I continue to be amazed at the direction of President Obama's stimulus bill . . . and the twists and turns of the economy regardless of Washington's attempts to direct and control it.

In Georgia, I read the headline, "Construction on first Georgia stimulus transportation project to begin"

And read how proud Governor Purdue is to spend $940,000 resurfacing four miles of U.S. Highway 19/State Route 3 "to create and sustain jobs".

They're going to need those jobs in Cobb County, where the property tax website reports that taxes are going up on homes due to the loss of the homestead exemption . . .

The 'Governor's Tax Credit' for homestead property was NOT funded by the State legislature for 2009 which will result in an increase on your 2009 tax bill between $77.04 and $228.24 (depending on other exemptions you have or whether your Property is located within the city limits).  You can determine the exact amount your tax bill will increase in 2009 on this web site by locating the 'Homeowners Tax Credit' amount deducted on your 2008 tax bill.  If your taxes are paid from an escrow account through your mortgage lender, you may want to notify them so the escrow payment amount can be adjusted accordingly. [emphasis mine]

That's in addition to whatever your income taxes will go up after the Stimulus bill pays $3,000 for each mortgage loan modification done by a lender in this country, and the bailout billions, and the interest on all that stimulation.  God knows I don't have a calculator to figure that math.

I can calculate the amount of irony involved and estimate the anger when all those people who want the government to take care of everything learn that the government takes care of everything with money it takes from everyone.

The level of complacency in this country continues to astonish me as I everyone around me just wants to maintain the status quo, except of course those of us who've already lost it and are attempting to rebuild in a world we don't recognize.  I was Chicken Little in August of '07, when I wrote Sub-prime Meltdown?  What about My Meltdown? on Active Rain, and closed with this remark.

So now it is My meltdown. I don't worry about my job anymore, or even about my industry. . . Now I'm worried about my country.

I don't know that I have better info than those in Washington, or more brainpower, but I do believe

• You aren't too big to fail, and that includes countries as well as companies
• If you do bad business, it should put you out of business
• We are being dragged into a socialistic environment, and there aren't enough people kicking and screaming about it.

There's a poignancy about this "faded" glory image that strikes me as particularly relevant now.

In Obama's fourth of July speech, he urged Americans to to tackle health care reform, foreign oil, the school system, and fix the economy."That is the spirit we are called to show once more," Obama said Saturday. "We are facing an array of challenges on a scale unseen in our time."

Really?  How newsworthy.