As I said yesterday, the crazy-assed rise in the stock market on Monday was all about one-time profit-taking. And today look for things to begin to come down to earth because, as The Wall Street Journal reports just now on its website:

U.S. retail sales took the sharpest drop in three years during September as a weak job market and the credit crunch scared consumers and slowed the big engine of the economy.

   And…

The retail sales report illustrates where Americans are spending their money. Consumer spending is a big part of the economy. It makes up about 70% of gross domestic product, which is the scoreboard for the economy.

The drab readings over the summer on retail sales argue the case of many analysts: the U.S. is in a recession or heading for one.

   Well, that’s been obvious for a long time. Consumption is falling, debt is everywhere…from individuals to dozens of banks that are teetering on the verge of collapse.

   I’ve argued here for sometime that there needs to be a serious injection of money not just to banks but to people. The way you do that is NOT through one-time tax cuts but through a serious raising of living standards by doing at least the following:

   1. Raising the minimum wage dramatically–meaning, immediately (as fast as Congress was able to pass a bailout for bankers, it can pass this in one week) to $10 an hour and, then, getting that wage to at least $19 an hour within two years.

   2. Declaring a new policy of full employment–meaning, the government will be the employer of last resort and guarantee everyone a job.

   3. Promote union membership as a matter of national policy.

   Personally, I’ve found the suggestions coming from political candidates, who argue that they are standing up for working Americans, pretty mediocre and small-bore. Let’s be bold.