We have only one real choice and that is to grow ourselves out of this mess. We were doing OK just 12 years ago. If we can just reverse the actions of 2001 through 2008 we will fix our selves in a decade,
America is not broke. This crisis is a manufactured crisis brought about by the worst possible motives.
You're right about one thing. This crisis is a "manufactured" crisis. It was manufactured by a bunch of ignorant politicians, from both sides of the aisle, over a period of many decades, with plenty of blame to go around for not regulating the profiteers and other scum on Wall Street, and for spending money like drunken sailors for decades.
What you are wrong about is your belief that America is NOT broke. This country is not only broke..........40% of tax revenues are used to pay the interest on our national debt, and nearly every state in this country is teetering on insolvency!
The budget deficit is not smoke and mirrors. It is real. The national debt is not smoke and mirrors. It is real. The devaluation of the U.S. dollar is not some joke. It is going to happen. The U.S. stock market IS going to crash, and crash hard. The U.S. economy IS much worse than the skewed and worthless U.S. government statistics would have us believe.
Everybody needs to stop pointing fingers and assigning blame. The Democrats AND the Republicans are big spenders and colossal WASTERS of revenue. It is always easy to spend somebody else's money, and none of the powerbrokers in D.C. have shown ANY sign of fiscal responsibility.
If we, as individuals, took care of our own household finances the way the various levels of government (local, state, and federal) take care of their finances, we would all be standing in line at bankruptcy court.
WHY should we allow the politicians to RUIN this country, and RUIN our own lives, by being irresponsible and by lying to all of us in every way possible?
Everybody has their own beliefs. Openmind, ProudLefty, PFOS, Stalin, clarkatticus, and a few others do a good job of presenting the "left" point of view. Myself, Rick, Dr. Who, BigRob, Little Acorn, and others too numerous to mention do a good job of presenting the "right" point of view.
Nobody in here is "stupid". Everybody in here is passionate about their beliefs (sometimes too passionate). In the end, we are all in the same boat, and that boat is the "TITANIC II".
It's time for EVERYBODY in here to wake up. Everybody needs to snap out of their partisan political trance, and take a look at what is going to happen to your livelihoods and your retirement accounts in the near future. Everybody needs to PREPARE for what will surely happen. Period.