A New President - An Old Economy

I would love to write about happy squirrels and the autumn air but there is something very dangerous lerking on the horizon.

From Mediachannel: "Saving and thrift was historically a positive value in the U.S. As recently as the l980s, the national savings rate was 10 to 11 percent. Since 2005, Americans have saved less than 1 percent of their disposable incomes. In fact, the most recent figures from March show that the savings rate is negative, below zero. And also in March the government reported that for the first time since the Depression, Americans owe more on their ≠homes than they have in equity. Essentially, on average, America is broke and its credit cards played a dominant role in getting there."

700 Billion Bailout? That was the first round of Government using money that doesn't exist to fix a problem.

From Reuters: "Personal bankruptcy filings soared 40 percent in October and are expected to keep climbing as home values sink and individual debts balloon, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) said on Tuesday."

Don't think for a second that our 'New Government" won't find a way to 'help'. And there lies the problem. Where is personal responsibility? Where is the drive and determination that permeated our collective sense of what it meant to be an American. Today's American, including the 42% who pay no Federal Income Taxes, feed at the trough with a now ingrained attitude of entitlement.

So we have almost half a Nation who believe the Government should take care of all their financial burdens and the only way for our Country to pull itself out of the enormous debt owed to Foreign Nations is for U.S. Consumers to save, invest, and change their spending habits. Yea, that will happen.

Currently there are monkeys laughing at my sphincter. There will be no simian flight because the nasty financial numbers haven't even begun rolling in yet. If Americans couldn't save even a dime when times were good there is a highly probable chance that now, when times are tight, nothing will change and that my friends is a very, very bad place for The United States of America.

Buy an extra can of soup and put it in the back of a closet. At least you will have a can of soup.