I could give you a sob story about how my husband was laid off and we have trouble making it from month to month and blame the government. Or, I could tell you that my husband has started his own business and I nanny a couple days a week and we have put $10,000 into savings since April when he was laid off. But don't be deceived; we budget well and don't overspend. I do things like make my own laundry soap (www.savemoneytoday.net has the recipe for that and other household items) and eat at home. Our children wear clothes from garage sales and our home is modest. We also drive paid for cars. It seems to me that everyone crying about their house foreclosing (not that everyone does) fails to take personal responsibility that they chose to sign for a mortgage and take on that risk and in many cases their world had to go forward PERFECTLY for them to pay their monthly payment. Now we are mad at the government and looking at them to make everything "affordable" like they have a magic wand. I grew up learning that if you can't afford it you don't buy it and that you better have savings put away. BTW, it seems to me that Obama is catering to the mind set of pass the responsibilty to the government and how the heck he plans to pay for everything is in a dream. I think we need to grow up and quit trying to have our parents pay for everything or the government.