Let the Bad Times Roll

Earlier this evening, my Blackberry buzzed with a new e-mail. "News Alert: Leaders in Congress Agree on Auto Bailout Plan." I presume the primary vote will be on short-term loans totaling billions of dollars accompanied by the dozens of provisions we've been expecting. No golden parachutes. No private jets. I find it so interesting that while GM has been struggling with steeply declining sales and increased costs, it's somehow found the money to contribute millions to fund a particular campaign leading up to month's election. That same month, execs at each of the 'Big 3' stepped off private jets and onto the tarmac at Washington-Dulles. Following intense questioning and a substantial amount of ridicule, these same execs arrived weeks later from Motor City U.S.A. in each of their brand's finest hybrid vehicles. That'll show 'em what we're thinking, ay guys?

It is impossible to not address the desperate realities we face in this terribly painful economic climate. Let's face it, more and more people are having a real difficult time getting by out there these days. To grasp the current "mess," however, requires a backwards journey. How did previous economic downturns affect Americans, from the poor to the rich? Will history repeat itself? If so, what does history demonstrate as an appropriate timetable for things to turn around? If you ask me, the current recession is nothing short of a "perfect storm." A blatant lack of adequate scrutiny and financial oversight coupled with greed and the bundling of risky mortgages into securities to be sold on Wall Street has been stirring in the proverbial clouds above us for years. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the many consequences you'll be getting to know quite well until we stop swimming against the current.

Economists, lawmakers, and brokers in our financial and housing markets have spent much of the past few years in a deep denial. Ladies and gentlemen of the United States of America---welcome to your day of reckoning!