[fabsroman]

Jack,

I love your post, but who is to blame? We have to blame somebody. Should we blame Saudi Arabia?

Honestly, if we don't develop alternative sources for energy other than oil, and develop them sometime soon, I think we will be going to war with China in the near future.

PBR,

I think you have been swayed a little too much by the Democrats. Voting based solely upon the economy is just as smart as voting based upon the 2nd Amendment. The Democrats want you to believe that they are the answer to the problem with the economy, but they aren't. The economy will rise and fall, and that is just how it goes. Today's reports show that the GDP of the nation actually increased in the first quarter of 2008. How about giving W. a pat on the back. We'll have to wait and see what future quarters return on GDP.

We just have a lot of stuff going on at the same time that is causing this huge headache.

By the way PBR, have you saved any money for a rainy day? If so, the economy really shouldn't be hurting you that much and you should be able to get through this adjustment period. If you are just buying your first house, I will assume that you are rather young. Now, wait until you have acquired some wealth that the government wants to take away from you.

Honestly, I think every American could have plenty of breathing room if they didn't fall for every ad on TV and want everything under the sun. We should all want more free time to spend with our family and out in the fields, and not more guns to look at in our safes while we spend all our time working for them. We should all want financial security instead of every material possession and vacation imaginable. Yes, I would love one of every gun and a vacation to every remote place in the world, but not at the expense of my financial security.

I cannot tell you the number of clients I have that have put nothing away for retirement, that have debt up the wazzoo, that continue to spend on material things, and that continue to take vacations like there is nothing to worry about. Me, I'm worried about what is going to happen to these people when they are 60, 70, 80. The current generation just does not know how to save money.

See, it is really hard for me to have any sympathy for people when they are crying about the economy but they have flat screen TV's hanging on the wall and new cars in the driveway, and I have plenty of clients like that.

The sad thing is that I don't really like any of the candidates that are running for President. We'll just have to see what the next President does for the nation.