John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today’s commentary—

This is Christmas – a time to be thankful for our blessings, to celebrate the birth of Christ. With our nation’s economy struggling to recover, families finding it hard to make ends meet, and unemployment in double digits, it is hard to get in the spirit.

However, all we have to do is turn on the TV and view the horrendous suffering in other corners of the world and realize that we aren’t so bad off. Let’s reflect for a moment. The main reason we face these hard times is that we went way over the top in spending to live beyond our means. We thought the gravy train would never end.

It looks to me like we have learned a lesson. Credit card debt is being paid down. Individual saving is on the rise. Shoppers are looking for bargains instead of just buying to satisfy every whim. Farmers and businessmen are doing the same, shopping for the best seed and fertilizer deals for next year’s crop.

We knew we could get by with less. We have too much stuff that we don’t need anyway.

Hats off to the new frugal, thrifty individual, but what about our government? Somehow I don’t think the politicians got the word. They are still spending money like there’s no tomorrow. We are programmed to spend a trillion dollars more than we take in each year as far as the eye can see. The 2009 deficit was almost triple what it was in 2008. You would think that our Congress and President would be putting the brakes on, but no. They have their foot on the accelerator.

The spending bills being rammed through the Congress are loaded with billions of dollars of pork. They want to spend TARP money to stimulate the economy. They want costly new programs, including healthcare and cap and trade. We are already deep in debt to other countries like China. China is our banker. We better hope China doesn’t decide to foreclose.

I think as individuals we are doing just the right thing to recover, but our government is out of control.

Merry Christmas – and I am John Block from Washington, D.C.