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Demand has caused corn prices to rise.  Worldwide population has doubled over the past 50 years from 3 billion in 1960 to nearly 7 billion in 2010.  Last year 2.6 billion bushels of U.S. corn went into ethanol production.  The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has decided to stick with gasoline standards that include ethanol, even though onetime supporter Al Gore admits he was wrong about the policy to subsidize this effort that costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

As ethanol production takes more of the corn crop the price of this commodity will continue to increase.  This hurts people in countries that depend on corn as an important part of their diet, in fact their very existence.  Many of our processed foods and other goods use corn and its byproducts as an ingredient.  This, along with ethanol being 10% of every gallon of gas sold, will end up hurting Americans in the wallet.

Here are a few of the processed products using corn: baked goods, brewed and carbonated beverages, cheese, cereals, condiments, chewing gum, pancake and biscuit mixes, gravies and sauces, canned and dehydrated soups, coffee creamers, condensed milk, fruit products, frostings and icings and powdered sugar. 

In addition, corn can be found in these products: vinegar, distilled beverages, baby formulas, many fried foods, candy, ice cream, cured meats (bacon, luncheon meats and hot dogs), peanut butter, frozen seafood, instant tea mixes, low calorie sweeteners, most snack foods, canned vegetables, gelatin desserts, margarine and nutritional supplements. 

Non-foods using corn include: adhesives, aspirin, talcum powder, paper cups, toothpaste, medicines (syrups, ointments and lozenges), laundry starch and chalk.  And the big one, which uses about 40% of total U.S. corn production, is livestock and poultry feed thereby pushing up the price of meat and chicken at supermarkets and restaurants.

At a time when government spending continues to run wild, the subsidies for corn producers should be reconsidered, because higher prices mean higher profits for farmers; however, politicians in corn producing states will resist.  The EPA shows no interest in readdressing the ethanol fuel requirements, so gas prices will continue to climb. 

Some manufacturers have found a way to disguise price increases.  They have reduced the amount of product in their packages.  Take a look at the items bought on a regular basis, many have reduced the contents by10% or more.  The only good news is that we may actually eat less.  Does this mean waistlines will shrink by 10%, too?

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To the average American, solving the oil spill problem in the Gulf of Mexico seems simple enough.  Stop the oil from rushing out of the hole a mile under the surface; and, at the same time, use every means available to keep the oil from coming ashore through an organized and coordinated clean up effort.  Not with politicians involved. 

Our government took the better part of two months to study the situation while depending on the perpetrator of the problem to do the dirty work.  Well, the dirty work has yet to be done.  Attempts have been made to plug the hole but with only partial success.  More oil is coming from the hole than originally estimated, so the net result is some 60,000 gallons of oil continue to flow from the broken well each and every day.

In effect the United States is being attacked by crude oil.  Investigations currently underway may find out why the rig blew up and the oil was not contained.  Currently, there’s finger pointing galore and plenty of posturing going on in Washington.  Right now, there are more important questions to be answered.  The oil company, British Petroleum (BP), has already accepted responsibility for the disaster and agreed to pay for the fiasco. 

Blaming BP satisfies an angry public and takes the heat of others who may have contributed to the conditions that led to the explosion that took the lives of eleven rig workers.  This single incident has also affected the lives of thousands and thousands of people along the Gulf Coast and will eventually reach across the entire country in a variety of ways.

Greater dependency on foreign oil, due to the cession of drilling, will be reflected in the price of gas at the pump and increased costs for products made with petroleum.  In addition, distribution costs will increase; so retailers will pass these on to consumers. 

There’s a real possibility of legislators trying to jam through an energy tax.  A cap and trade system that places a levy on carbon usage, including resources other than petroleum, will be costly for all Americans and disastrous to some. 

The loss of gulf fish and other seafood will result in a diminished supply, meaning costs will increase as well.  While many people may be inconvenienced by high prices and shortages, New Seniors and others on fixed incomes will find it difficult to live with these price increases.  So the sooner we get a handle on the problem the better off we’ll be.

Get the politics out of this problem.  While we’re waiting for the hole to be plugged, the  oil must be kept away from the shore.  This battle has already been lost in some areas.  However, there are ways to save other parts of the Gulf and BP has agreed to pick up these costs.  Tell your elected representative to continue the clean up, open oil rigs that pass inspection and encourage alternative energy development without new taxes.  We need a decisive government that responds to a crisis rather than one that simply reacts.          

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The presidential election of just over a year ago was about change.  Americans were tired of the ways of Washington, and many believed in the candidate’s message of change.  He won impressively, but not with a mandate.  In fact, there was nothing specific laid out on the campaign trail.  Change in attitude, openness and fairness were the recurring themes fed to people hungry for something different.

Change came so quickly.  The vault was open, and money was being shoveled out the door faster than it could be printed.  The Stimulus package, including the takeover of GM and Chrysler. Cash for Clunkers, which sold more foreign cars than US brands.  Cap and Trade, taxes and fees that will put our industries at a competitive disadvantage and cost consumers more for energy.  Plus the now infamous Health Care Reform bill, the legislative disaster that demonstrated how poorly politicians listen to their constituents.  These are not solutions; they are part of the problem 

While those elected by us are following their own agendas, the people of this country are crying for jobs, so we can get the workforce back on its feet and get the economy going, then growing, again.  The simple truth is the people have lost confidence in the government’s willingness and ability to do the right thing.   

Spending is out of control and the debt is dangerously high.  The question is when will the politicians get a handle on financial issues?  Many of us want the government to slow down, examine their priorities and then go about the peoples’ business.  Yet the pleas from concerned citizens continue to be  ignored.  No wonder trust in our elected representatives has dropped so low.  No wonder protests, town hall meetings and grass root movements are so popular with the people but not the politicians.  No wonder incumbents of both parties facing November elections are worried about being booted out of office.

Politicians must start using common sense, forget about pet projects and, for God’s sake, when the time comes to bring up legislation, work together with those across the aisle to bring the people something we can believe in.  In the meantime, Washington needs to create an atmosphere were businesses, large and small, are willing to re-invest in the future of America by putting people back to work.  That’s real change. 

Isn’t this what New Seniors like us want and expect?  We need to let our elected representatives know how we feel on the issues that matter to each of us.  While we may account for less than 15 percent of the population, those 65+ deliver nearly 30 percent of the vote in primaries and off-year elections.  We are the people who can change things.

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Until the 1960s, the automobile industry suffered few serious setbacks.  It avoided government involvement in the business and was moving lots of iron.  However smaller, inexpensive-to-buy and cheaper-to-run imports, started to make inroads.  Detroit offered mid-size cars and subcompacts while Volkswagen created a stir with its tiny VW Bug.  The two big Japanese companies were also bringing cars into the country at an increasing rate.  But the big problem came from within the country– not from a car maker but from a crusader named Ralph Nader.

In 1965, Mr. Nader’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed” took US manufacturers to task on the subject of safety.  His efforts resulted in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involvement and the recall of 52 million cars and trucks over the next decade.  Then came concerns about pollution.  This coupled with gasoline shortages followed by price increases lead to the Energy Policy Conservation Act that put Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) Standards in motion.  The 1975 legislation called for cars to meet mileage requirements by 1980 and even higher standard by 1985.  These events certainly had an effect on the price of cars and set the stage for the regulations we have today.

The American auto makers saw the squeeze coming and reluctantly started producing subcompacts, even though they big, fast, gas-guzzlers were their cars of choice.  Ford introduced the Pinto in 1970, Chevrolet had the Vega and AMC offered the Gremlin.  The Ford entry had a design that allowed the gas tank to be damaged in a rear-end collision.  Many deaths were attributed to this, and the publicity was fires were fueled by the outing of a memo indicating the company was long aware of the problem but didn’t fix it in favor of their bottom line.  They paid millions as a result of law suits.  However, 2 million Pinto’s were sold and not one of them was recalled. 

Over the years, more safety features came into being: seat belts, air bags and the like.  Emissions went down, designs addressed safety and the look of vehicles changed.  Minivans had their time, SUVs became the rage and concerns about mileage lessened until recent times.  Detroit became less relevant as imports gained in popularity, particularly the Japanese cars, which were known for their quality and dependability.

Now we have the Toyota debacle, which has spread to Lexus and its hybrid lines.  At the same time other foreign and domestic cars are having recalls, too.  Out of these problems will likely be a shift in the marketplace, because people want to trust the car they drive.  The question is, will it result in a safer car, more practical designs, improved operating functions, or what?  One thing we can bank on, the price of cars is about to increase.          

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This was not an accident.  America was always exceptional.  From the time the early settlers arrived on our shores through the colonists’ fight for freedom to the war on slavery and our joining in WWI, the citizens believed in doing what is right rather than what is easy.  If others suffered, we suffered with them and tried to right the wrong, without regard for what dissenters might think or say. 

The same kind of attitude prevailed in our nation’s businesses, both large and small.  A good idea became a great idea when people got excited and applied American ingenuity and old-fashioned hard work to make the dream come true.  Our generation saw the advent of frozen food including pizza, television followed by TV dinners, jet travel, fast food restaurants, a man on the moon spawned Tang in several flavors as well as satellites, copying and answering machines, pagers, cell phones, personal computers and all the hi-tech gear that followed, plus much more.

Most of these inventions changed our lives forever and continue to prompt change as they inspire an ongoing flood of new and improved products vying for the consumer’s attention – many of which will make our quality of life somewhat better, and all of them are designed to make money for the individuals and companies involved in bringing these products to the marketplace, here and around the world.  America has always provided an atmosphere for creativity and we have shown the world how to market goods and services.  So, while there’s cheap labor available in other parts of the world, we are the ones with the ideas, build the initial products and provide the marketing capabilities to establish brands worldwide.

Because America creates what others eventually copy, we must continue to innovate in areas such as energy, food and pharmaceuticals for the world.  The need to innovate applies to more than business ventures.  Our educational system is in great need of help.  Just as we test market products, it is vital to try then perfect new ways to better educate our children and prepare them for the changing world they will face.  America’s health care system needs to be studied and revamped to attend the needs of the aging citizens and to make it affordable to our younger population.

America’s exceptionalism will be challenged in the years ahead.  We must not let this happen from within.  Instead, we have to view the problems facing us lemons and make some lemonade.  That’s the American way.

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We grew up in an era when factories belching out black soot from their smoke stacks were a sign that America was producing products to be purchased here and abroad.  At the same time we were warned not to pollute, not to liter and to do our part to keep our country clean.  Yet over the years, more and more of the conveniences promoted via TV commercials either added toxic waste to our rivers and streams or were made from plastics and other non-biodegradable materials destined to crowd our landfills forever.

In recent years, controls over manufacturing plant emissions and the introduction of environmentally friendly products for the home and office have helped the situation, somewhat.  Concurrently, cars have been made to burn cleaner and drive further on a tank of gas while the fuel itself no longer contributes the amount of pollutants it once did.  Progress has been made to where the US is not the culprit it once was.  However, we use so much more energy per capita that the environmentalist, here and in Europe, continue to point their fingers at us even though the emerging countries such as China and India and the dozens of developing ones around the world have a long way to go before they began to approach the standards we have set for ourselves.

Now there’s a movement to place a carbon charge on energy usage worldwide.  If this succeeds, US companies producing products in this country and employing American workers will be at a disadvantage.  They will, however, be able to purchase unused energy allotments from other firms or countries for a fee.  Either way, the consumer will pay more for goods and more for their own energy consumption.  The only ones profiting from this will be the federal government via taxes and the energy traders through their commissions made on both buying and selling carbon credits.  Isn’t this the same government that is spending us into bankruptcy?  Aren’t these the same commodity brokers and Wall Street opportunists cited for driving up the price of oil not long ago?  They were responsible for pushing junk bonds, risky derivatives and hedge funds that helped lead to the bubble bursting in our once booming economy?  Why would we trust these institutions to do anything in our best interest?

If we haven’t learned from the health care reform debacle, then when are the American people going to finally say, “Enough is enough?”  Yes, we need to do our part to improve the world’s environment; but, no, we can’t derail the economic engine that has made this country great – otherwise, we lose the strength to affect change.    It’s up to pre-boomers to lead the way, as we tried to do on health care, and make the American public aware that actions have consequences.

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You’d have to be in a coma to not be aware of what’s going on inside the DC beltway.  Stimulus spending, “green” programs and energy taxes, health care reform, plus budget deficits projected for years to come are but a few of  the issues that will affect pre-boomers and the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Then, there are gaps in the state budgets.  Here in California, we posted a 26.3 billion dollar shortfall and the legislators compromised on a spending bill that leaves us 1.1 billion in the hole.  To accomplish what is a temporary fix at best, state workers will get less money, teachers will laid off, welfare programs will be cut, prisoners will be released onto the streets, college tuitions will be raised, and as many as 50 state parks will face closure.  All this is on top of putting into law the highest sales tax in the country, which has caused many residents to flee for less expensive locations.  Businesses are leaving California too, because of taxes and a variety of restrictions.  Therefore state revenues continue to decline while unemployment has increased to 11.6 percent, topping the national average by 22 percent.  Unless something is done to attract employers back to the state bring in new companies, the budget woes for California are far from over.

Of course, problems have a way of trickling down to the local level, so Los Angeles is faced with its own deficit debacle.  City services are under the threat of being cut way back – police, fire and other essential needs.  The city council depends on federal and state funds to replenish its coffers rather than doing proper budget planning to run this town.  Our schools are a mess, yet we continue to pour good money after bad to fix a problem that, in reality, can’t be fixed until we dismantle the LAUSD and try to build the once proud system back to its former glory, but special interest groups along with cowardly politicians will not let this happen.  Instead, local residents get hit with a variety of taxes, outrageous water charges and special fees to keep the city afloat.  And now, the council wants to override the will of the people by trying to raise property taxes.  This will destroy the already depressed real estate market and result in many pre-boomers and others on fixed incomes to lose their homes, because they can’t afford the taxes.

We can’t afford to sit back and do nothing.  It’s time to let politicians know the free ride is over and they will be held accountable for campaign promises and for fiscal matters.  The days of being elected for “bringing home the pork” are over.  We need proper planning, less patronage and balanced budgets as a start.  If your elected representative isn’t willing to do these things, then why is that person your elected representative?  Together, let’s take the actions to make these interesting times a blessing, not a curse.  

Now, the nation is divided, and many of us have slipped into the use of hateful rhetoric while standing behind political banners.  Out-of-control spending is but one of the over-indulgences of the current crowd in Washington.  Only a year after electing a new president, who ran on a platform of hope with a promise of change, we seem to be drifting further and further from the America we once knew and believed in.

It started with the stimulus package, which many thought was a political payoff rather than a means for creating more jobs.  Whatever happened to all those shovel-ready projects we heard so much about when the now nearly trillion dollar budget was first appropriated?  This spending budget came right after the previous administration doled out three-quarters of  a trillion in TARP monies.  Then cap and trade slid through the House and waits for the Senate to take it up.  This could result in giving the government enormous powers to control energy use and tax businesses and individuals while potentially eliminating jobs for many Americans.

There’s talk of a value added tax (VAT), which is a national sales tax on top of sate and local sales taxes, elimination of previous tax cuts, a war tax and other schemes to extract money from those earning it so the government can use the funds “for the greater good.”   This has many hard-working Americans and pre-boomers (also known as the “New Seniors”) living on our hard-earned savings wondering what’s happening here and if the ship of state has sprung a leak and is about to sink.

Probably the biggest concern to us is health care reform.  We knew costs for insurance coverage was increasing at an alarming annual rate and wanted our representatives in Washington to address this problem.  We wanted more people to have coverage, realizing that some of these costs would have to be absorbed by the tax payers,  but we didn’t want the government to take over health care.  And we certainly didn’t think Medicare would be cut by $500 million and at the same time try to lower the age requirements for participating in this program as well as provide coverage for some 30 million uninsured people.  To accomplish this it will be necessary to reduce the quality of health care for pre-boomers and those older than we are, suggesting actual rationing is in the near future.  Not only can we expect added costs and/or less care, our children and grandchildren will be saddled with higher taxes for the rest of their lives.

It’s time to let our voices be heard and try to restore a sense of sanity and a modicum of responsibility to the legislative process.  We must demand that elected representatives are accountable to the people who voted them in and not the leadership of a political party.

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Take my situation.  I was in the eyes of many a workaholic.  Therefore I had a tough time retiring from the advertising business, which I loved.  So I did not leave the game and hang up the spikes until, at age 67, I sold my ownership in the ad agency I founded some 20 years earlier.  There was a non-compete clause in the sales agreement prohibiting me from engaging in any activities within the industry.  This is standard in these kinds of contracts, but it essentially shut me down from doing what I did for 45 years.  To keep me from climbing the walls at home, I needed to find something to do with my energy, experience and enthusiasm for being creative.  Recreation could wait.

Having written a popular marketing book and hundreds of articles about advertising, I thought maybe there was a novel in me.  So I wrote my first full-length novel.  I took me a year.  This was followed by another work of fiction.  About the time I finished the manuscript for the second book, my non-compete expired.  Not long after that I was consulting for a number of clients, serving as an expert witness on marketing cases, writing articles and speaking at seminars and conventions.  I was back in the game and loving it.  Recreation was on the back burner again.

For many years, I had been involved in marketing to the baby boomers and became somewhat of an expert on that generation of 76 million consumers.  However, I had overlooked my own generation: the pre-boomers.  This realization caused me to do some research on those of us born between 1930 and 1945 and to discover that virtually everyone else overlooked us too.  We were the “forgotten generation.”

As a result of this revelation, I started writing the “Pre-boomer Musings” blog.  The idea behind it is to offer thoughts, comments and opinions on topics of interest to our generation.  Back in May when the blog first appeared, I expected to post two articles a week.  Before long the weekly postings expanded to twice that number.  The response has been heartening too, so this effort will move on to the next step early next year.

The point of my story is that I am no different than many retirees.  We don’t want to stop thinking, being involved or feeling relevant.  Rather then looking for nonproductive recreation to pass the time, we want to contribute something to society.  Re-creating ourselves by originating, producing, bringing about or causing something to happen that will be good for others and provide us with a sense of accomplishment.  Being willing to be of service has a way of refreshing your body, mind and spirit.  Let us know how you re-created yourself in retirement and how it changed your life.

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A jobless recovery means a slow recovery.  Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will not be the driving force it has been following most other recessions.  The unemployed and underemployed coupled with a like number of people who fear losing their jobs might account for upwards of half the total available workforce.  The result is less consumer spending overall.

Less spending is contagious.  Even those who have not been personally impacted by the country’s financial woes and believe they are relatively safe when it comes to job security are not spending as they have in the past.  Direct payroll deposits keep cash in the bank while rising credit card rates tend to affect short-term purchases, making the buying of everyday items a less than everyday occurrence.  According to a recent Gallup poll, daily spending among baby boomers, who account for 36 percent of adults, is down nearly 35 percent from last year.

The mostly fixed income pre-boomers (those born between 1930 and 1945) usually spend less than younger consumers.  However, the economic downturn has caused their daily spending to drop by about 45 percent.  So while boomers are nervous about spending, pre-boomers are simply scared.  There are sound reasons for this concern: savings have suffered, homes are worth less, health care benefits are scheduled to be cut and inflation looms on the horizon.

The cutting-edge boomers, those 60+ and nearing retirement age, are not likely to return to their spending ways unless the economy shows vitality on all fronts.   Pre-boomers won’t be spending until the recovery is proved viable and they see their retirement savings return to, or near, previous levels.

This leaves the trailing boomers, generation X and generation Y consumers to do the spending; however, these are the same demographic groups that will be required to purchase health insurance in order to pay for those who can’t afford insurance.  In addition, faced with higher taxes – energy taxes, a national sales tax as well as increased state and local taxes — will these groups be willing to step up and start buying?  Or, have we run out of the kinds of consumers this country has depended upon to whip out their credit cards and cry, “Charge?”