We Have Lost Our Collective Minds

Last night I was driving home listening to NMLPR (National Muchly Liberal Public Radio). I heard of all the wonderful new spending projects that Pres-Elect Obama is going to put into motion the second he can. New roads!! New bridges! Electronic Medical Records! Shovel-ready projects that will put millions of people to work and inject much needed $$$ into the economy. No one mentions who is going to pay for all of these projects (aren't journalists s'posed to look at an issue in-depth?). 1/2 trillion dollars in new government spending (at least) on top of the 700 billion for the bailout. And not a peep about how to pay for it all. The not-so-secret deal is we are ALL going to pay for it in additional taxes. And our kids and grandkids are going to pay for it in future generations of debt.

They I heard that the city of Chicago has privatized their parking meters in a deal that will net the city a crazy amount of money to help their budget. Billions of dollars. Parking meters will immediately cost 4 times more-rising from $0.25 to $1 immediately. The catch? The city fathers had to sign a 75(!) year contract with the company that leased the meters. 75 years for a contract is INSANE.

We have lost our collective minds.

Have you noticed in this economic tsunami that NO ONE mentions sacrifice? We don't want to give up a thing in our cushy, cozy, comfortable way of life. And we certainly don't want our leaders to request this of us (God forbid, it's not the American way). We are spending ourselves into blissful oblivion. On a national and personal level, we love our stuff, and we going to pump our fists in the air, beat our breasts, and make sure that we get our "fair share." There will be no sacrifice required by our government to get the economy rolling again so we can feed the vast consumer machine.

Actually, there are some good signs. There are people out there preaching common sense (Dave Ramsey, etc.) about personal finance and living in your means and the amazing concept that you should not buy anything unless you have the $$$ for it. As a nation we are actually consuming less gas and spending less. And if we are honest many of us could afford to skip the extra Big Mac and shed a few pounds. It seems maybe some folks have figured out how to cut back and sacrifice a little after all. Despite the message sent out by members of the government: "we are going to take care of you, just let us spend more."

Your pal,
Barry