What in the H is going on????

Okay America - what are you doing?? What is happening in our world today??? Every time you turn on the television something else has gone to "H-ll in a hand-basket" (as my grandmother used to say). Is it just me, or is the entire world heading straight to a depression????

A few weeks ago, okay more than a month ago, I wrote about affluence and how the US is so obsessed with 'things' - well, ladies and gentlemen, I think it has come back to bite us in the proverbial butt! The really sad thing to me is - we (and I mean the collective 'we') don't want to take responsibility for our own actions. No one held our arm behind our backs and made us go out and buy a McMansion when we could only afford a doghouse - much less force us to mortgage it at 100% with an ARM loan. Now those mean ole' bankers want their money back - imagine that! And America is crying for the government to bail them out. Well, folks, its time to bite the bullet and face the fact that you can't have everything - WHAT!!! Yes, you can't have the mega mansion, all the new clothes, the new furniture, the new cars, live pay check to pay check and borrow from MasterCard to pay the Visa card bill. It's time we step up to the plate and be grown ups.

Now, that I've fussed about everyone else and said that I don't think the government SHOULD bail out the stupid - let's talk about what will happen. The feds are going to buy up all these "bad loans' that will allow these dumb idiots to stay in their homes, and those of us that are responsible, pay our bills on time, only buy what we can pay for, are going to get the shaft! What do I mean by that statement you may ask? Well, let me explain. D and I figure that the home we bought last October is now worth approximately $50,000 to $75,000 less than what we paid for it. However, we make our mortgage payment every month on time, and pay all our other obligations on time. Because we are responsible adults no one will do a dang thing to help us in any way. IF the feds want the economy to get better and is going to buy all that bad debt, why not adjust our principal, lower our payments and we will have more money to spend every month. What would that mean - well, we might be able to go out and buy that camper we have been wanting, or D could go out and buy that boat that he so wants. We could take a couple of trips - even if it were only to Atlanta or Savannah. The point would be, we would feel like we could spend that extra money instead of holding on to every penny we have because we don't know what is coming next.

Actually, you know what I would really like the feds to do? Nothing, but I know that isn't going to happen. I may not be an economy major, but I know that the news and feds have, not just America, but the whole world so scared that if they don't do something soon everything is going to get much worse. I know that, but the little girl in me (yes, she is still there even if I am over 50) wants to scream and yell and pitch a royal fit screaming "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!! IT'S NOT FAIR!" I want people to step up to the plate and say, okay I screwed up - but I will cut back on the unnecessary stuff ($10.00 movie tickets, $5.00 coffee's), take my lunch to work (oh horrors!), and actually work to pay my debt.

I know, I know, some of you are saying, what if that person doesn't have a job - they lost their job due to the bad economy and they can't find another one. I realize that is the situation for some - but NOT the majority. But you know what - people are not going to take responsibility for what they have done. We as a society are so used to having someone else bail us out of our messes that we expect it. And the world is going to be bailed out again, but at what expense to our children's children???? I just hope and pray that those in charge know what they are doing, but I don't have much faith in that - I'm not blaming the Republicans or the Democrats - I'm blaming all of "us" who spent when they didn't have it and continue to allow others influence what they do.

My prayer is that whomever is our next President and those who are in the Senate and Congress can forget the 'party line' crap and do what is right for this country. We didn't elect them to sit up in Washington and sit on their a-- and make pretty speeches. Or to take money under the table for all the lobbyists. We elected them to represent "we the people" - I think many have forgotten that. Maybe what "we the people" need to do is to let those know what we want them to do instead of sitting on our A-- and crying "oh me! oh me!".

Okay, I'm going to get off my soap box now. One last word - please pray that those in 'charge' are lead by the Almighty in heaven and NOT by the dollar.

Until next time America!