Economic Mess

What a month in the United States. By all accounts our economy is in the tank and other countries markets and currencies are following suit. At the same time, American houses are being foreclosed on in record numbers and American consumers have more debt than at any other time in history.



What are we to do? What is the government going to do?



Last week, Congress passed a $700B bill to aid companies that, through misbehavior and greedy business practices, would face bankruptcy and closure. I have a hard time with using tax dollars to help any person/company that mismanages their business plan and fails. I don't know if in the short term, this bill will stimulate the economy and alleviate the fears of investors, but in my opinion, making things easier now by paying for it later is never the right decision.



Until our leaders begin to understand that to be a successful economy you must avoid spending more than you make, we will continue to see this volatility. If your household was run the way the congress is running the country, you would have declared bankruptcy several times by now.



I believe in living debt free. If you have no debt, you have money. If you have money, you can survive $4 gas and more expensive groceries. If you have no debt, you probably are able to save. If you have savings, you are prepared when life happens (illness, car accident, layoffs). God did not design us to own other people money. He says in the bible that the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). I don't want to be anyone's servant!



Cayce and I are looking for a house. We are shopping for something where we can afford a 15 year fixed rate mortgage. We want to pay it off in 10. We are also hoping to put more money into the market this year because, for us at our age, the market is on sale. The American economy is strong because of American workers. The market will come back to its pre-crisis levels but may take a few years. We are investing for the long term so these mountains will look like bumps when we are ready to retire.



I do feel bad for my parents generation. They have worked a long time for the little savings that they have. I believe that we, as Americans, take cues from the leadership in this country. Our economy has been too debt based for the last few decades. This must change or there will be more rough roads ahead.



I will not vote for anyone, regardless of party, that voted for the bailout. It was an irresponsible, knee-jerk response for political gain. I hope to send home the people who just put our children and out children's children in almost $1 trillion more debt.