Stimulating the economy

There has been a lot of discussion about how to "stimulate the economy" these days. K & I are shopping for a house. As patient renters, we have been waiting for this crash for a long, long time. I had no idea it would take the entire national economy with it...but would it really? There is mixed feeling about the housing and housing financing industries these days. Should my tax dollars bail out billion (maybe trillion) dollar companies who made bad bets on ARMs? Is that my fault that a consumer didn't read the fine print? Yet, a dishonest financier deserves to be punished and the market pushback could be just the consequence. We are shopping for short sales (homes in financial trouble but not yet foreclosed) and foreclosures. The banks that we are working with don't know which end is up -- incompetence, poor communication, misunderstanding the market, not knowing where Idaho is on the map -- makes it difficult to assist the people who ARE in trouble. I must note the exception of my lender, Idaho Independent Bank, who has been great to work with regarding financing.

A friend recently sent me a link to www.simplyliving.com . This site has a lot of super tips for simple living or voluntary simplicity. It also has a pretty big opinion regarding the stupidity of stimulating the economy with a "rebate". Hey, isn't that my money to start with? It states that if we take our rebate and by a collection of cheap goods made in China for WalHell (I mean, Mart) - whose economy are we stimulating? This is a good time to reiterate an important mantra - local, local, local!

Keep thinking about this. Keep asking questions. Keep looking for accountability.

Also, listen to this interview from Fresh Air.