More Stimulating Talk

I'm sure you've all caught some media focusing on the government stimulus package. You may agree or disagree. Whatever.

But today I'd like to discuss what, in my humble opinion, MUST happen for this credit/deficit/recession crunch to end and remedy itself.

I get the feeling that politicians want to restore our finances and consumer confidence to the level of the late 90's and post-9/11. It was a time ANYONE could go out, purchase whatever they wanted at 0% APR for 36-48 months. I played into the sex appeal. Weekend after weekend, Kate and I would go to Nebraska Furniture, Lowes, Home Depot, Dillards, and we bought new washers and dryers, 2 couches, a nice living room chair, an entry table, a dinning room table, etc etc etc. We fortunately paid it all off. But a lot of folks didn't. Obviously.

The fault was in the thinking. Remember back to post-9/11 Bush administration. They urged everyone to go buy. Credit was flowing, consumer purchasing was sky-rocketing, home ownership boomed, and we recovered what could have been a devastating blow on 9/11 in less than 6 weeks.

But it was all fake.

We bought what we had no business buying. We loaned what we couldn't get back. Homes we're sold to folks that would never be able to "live" in them. And thus, foreclosures rose, credit lenders stopped lending, and we found ourselves in the meltdown we're in now.

So to simply make credit easy again, plays into the short-term mindset of the Bush admin, and sets us up for long-term failure again. However, to save and become thrifty again as a nation, means that the recession lasts longer.

But...over time, if we become a nation of value and thrift again, won't prices, businesses, credit lenders, home prices, banks, and the like eventually come full circle and even out? To find myself in debt, it doesn't really make sense to start spending like i've never spent before. But that's exactly what the government has done, and is doing now at an alarming rate. nearly 2 trillion in government spending. This is fake money folks. Since January and the inaguration of this stimulus package, the stock market have fallen over 25%. Every time someone from the administration goes live on TV to discuss the stimulus plans, the stocks react negative - between 150 and 400 points FALLING each time. It should be a sign that the people are privy to what's going on and how things work.

So, how's this going to end?

You tell me.

-Ross