Our fault

We need to own up to the fact that our current economic mess is a creature of our own creation. From using exotic loans to buy ostentatious homes we could not afford, to using credit cards for buying everything from groceries to wide screen televisions, we own this mess. The bailout/rescue may or may not work but the bottom line is we have to start paying very close attention to the bottom line. For too long we've said, "I'll pay for it tomorrow".
Well, tomorrow's here.
And we don't have the cash.
For what it's worth, my spouse and I have become more frugal over the last decade and passed on the exotic loan and bought for less than we were allowed. With kids in college it was better to low-ball ourselves and make some sacrifices.
We paid off our credit cards almost a decade ago and have kept them paid off. We drive used cars with good gas mileage that we bought with actual money after I cashed in a some investments I was awarded. We move around a lot due to my spouse's job and moving makes it hard to save money. We have some investments but we opted for longterm options on most of them. The high yield, short term stuff has always made us leery. Saving money has been very hard but we're getting on track as best as we can. (Save now, save often, you'll be better off for the effort and the sacrifice)
The downside is we don't have a lot of stuff by most people's standards, but still far more than we need. Nesting has come easy for us. There are plenty of books to read, movies to watch and to rent, and music to listen to. Like squirrels we stocked up on the stuff we liked for the possibility of an economic winter. We were cynical but it's better to be prepared.
Cars are a burden. All the luxury items and extra room in the world will not shorten the trip. No frills, or fewer frills is really not such an issue. When all else fails I can hum or sing tunes to myself with the windows down in the summer, and up in the winter.
The point I'm trying to drive home is all of us can have less and be happy. All of us scrambling to get bigger cars than we need, boats, and other sports water craft, snow mobiles, big blown car stereos and home entertainment systems as well as electronic gaming has left us hungry for more and very few have time to enjoy what they already have. And, still, we run off to buy even more stuff to keep us busier.
To what end? Are we staying in that bigger house and watching the sunset from the back lawn? Are we taking out the boat we bought more than once or twice a year? How's that time share condo working out?
What we've done is create a vast industry of services and entertainment and goods that can only be maintained by continuing to consume goods. And the only way most of us can keep up is to continue to borrow ourselves into larger and in some cases, all consuming debt. To be sure, the temptation to consume surrounds us all day, seven days a week. However, we have to say 'no' at some point or the debt will be so great that we cannot imagine paying it off.
Debt's a lousy legacy to leave loved ones.
There also has to be something said about people living in the lower end of our economy. While I sympathize with the desire for the parents of children and adolescents in their families not being stigmatized while they struggling just to pay the rent, there is a lot of spending going on there. To try to keep them on pace with their peers in higher income brackets is a losing battle. This peer pressure is a sad fact of life and the desire to try to keep up with the Jones through signature loans, early check cashing stores and other quick and expensive loans for the acquistion of things not easily afforded, well this will invariably lead to even greter financial distress. The onset of the debt burden will derail any chances of saving money and thus relegate those kids to toil in dead end jobs, or even petty crime as they grow expectant of owning things they cannot afford any better than their parents could. This also makes the chances of attending college a pure luxury and, for the most part, unattainable. It's better to do without from the start, hard as that is to explain to a kid. Teaching them that all is not right in the world may make them a more responsible people and lead them to scrutinize why they had to do without while others did not. The illusion that hard work will win the day is a lie. The work ethic will improve when a fair shake is the standard and a not carrot on the stick.

So, don't count on a government sponsored bailout. Regardless of your politcal affiliation the government will not pay down down our debt, not now, and not likely any time soon. They're looking to float the banks who got us into this mess. Yeah, we contributed, but we didn't engineer it. Remember that fact before our congress votes.
Besides, are they bailing out the privately owned, individual businesses, those mom and pop places they love to act like they're 'protecting'?
The answer is a resounding "NO!"
They're attitude towards us is 'sink or swim', it's our risk.
Why do these banks deserve better treatment? Why should we bail them out rather than let the "free market" decide their fate?
Follow the money.
The same government who is going to let them continue to operate by, "funding them in an effort to loosen up more credit for future loans", to "boost consumer confidence", is the same government who refused to regulate them properly.
Without stringent checks and balances put into place how can they throw our money their way?
We'd better pay attention this time. Mr. Bush messed it up but the saying is, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".
Don't give tham a second chance.