We've gotta give government credit

Credit.

It seems like such a boon to some people, so they live beyond their means.

Instead of saving and getting ahead, they find themselves "behind the 8-ball" - in trouble financially. Unhappily, the situation is not confined to just misguided individuals. It includes huge portions of the country's citizens and even the government itself.

After years of unwise spending and borrowing, the people, businesses concerns and our United States government each find themselves in serious economic trouble.

How foolish! Wise leaders over the years have warned of this including such men as Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin and others. Simple common sense should tell any halfway intelligent person that you cannot get yourself out of debt by borrowing more, piling debt upon debt upon debt.

I have heard it said on news reports that the average American is some $20,000 in debt, a large part of it with credit card companies offering fees that are usury. They promise people low rates then, if they miss a payment or it arrives even a single day after the due date, they demand penalties and raise the interest to usurious rates, sometimes as high as 30 percent.

Loans on houses have been foreclosed, depriving people of their homes. Big, solid businesses have gone bankrupt and closed down along with all of the jobs they once provided. Job opportunities are almost nonexistent. Banks closed and then were bailed out by the government. But anything the government gives, it must first take away.

People are scared of a pending depression as the economy deteriorates because everyone tried to live beyond their means on other peoples' money.

I don't have a credit card. I don't even want one. I do have relative peace of mind, but I still fear for my country in this collapsing economy.