New rules and regulations are necessary to provide better safeguards that more accurately reflect the changing "road and weather conditions" of our economic environment. However, as the pendulum of ethical behavior swings back and forth through time, well-founded rules and regulations are only as good as their level of enforcement.

Had there not been such a significant breakdown in the ethical standard of enforcing the rules and regulations that have been on the books for some time, "crisis" would not be the dominant word used to describe our current economic situation.

When we get behind the wheel of a car, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to drive their vehicle in such a manner that maintains safety for themselves and others, regardless of what the road and weather conditions may be -- or we pay the price.

Through Core Asset Conservation, the individual takes back control and ownership of their future. By taking the initiative to reduce the level of risks associated with one's core assets, the individual is in a much stronger position to keep themselves and their families in step with the unalterable cycles and milestones of life, regardless of what a changing economic environment may put before them.

Ultimately, ethical systems that stand the test of time are built, maintained and sustained by a preponderance of ethical individuals... a simple fact of life.

"...banks repaying their TARP loans. It's another indicator the banking system is on the road to recovery -- or at least in better shape than this time last year. Of course, that's thanks to Treasury programs [funded by American taxpayers] like TARP and dozens of other Fed programs [which propped up the "Too-Big-To-Fail" banks to the tune of 10 trillion dollars, while at one point Americans had lost 14 trillion in household income] that kept the money flowing when bankers closed their taps [to the little guy.]

We've left our small and mid-sized businesses behind [that employ 80% of our workforce]; and we've left our American people behind... This does not an economy make.

President Obama is trying to nudge banks in the right direction, at least on the surface:

-Make more loans to small and medium-size businesses.
-Increase modifications of underwater mortgages.
-Bring executive compensation under control.
-Give more support to legislation overhauling financial regulation."

"The additional 30,000 troops for Afghanistan will cost an additional $30 billion per year, or roughly $1 million per soldier per year. (It's an extraordinary sum especially considering how relatively little enlisted soldiers are paid; meanwhile, private contractors in Afghanistan now outnumber U.S. forces, The WSJ reports.)"

The point is made with all due respect: Military recruitment has gone up as unemployment has risen. Is this the best type of job opportunity we have to offer our young people?

or "The United States of Wussess"? Read on...

As indicated in my previous post, in its struggle to get back to reality, Japan has finally brought in a new breed of politician who is actually delivering on the campaign promise of bringing real transparency to how government spends the peoples' money.

In the following link Howard Davidowitz lays out how our current problems (artificially low interest rates and a bailout culture, to name a few) are similar to those that have dogged Japan for two decades.

In their search for answers, the Japanese sought advice, no less, from the same guy who now has our president's ear, Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, and he's been singing a different tune recently.

Is it overly optimistic to think that maybe we can learn from the experience of others and not take the same long, hard road back to recovery?