Money Matters

OK, money isn't everything, and it can't buy you love. But it does make the world go round. Especially the first world. Especially our world.

And it seems some rather oceanic trends are starting to emerge these past few months. The tide is turning. If it's just the Moon's gravity, it'll just be a recession. If it's a tsunami or a hurricane, we'll have a full-blown DEpression on our hands.

Now some, who were rich enough to get some serious tax breaks can afford to weather the storm, but a lot of us - more than ever before EVER, it seems - are ripe for going under, even if it's just a tropical depression and doesn't even rank as a storm.

It's been reported this week that American's are failing to keep up with their credit card debts at record levels, defaulting on payments. The spending spree continues - and is even encouraged by the feds and the prez - but the load is loading up, and it could soon spill over the levees, which, as we know, have needed some major fixes for a long time.

The sea level of debt in this country has been rising right along with the temperatures around here - and the waves along the coast. So we've been needing to redesign, raise and strengthen those levees for quite a while. Having our piddling savings accounts insured by the FDIC is just not enough to keep up afloat and out of harm's way. And we've got record national debts piled on top of all those personal debts, so it's not like our credit is really top notch on any level.

Consumer spending took a "surprising" drop in August, and consumer confidence is lower than it's been in several years at least. So isn't pulling out a credit card (or accepting another credit card offer in the mail) a bit like fiddling while Rome burns? Or the Gulf Coast sinks?

Party on, patriots, 'til your tank runs dry - or you lose the mortgage on your house (or have to "downsize") just trying to keep your tank full.

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