July 6th, 2008

"Go ahead, make my day." Sudden Impact, 1983

It's the 4th of July weekend and I'm getting pretty darn mad at the 535 Cowards in Congress.  We Americans are willing to follow leaders who look out for us and the country but are tired to the bone of the Dolts in DC who spend most of their time and much of our money trying to damage the opposition and get themselves re-elected.

Gas prices are going through the roof.  Food from afar - and every other item that arrives in a truck, plane, train, or automobile - is going up because gas prices are going up.  Iran is threatening to squeeze the supply routes and put severe economic pressure on the world.  Saudi Arabia refuses to increase production.  Hugo Chavez is a fruitcake in a bowling shirt and wants nothing more than to prove that socialism is somehow better than democracy, state run everything is better than liberty and watching America suffer is better than TV.

The world - not just America - runs on oil.  America currently consumes more oil per-capita - than any other country, but that is rapidly changing.  China and India are increasingly demanding more oil and putting serious pressure on the supply and demand equation.  Europe wants to become the dominant economic power in the world and needs an ever-increasing supply of oil to do that.  Developing countries want and need more oil to build their economies.

So, here are the oil producing countries staring down America and Americans - and the rest of the world too - and threatening us with subtle and not so subtle "Make my day" threats while Congress debates and discusses what the rest of the world has proven;

• nuclear energy works safely,
• deep water drilling is economical and safe (Katrina proved that),
• shale oil is extractable economically and ecologically,
• ANWAR can be explored and could produce enough oil to take care of America for the decades it needs to develop alternatives that are less invasive - and fund the salvation of the polar bears in the process if that's truly needed
• and, finally, if we have leaders with the will, America will rise to the occasion and become the world's leader in those alternative forms of energy

What does all that mean for us?  American's are going to suffer economic hardship in the short term because of the inaction and ineffectiveness of the Cowards in Congress.  This problem's been with us since the 1970's and the Dolts in DC could have solved it ten times over if they had the courage to do so.

There's darn little that individuals can do about it in their personal economies other than adopt a conservative financial strategy that cuts back on

• consumer goods spending for cars, furniture, and luxuries
• and puts

• saving money
• buying a house
• paying off the mortgage

at the top of the list, while other costly practices like

•·       investing in maybe-it'll-grow mutual funds,

•·       the latest "Whatever 101″ miracle money making scheme,

•·       can't-lose annuities that tie up your money for years, if not decades,

move to the dustbin.

Remember, when times get rough you need ready cash money and not the maybe-money from investments that guarantee only that they guarantee nothing.

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www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

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