You Can't Handle the Truth

Could we handle being told not only how bad things are, but how bad they could get? Really, do you think so? I don't.

As a nation, we complain that things aren't better yet. That too much has already been spent. That the President was talking too negatively about the future of the economy. We were not feeling good. Guess what, we shouldn't. We, the people of the United States, have been borrowing too much to be able to spend too much. Plain and simple, that is why we are where we are.

The Chris Matthews Show asked and attempted to answer several very important questions this weekend.

- What is wrong?
- Was the Stimulus Package large enough or will we need more
- When will the Economy turn around

Erin Burnett gave the spot on answer on what is wrong. We, (the royal we) borrowed too much money. We bought more that we could handle and now we have to pay it back. It will get worse and we are not prepared to hear that, so it isn't being said because in this case the truth would not set us free, it would have us running for the exits.

As I posted a while back there is very likely to to be another stimulus bill. However, it may not be called that. They are going to see how things transpire before they decide, if, what and how much.

Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said this week that the economy would start rebounding before the end of 2009 and be in full recovery in 2010. That is slightly optimistic, but it appears we will be able to point to one or more signs of a recovery before we wish each other a Happy New Year. The timing of when people 'FEEL' that we are in a recovery will determine the outcome of the 2010 elections. When James Carville selected the phrase, "it's the economy stupid" as the Clinton campaign rallying cry in 1992, it wasn't just for that moment in time.

Erin Burnett further shared that a Chinese CEO she spoke with said the world loves the American entrepreneurial spirit and "We need you to pull your socks up because the rest of the world is looking to you." Reports earlier this week that the Chinese were cautious about future investments in the US are almost certainly not predictive of future action. They really need us to succeed and will hang in for a long time because they don't have many great second options.

Also demonstrating that they can't handle the truth are members of the former Bush Administration, in particular, Dick Cheney. Although during the Obama Inaugural, he appeared to be doing his "Old Man Potter" impersonation, Dick Cheney is really an old-style Tuna fisherman. He strongly believes that all actions are justified to accomplish the goals of the mission. If some dolphins get caught in the nets while enroute to achieving their goals, so be it. That is the cost of business, just as long as the price isn't paid at home. This weekend on CNN's State of the Union, Cheney castigated Obama for ordering CIA investigators to abide by the U.S. Army Field Manual's regulations for treatment of detainees and for denouncing waterboarding, saying that he thought e thought Obama has made Americans less safe with those actions. Dick Cheney has been speaking his mind on several news outlets recently trying to spin luster onto the Bush Administration's legacy by tarnishing the activities of the Obama administration. I have visions of Ed McMahon and Doc Severson going on the Letterman Show and trashing Jay Leno shortly after he took over the Tonight Show.