the Economy Sucks and It's Everyones Fault

Before we get too much more wound up in blaming the likes of AIG, CITI and the other bailout babies, we need to take a very hard look at the two biggest culprits in this whole economic meltdown mess,

That would be you and I, the consumers, and the 535 elected officials of Congress who spend more time posturing and pandering than they do actually working for the people who sent them to DC.

The current economic crisis can be laid squarely at the feet of the American consumer. We are to blame for the sub prime mortgage mess, the credit crunch and all the rest.

Congress, businesses and the various regulatory agencies are merely the enablers of our collective greed.

For some reason known only to God, we have come to be a people of entitlement.

People honestly believe the should be driving a luxury car when their income won’t let them afford it, live in a house way beyond their means, have big screen TV’s in every room, the latest electronic gadgets and generally live a life in the lap of luxury.

Credit card companies, lenders and Congress were only too happy to oblige voters with loans no sane person would make.

The people want 50 year mortgages with the ability to pay interest only for five or ten years? Done.

People with poor, little or no credit deserve credit cards? Lots of banks and lenders stepped up and gave credit freely to those who could ill afford it. Of course, they gouged the consumer with insane interest rates and terms. Didn't matter, consumers maxed their cards and were rewarded with you guessed, a higher credit limit.

Just went bankrupt? No problem. Lots of lenders made it easy to “re-establish” credit while charging an interest rate that many states would refer to as usury (look it up) to do it, raking in more cash for the lender.

When demand went up, the government, starting in the late days of the Clinton Presidency and enhanced by Bush and Company, let oversight agencies bend regulatory rules or simply ignore them. All of the financial alphabet agencies (SEC and all the rest) simply stopped enforcing rules designed to prevent our current economic condition.

So here we are, crushed by the weight of our own egotistical greed.

Now what?

Well Lord knows the Obama Administration is reacting to the problem with the scattergun approach; keep throwing money at the problem and it will go away.

Dear Mr. President: take a deep breath, get your team together and figure out a solution to our problem, then give it to us. We can’t afford a piecemeal approach any longer.

For both parties the problem is the same, absolutely no leadership, no plan to solve the crisis. As always, it’s politics as usual for the Beltway Bunch.

Nancy Pelosi, the occasional Speaker of the House, has shown no leadership, no plan, no anything. For the past two years she’s been grabbing power and perks without doing anything to actually help the country.

C’mon Nancy, how about showing us some real leadership? You have control of the House. Let’s see you do something to solve the problems we have, not make them worse. If nancy can't do it, I suggest the Democrats find a new Speaker - quick.

And let’s not forget our Republican friends. They had six years in total power and helped create this mess. Let's talk about how you deregulated and made sure the oversight agencies went blind rather than take a good look at your Wall Street buddies.

Stop pointing fingers and making accusations. If you’re going to slam the current administration and declare its plan a failure, come to the table with a plan of your own. So far, all we’ve heard is talk, let’s see some action and your plan for economic salvation.

And now my fellow Americans, it’s your turn. You need to get your economic act together.

Here’s my plan for us “little folks” to help restore the economy.

1 – Start putting some money in the bank and in an investment account. We don’t save enough and it’s time we did.

2 – Live within your means. Stop hocking your future to keep up with the Jones’. Scale back your lifestyle until you can actually afford it.

3 – Take a good look at the people you elect for public office. Right now we have a bunch of partisan chuckleheads in office who spend more time on politics than people. We need the opposite. If they’re not working for you, throw them out of office.

4 – Remember this: America has come back from some amazing disasters: the Depression, the War for Southern Independence; two World Wars and a host of other things.

We are the most can-do, inventive, creative people on the planet. We can solve any problem.

We can solve this one.

We just need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves, get up off our butts and get to work.