Chris Estes

Just when you thought an era of Kennedy’s and Clinton’s was coming to an end it is being Reported that Caroline Kennedy is to take Senator Hiliary Clinton’s New York Senate seat.

NY Governor David Paterson has the task of appointing Clinton’s replacement.  If you remember Gov. Paterson replaced the embattled Elliot Spitzer after the prostitution scandal.

Read about Speculation about Caroline Kennedy’s appointment to the US Senate.  It isn’t so far fetched as ABC, the Boston Channel, and CNN are all buzzing about the News.

Credit crisis is affecting students.  College life in some people’s opinion is supposed to be full of frugality and cheap living. Not being able to get loans for education is a disaster in waiting.  What do you think about the credit crunch and affecting college students loan availability?

CNN’s Campbell Brown reported the story and video above and as follows:

(CNN) — It feels a little bit right now like we are all in a suspended state.

We are waiting for President Bush to leave office, waiting for Obama to take over, waiting for the automakers to come up with a bailout plan, waiting for the credit markets to unfreeze, waiting for the other shoe to drop in this terrifying economic environment.

All of us are trying to be patient to let all these various actors either depart or take the stage, to let all these various bailout plans do what they are supposed to. But while we wait, there are a lot of people falling through the cracks.

I was really struck by one college student telling his story to NPR over the weekend.

He owes the University of Arkansas $2,000 dollars. He has just a few weeks until the end of this semester to pay what he owes the school or he has to drop out.

He was counting on a bank loan, but with the credit freeze he can’t get one. He’s hardly the only one.
It is the topic du jour in dorm rooms right now as students pack up for the Thanksgiving holiday.

How many of them won’t be coming back because they can’t get loans to cover tuition or their basic expenses?

Paying off years of student loan debt might be a struggle at times, but not being able to get a student loan in the first place is a disaster.

We are all trying to be patient, but letting the education of our young people fall by the wayside right now is truly a disaster for all of us.

In case you didn’t catch the Saturday Night Live Spoof of the Senate Hearings on the bailout of the Big Three US Automakers.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Big 3 Automakers request for $25 billion in Bail Out you should probably read these post:

• General Motors Return 2 Corporate Jets
• US Automakers CEO’s Grilled On Capitol Hill
• General Motors Video Scares up Support

As we head into the holiday season it is welcome news to see gas prices falling.  Lower gas prices should help lower the burden on US families and make better for the retail and mall industry.  According to a CNN article the lower gas prices may be nearing its end.

Gas prices slip below $2 nationally

• Average price in U.S. is below $2 for first time since March 2005, survey says
• All-time high average — $4.11 — was set four months ago
• Average price dropped 33 cents in the past two weeks
• Survey: Diesel prices are under $3 for the first time since September 2007

(CNN) — Gas prices dropped nearly 33 cents in the past two weeks, dipping below $2 for the first time since March 2005, a national survey said Sunday.
This station in Rio Vista, California, had gas prices below $2 on November 19. [pic to left]
The average price of self-serve, unleaded gasoline on Friday in the United States was $1.97, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey. The last time the price was below $2 was on March 4, 2005, she said.

The all-time high average was $4.11, set on July 11, according to Lundberg, and prices have been dropping ever since.

“The rate of decline has slowed somewhat, but it is still dramatic at 33 cents in two weeks,” she said.

Diesel prices averaged $2.93 on Friday, slumping under $3 for the first time since September 2007, she said.

Lundberg attributed the price reductions to a drop in crude oil prices and demand, and also because of low refining margins.

“Crude oil remains [the] main driver,” for the decline, she said, noting that crude oil futures settled on Friday below $50.

Demand is always low in November, she said, but the weakening economy is reducing it further.

However, Lundberg said that if crude oil prices do not fall further, “then the end of this [gasoline] price crash is either here or near.”

The Lundberg Survey is based on responses from more than 5,000 service stations nationwide.

On Friday, drivers in St. Louis, Missouri, paid the least at the pump — $1.61 — while drivers in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Anchorage, Alaska, paid the most, at $2.81.

Here are average prices in other cities:

• Detroit, Michigan — $1.76
• Houston, Texas — $1.78
• Atlanta, Georgia — $1.88
• Boston, Massachusetts — $2.01
• Chicago, Illinois — $2.10
• Washington — $2.19
• Los Angeles, California — $2.22