Happy New Year

 

Best wishes to you and your loved ones for a good 2018. In the past, I’ve sent wishes for consumers for a good consumer year. However, if it’s one thing we know for certain, 2018 will be another year in which President Trump, federal agency leaders, and the Republican controlled Congress will continue to gut consumer and environmental protections.

Also in the past, I’ve written about the ups and downs for consumers that have occurred throughout the year. There were few “ups” in 2017, as my article on the top consumer stories for 2017 shows.

The message from Republicans was clear in 2017: the policies they favor are for the top 1 percent to continue to prosper while the rest of us struggle along – working harder with less and less to show for it.

Conservatives seem hell-bent on dismantling government and changing how society operates, regardless of how many people are unemployed and how many are living on the streets. I expect the loud, harsh, anti-people rhetoric by conservatives will continue to escalate even more during Trump’s second year as present.

It was refreshing to recently have a vacation in Australia. Newspapers and the media there aren’t filled with the kinds of hate messages conservatives here are spouting continually. And, Australia does a better job of helping people, including the homeless.

I hope 2018 will be as good year as it can be for you as a consumer. Be sure to keep your credit card spending down, monitor your finances, and begin or continue your retirement planning.