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We've all heard the cliché "time is money" a thousand times and we all recognize, perhaps, that time and money have an inseparable relationship when it comes to calculating how much it really costs to meet future goals and objectives.

Given the present financial condition of the United States, however, it appears that Uncle Sam is having a tough time with this concept. Apparently, he believes that (a) he has all the time in the world to turn the economy around, or (b) he has so much money that it doesn't make any difference how long it takes to get the country's finances under control.

Unfortunately, neither is true.

In fact, every single day that goes by is now costing America $3.5 billion dollars (the current, daily amount of deficit spending) that it does not have; as the national debt has just climbed over $11.5 trillion (over $37,000 for every man, women, and child).

It now appears that Congress is going to solve the problem by staying in a perpetual state of denial and just keep believing that the priority objectives in government are self-preservation, power, and control. After all, the financial decisions they are now making for the rest of us don't seem to really have much of an impact on them. As usual, all the members of Congress got their annual cost of living raise this year and, last I heard, they all still have a pretty good benefits package.

Meanwhile, the ship is sinking fast and hundreds of thousands of folks around the country have already drowned or are treading water with no life-preservers available.

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual