Look no further than the disastrous Bush administration and its Democratic supporters (yes, I said Democratic supporters) for the immediate cause of the plunge.  A staggering $2 trillion wasted or committed in Iraq.  A massive hemorrhage of money in the worst trade deficit in US history which is directly attributable to an ongoing policy of outsourcing American jobs.  Continued transfer of wealth from the poor and middle classes to the already obscenely wealthy, directly attributable to tax policies of the Bushites and their eager Democratic enablers (are you listening, Max Baucus?). 

Many intelligent persons have tried to raise the alarm about this ongoing train wreck, but the Bushites went deaf to criticism long ago.  Blinded by their drive