, however, he s probably prepared for that for three days in advance, but listen that s true, a snapshot what happened last year and conditions leading up until now. i m not all that sanguine going into 2012. brenda, you said it s an election year and politicians are going to do everything necessary, you know, to make things good. the problem is what they think is the right prescription, you know, cut back, spending