Another Round....? Probably not such a hot idea.

Linked article from Reason.com is pretty straight forward common sense for most Americans. But a flagging economy in an election year is not exactly the formula for sober thought.

Rising gas prices combined with an evaporation of equity in our homes has resulted in a massive loss of personal wealth for Americans and Americans being who we are, aren’t dealing well with the resulting decline in our standard of living.

When the economy contracts, the government may use sound monetary and fiscal policy to help revive growth. But when wealth goes up in smoke, the government can't necessarily bring it back. If it tries, the effect is likely to resemble what happens when you give a recovering alcoholic a drink: deceptively pleasant at first, but ultimately calamitous.

Again, this is an election year so the following advice is not exactly what we want to hear…

When you have a loss of wealth, the best way to cope is to accept it and adapt to a lower standard of living, sooner rather than later. Sending out rebates, eliminating gas taxes, bailing out homeowners and accelerating monetary growth, among the proposed remedies, do exactly the opposite. They spare us the obligation of dealing with reality by making us feel richer so we can keep on as we were before.

In the long run, we will adapt to the new realities, the economic impact will moderate, and the pain will fade. Till then, our least destructive option is to do something no politician would dare suggest: Suck it up.

Belly-up to the bar, boys!