What has the economy forced you to give up?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Growing signs that the troubled economy keeps taking its toll on Americans in ways both big and small.
Nearly 7 million homes gave up cable or satellite TV last year - mostly due to the lingering recession.
A survey by GFK media shows that younger Americans, minorities and poor people dropped cable TV in the highest numbers - opting for broadcast or free TV only.
Industry insiders had worried people would dump cable TV in favor of online TV options but according to this survey, most people are cutting the cord because they need to cut costs.
Of course millions of Americans have been forced to cut much more than cable - including their homes, cars, vacations, grocery bills and medical care.
It's no surprise when you consider the drastic collapse in Americans' net worth.
A CNN/Money analysis of Census Bureau data shows that without including home equity, median household net worth fell by 25% from 2005 to 2010. When you include housing, the loss was 35%.
The great recession has wiped out nearly 30 years of net worth gains for the typical household. 30 years.
Once again, some groups are hit harder than others. Asian, black and Hispanic households lost about 60% of their net worth compared to 30% for whites. Young Americans also lost a bigger share of their wealth than their parents.
Lastly, more bad news for the struggling job market.
A Labor Department report shows the number of job openings fell in April.
The drop means there are 3.7 unemployed people looking for jobs for each opening.
Here’s my question to you: What has the economy forced you to give up?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can Republicans attract voters other than old white men?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If Mitt Romney wants to be president, he's going to need help from voters who aren't old white men.
He's got his work cut out for him.
A Politico piece headlined "Barack Obama's group therapy” describes how the re-election campaign has been reaching out to key voting groups by focusing on issues like the contraception fight, equal pay for women, gay marriage, student loans and immigration policy.
Many Republicans find the president's strategy "very crass." Hey, politics is a crass business.
One GOP pollster told Politico that Romney can win if "Republicans decide that it's OK to look outside the country club for some votes."
For his part, Romney is sticking to his message of the economy, hoping it will appeal to all voters.
The traditional Republican base of white voters is shrinking, and if Romney wants to win, he needs minorities and women.
According to the Politico piece, Republicans traditionally get 87% of their votes from whites.
The problem is, the proportion of white voters in the electorate has dropped from 88% in 1976 to 74% in 2008.
At the same time, minority groups grew from 12% to 26%.
Which explains the Obama camp's targeted voter outreach to groups like women, Hispanics, African-Americans, gays and students.
To be fair, Romney is also doing some outreach of his own.
He'll speak Thursday in Florida to NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Later this summer, he'll address the National Convention of the NAACP.
The question is how much credibility he has with these groups. Marco Rubio or Condoleezza Rice could help.
Here’s my question to you: How can Republicans attract voters other than old white men?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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