Coach, you wrote:

"I think things around here are going to be very discouraging for a while since a downgrade in the standard of living is the only possible outcome now that we have blown the wealth of our nation and spent the last of the rainy day money to bail out crooks and failed institutions. You cannot have an entire nation of people that are lazy, spending beyond their means, with a sense of entitlement, and complete ignorance on where money comes from and how wealth is created. The system has gone off the rails and those who count on the government to make it all good again are going to have one hell of a nasty wakeup call coming." (Emphasis added)

Coach, I think you have articulated well the root cause of the problems in the US (I don't know enough about the rest of the world to comment). However, I think ranting regarding a guy who's been President about one half year is misplaced. When the nation gets to the point you describe above, that trend is going to continue to tear at the economy for years, even after reality has hit hard. I agree with Hobbers post regarding the bailout (where he makes two points). I'm sure bailing out those who were so instrumental in bringing us down was something Obama hated doing, as much as many of us hated seeing, but I think it was presented to him as the only option with any chance of working.

As far as Obama being even worse than Bush... that reminds me of the old joke Bob Hope used to tell, which I'm sure most of you remember, "After about 15 holes of a terrible round, I turned to my caddy and said, 'you have got to the worst caddy in the world,' and the caddy turned to me and replied, 'oh, no, sir, that would be too much of a coincidence.'"