Something has got to give!

$4.8 Billion Budget Deficit for the State of Minnesota.

$700 billion bank bailout that may now cost $4 Trillion!
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/27/news/bigger.bailout.fortune/

Proposed $825 billion economic Stimulus Package.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama_economy

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to get a little worried. Can we actually print that much money?

Right now, most policy makers are pouring through the 258 page Federal economic stimulus bill to identify the line-item that applies to them. President Obama is driving his ice-cream truck around Capital Hill looking to pass a MASSIVE bill that has no remote relation to the "Pay-go" pledge of just 3 years ago. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/04/nation/na-taxes4

The size of these dollars and the long-term implications are too large for most of us to comprehend. It is way too easy to be infatuated by the size of the cut to each of our pet programs and focus on how to preserve our turf. We probably should be talking about what is going to happen after the ice-cream sugar high wears off.

I realized the magnitude of this issue tonight when a well respected business owner explained his gold investment strategy. As he explained it, gold is the fall back when a currency collapses. In fact, recommendations now are to invest in gold coins, not bullion -- to avoid a great-depression like repeat of government confiscation.
http://www.blanchardonline.com/beru/beru.php?article=255&title=Gold_Confiscation_-_What_Do_We_Really_Think?

This business owner justified his move by citing age and paranoia. I wonder whether it may be age and wisdom?

I am certainly not an alarmist and continue to keep my money in the stock market. Yet, the fact that I cannot get my arms around the magnitude of this problem concerns me. My instincts tell me that spending large amounts of money that we do not have is a bad thing.

At some point, something has got to give. When it does, our infatuation with individual turf issues will likely feel embarrassing. I fear reality may not win the day.