Recession. What Recession?

Yes folks, there is no recession. We know this because our lame duck president told us so. Of course, he had no clue there are predictions gas prices could rise to $4 dollars a gallon by spring. The mortgage crisis? Just a blip on the radar screen. A bit of a slowdown, sure, but recession? Nah! Here in the New York area, the national economic blues are only half the story.

New York City agencies are facing a second round of budget cuts that will have an effect on the quality of services delivered to residents, no matter what City Hall says. Education, housing, sanitation, you name it will have to make do with less. New Jersey wasn't spared either. State aid to municipalities has also been cut as the Garden State faces a yawning budget gap. Even with all this, as they say on tv,"but wait....there's more!"

Last weekend,the cost of just about every form of municipal transit went up. Subways, buses, bridges, tunnels, the PATH train from New Jersey, commuter rails, all saw fare and toll hikes. Our politicians refuse to call this what it is, a tax increase. Better to wring their hands and pass the blame onto some other politician.

It's a cycle we've seen in the past, and it can't have come at a worse time. People are struggling to make ends meet. Mortgage companies and landlords don't want to hear about rising prices or declining services. They want their money. As prices continue to rise, people make hard choices about what to cut out of their household budgets. As consumers spend less, the economy continues to slow, keeping the downturn going.

For George Bush, ignorance is bliss. After all, he doesn't know many people that have to pay for their own health care. Gas prices rising? No worries for him. He doesn't drive himself anywhere. Recession? That's someone else's problem.

It's ours.