Waking Up On Monday-To Owe Billions More

a whkp Editorial Commentary

Monday, September 30, 2008

fINALLY, IN OUR NEWS TODAY...JUST A FEW THOUGHTS ON ALL THOSE BILLIONS.....THAT'S BILLIONS WITH A "b"...WE AND GENERATIONS TO COME ARE ABOUT TO OWE, TO PAY FOR THE GREED, THE MIS-MANAGEMENT, THE DECEIT, THE INCOMPETENCE, THE THIEVERY AND CRIMINALITY OF THOSE WHO HAVE JEOPARDIZED THE VERY FINANCIAL FIBER OF OUR NATION...WHETHER THEY BE ILL-ADVISED BORROWERS, CROOKED MONEY LENDERS, OR SELF-SERVING POLITICIANS.  aND ABOUT OUR LEADERS, ELECTED AND APPOINTED, SUPPOSEDLY THE GUARDIANS OF OUR TREASURY, WHO WERE SMILING ALL OVER THE PAGES OF YESTERDAY'S NEWSPAPERS AT THE "DEAL" THEY'D MADE...THE VERY LEADErS, FROM THE PRESIDENT ON DOWN, WHO WERE AT best, asleep at the switch...or who at worst, with a wink and a nod, allowed our nation to be brought to the brink of bankruptcy to satisfy the greed and self-interests of a few.  yep...they were smiling in yesterday's papers...at the additional billions we working taxpayers are about to owe.  that's us working taxpayers who spent at least part of our weekend sitting in gas lines...for gas that was incompetently, wastefully, or purposely in short supply...and to pay for it at what most of us believe are artifically, criminally inflated record high prices.

and now...thanks to wall street, where they applaud every morning at the opening bell....and to washington politicians who smile from ear to ear in the sunday papers...we working taxpayers, and those after us, are about to go to work on this monday..owing billions more.  again, that's billions with a "B".

a billion is really more than most of us can conceive.  for example...if a billion kids stood on top of each other and made a human tower, they would stand up past the moon.  if you sat down to count from one to one billion, you'd be counting for 95 years.  a billion seconds ago, folks were driving brand new edsels in 1959.  a billion minutes ago, jesus was alive.  a billion hours ago, our ancestors were still living in caves in the stone age.  multiply all that by 700...put a dollar sign in front of it...add it to what our nation already owes....and that's what we, and our great, great, great grandchildren are about to be going to work every day owing..owing to the communist chinese to the oil sheiks, to countries that make their money off narcotics and drugs, or to any other party willing to loan us (the u.s.) money to finance what we owe...to make a few...sinfully wealthy.  yep...the politicians were smiling in yesterday's newspapers.

the only good news here is that we're not talking about trillions...that's trillions with a "T".  at least not yet.  we suspect though that's what this so-called "bailout" will amount to before it's over.  if you wrote "one trillion", you'd be writing with 12 zeroes.  if you pronounced every syllable properly, and counted to a trillion, it'd take you over 190,000 years.

just think how much less time...it takes those we elect to spend billions...and trillions....and to find time to smile for the sunday papers while they do it!  we hope you vote...and vote thoughtfully in november.....and on every election day.