Face the facts, OK?

Times are tough. I thought I'd spread the news in case you have been hibernating for, oh, the last six months. (I'd say 8 years, but I think that's gotten across.)

The economy tanked. All over the world folks are thanking us, again, for leading the way. AIG guys got the first $$$$ and took a nice trip. Automakers flew (economy? nah!) to a meeting in DC to beg for cash. The NY financial bigwigs are taking bonuses and getting golden parachutes, with which they are bailing on the industry they have totally fucked over.

And who's paying the price? Oh, why, you and I, of course. But at this point it is all water under the bridge. What we need to do now is fortify that freaking dam so the next time there's a fiscal high-water problem, it doesn't spring a leak the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger (can't spell the name, not gonna try).

We're in for a tightening of the proverbial belt and I wish folks would just get over it.

Today's headlines here in the Big Old Apple are all about Governor Patterson being a "Grinch", asking for taxation of all those necessities - beer, music for our iPods, etc. C'mon. I'm a Bud Lite girl myself, but I'm fully prepared to have to pull a few extra bucks out of my wallet if I have to in order to enjoy my favorite beverage. Because times are uber tough and our State is in financial difficulty just like the rest of the country.

Sure, my Mom gets a Star tax exemption and those may well be a thing of the past. Not fun.

But we are a Democracy. We run on the wheels of taxpayers' money. That's how it has been, that's how it has always been. Have people forgotten this?

I heard someone say during the height of the bailout talks, "And they're going to use my tax dollars to pay for this!".

Well, shit, Sherlock, of course they are. JUST LIKE THEY USE YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO PAY FOR EVERY SINGLE THING!

From Bush's golf trips and Cheney's Halliburton buddies' windfalls to the war in Iraq and the contaminated FEMA trailers. We foot the bill for EVERYTHING.

So that is why you might want to consider this when casting your vote, whether it is for a local alderman, a DA, a State congressman or a Commander in Chief.
That's why the country bellied up to the voting booths this year and made it a CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN. Because it isn't just about your rights, it is about your wallet. Pick the guy you believe will spend YOUR MONEY wisely.

But for now we have to bite the bullet and pull ourselves out of the muck, we're gonna have to pay for the cleaners ourselves. Just like always.

So stop whining. If we want social services, if we want our State operation to keep running, so our lives can be as normal as possible, and so that our fellow citizens suffer as little as possible, we're gonna have to just deal.

And then remember it when the next group starts getting too rich, too quick, and we aren't seeing the benefits trickling anywhere but up.

No one paid attention when the going was good and now that it's gotten tough, everyone's placing the blame.

Pay attention from here on out and maybe it won't hurt so much next time.