I'm no expert, but isn't this common sense?

First issue:
I don't pretend to have any deep understanding of economics, but I know I need to make sure the money in my checkbook is enough to pay the bills every month if I want to stay out of debt. And I know that debt is an albatross. Millions of people learn that lesson when they get themselves buried in monthly 18-29% credit card charges for the junk they just can't live without. Hey! Go to the thrift store and only buy what you really need.

Now, why can't the U.S. learn that lesson? How can the men and women in Congress who are supposedly intelligent understand that deficit spending is irresponsible (not to say immoral - burdening our children and grandchildren with our debt). At some point you have to pay the piper. I'm not sure what the outcome of all the bank failings will be, but I do know as a parent that if you constantly bail your kids out of problems, they never learn anything from their bad or stupid behavior. The government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac makes every taxpayer in the U.S. the fall guy for their bad loans -- to the tune of billions of dollars. Now that the government has taken on all those debts, WE OWE IT ALL. The government doesn't have any money except what it takes out of our pockets. So, face it folks, we are shafted again.

And why should taxpayers be penalized because the banks made bad loans? People like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Chuck Schumer should be held to account for pushing policies that penalized financial institutions for not making bad loans and pressured them to meet quotas on loans to the poor who couldn't afford them. No one has a "right" to a house and there's no shame in renting. The way to get a house is to work and save and buy small when you can afford it without jeopardizing your next meal.

The best thing that taxpayers can do at this point is to get out of personal debt. Cut up your credit cards, pay them off, and buy with cash. If you can't pay for it, go without. We all have too much stuff in our lives anyway.

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Second point:
I can't claim to have any expertise on foreign affairs either, but I'm furious about the plan to put nuclear missiles in Poland. Using the recent Russia/Georgia conflict as an excuse is baloney. Georgia provoked Russia. Why would anyone be surprised at her response? Was it too much? Maybe. But it is no excuse to renew the cold war.

Maybe it's time to review our own history. Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? We didn't want all those nukes aimed at us from an island not that far from our coast. And we demanded the Soviets remove them. Do we really expect Russia not to oppose nukes pointing at her? Look at a world map. It's about 700 miles from Warsaw to Moscow. How would you feel if you lived in Albuquerque and New Orleans had nukes pointed in your direction? That's an 1100 mile distance.

Seems to me the golden rule applies here. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. We demanded the Soviet Union pull the nukes out of Cuba. We should do the same with regard to nukes in Eastern Europe. It's reasonable not to engage in provocative moves that escalate hostilities with Russia and other countries. Let's stop acting like the biggest bully on the block.

Sometimes I think our leaders are like little children rattling their sabres in their war games. (Maybe they all spend too much time playing World of Warcraft.) It ain't a game, folks. We need to demand that our leaders act like grownups instead of moving us closer to World War III. Besides war is expensive and we can't afford any more of it.