Entitlement: noun: belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges whether they deserve it or not.
People that don't make enough money: ENTITLED to being homeowners whether they can pay for it or not.
People with bad credit: ENTITLED to being homeowners even if they have a bad history with money.
John McCain: ENTITLED to a never-ending defense budget.
Bush and our wonderful Congress: ENTITLED to throw money (the U.S. does not have) at financial assets that are sinking giant financial institutions.
Big Banks: ENTITLED to survival even if they make terrible decisions that would sink smaller banks.
Illegal Immigrants: ENTITLED to the benefits of an American education for them and their children if they were fortunate enough to sneak into this country without getting caught.
Homeowners: ENTITLED to their homes increasing in value because they have leveraged so much debt against it even if they haven't sold their home yet.
American Auto Industry: ENTITLED to survival even if they produce inferior products.
American Commuters: ENTITLED to low gas prices, even in a system that encourages heavy consumption of gasoline and few alternatives.
If you cannot afford something, you can't have it. That applies to consumers, politicians, and business. Politicians on both sides are rushing to print $700 BILLION dollars to save our economy. I believe that this will absolutely kill the value of the American dollar; causing inflation that citizens my age have never seen. The rest of the world, including OPEC, will see how mismanaged the U.S. financial system is and will stop using the dollar as a standard for trade.
Our defense, our security, our technology and research, our education, our healthcare, and our influence in the world are only as strong as our economy.