Because, it’s like, totally unAmerican to work for what you want.
Commentary/analysis here.
34 Replies to “American Consumer Debt (Credit Card debt, etc.) Now 20% GDP, Up from 4% in 1947”
A culture of entitlement?
Now that’s not counting my mortgage that I can’t pay because I’m unemployed is it?
How much of that credit card debt has also been packaged up in collateralized debt obligations that were once rated AAA? That would truly connect to the Obamanation culture of entitlement.
So how does this compare to governmentdebt/deficit charts? On both sides of the border would also be interesting. I believe people don’t follow the “do as I say, not as I do” words of wisdom from their political leaders. It’s a mad case of keeping up with the Jones’.
If you look closely at that graf 1993 was the beginning of the major up trend since 1965.What happened? Bill Clinton negotiated changes to the community development act spawned by Carter in 1997 that led to the housing bubble which has destroyed our economy today.So much for lending money to people who don’t have the ability to pay you back.I am dumfounded we as a world economy could have been so short sighted and stupid!
lol to adriansmits. Did you also notice that in 2000, there was an upshift of equal magnitude? Do you know what happened? George Bush came to power! Gasp! Obviously its all his fault since we know that correlation implies causation? /sarcasm Get a grip.
What blows my mind about this chart is that this is consumer debt…this doesn’t include public debt. As a percentage of GDP, total American debt must be hovering around 100%. At least its not as bad as Japans public debt which sits near 200%.
Oh yes, Clinton is responsible for everything! And two terms of a Republican prez and the Republican Congress of Clinton and Bush years – they fixed everything so we’re in great shape now…
People – isn’t this about taking responsibility? Or is the game all about blaming the folk we don’t like because that is sooo much more fun?
In the age of flash and glitz, how do we promote values?
Truth be told, the problem is fiat money. As soon as the gold standard was abandoned, gov’ts could print as much money as they wanted. As people watched their savings being eroded by inflation, there was no reason to save. It was better to spend & stay on the same side as the government – stay in debt & pay off in inflated $$ later.
The final solution is a currency that cannot be debased. Wait and see.
Not this redneck bride.
We have exactly one credit card. It hasn’t been used in so long, I don’t even know if it is still active. I made the move to “cash only” about 20 years ago and have never looked back. My husband and I have made economizing a sort of game. Each week, we are both given our “allowance” — lunches, fuel, pocket money. At the end of the week, whatever is left from those funds goes into a jar for our entertainment expenses (dining out, movies, trips, etc.). We live well, but it is all budgeted carefully each month. When a pool of dollars is gone, it is gone and that is that. Paramount in making our budget work is that we save before we play. Savings deposits are budgeted just as prominently as household expenses. If more Americans could learn to live similarly, they could afford their homes, wouldn’t have thousands of dollars in credit card debt (I wouldn’t even be able to sleep at night!!), and would appreciate the luxuries they do have rather than covet those which they do not.
No sense of entitlement here. We have earned our luxuries. And they are paid for in full. My portion of the bailout *gag* *wretch* can go to someone less responsible…
Folks your not paying attention.I said We as a world economy.Just because some leftards made some dumb legislative moves it doesn’t mean the rest aren’t culpable.Bush tried to push through legislation to reign in fannie and freddie a number of times for the last 8 years but He failed so a pox on His house as well!Let’s stop pointing fingers and fix the problem.
Posted by: Lisa at October 17, 2008 3:18 PM
Well spoken Lisa. People get sucked into debt everyday. It is up to them to say no!.
I stumbled on this blog that has daily insights into all things economic, especially things not well reported in the MSM. http://mjperry.blogspot.com/
I myself have a credit card but I don’t ever carry a balance on it…I just like getting my 1% cashback at the end of the year on all my purchases 🙂
I agree about the gold standard Rosco, but my question then becomes why did we start using fiat money in the first place? I assume it was to make capital much more easily available than it was back in 46 – 72 or however long the Breton Woods system was in, and to manage deflation by allowing a floating currency rather than a nations wealth rising and falling with the price of gold. However as governments start destroying our wealth through issuing more money, I’m sure more people will like to move away from fiat currency.
I grew up with “buy now, pay later”, but rejected the idea when I discovered that “later” you paid much more.
Now we have “buy now, don’t pay at all”.
Wait until the suckers find out just how much this is going to cost them.
Gee – that looks like a global warming (err… climate change) graph!
Does anyone know how Canadians compare? Or other Western nations?
Don’t worry about the household debt in America….
Take a look at Canada where combined personal debt is now double the national debt of the Canadian government…
Canadians owe one trillion dollars, and now that their home equity is disappearing and their RRSP’s are worth about half of what they were a year ago…
Everyone got suckered and the worst is yet to come….
Another myth that has yet to die on both sides of the border is that we are all entitled to retire at age 55, despite the fact that life expectancies are increasing thereby putting tremendous pressure on the financial viability of many pension plans.
These pension obligations are threatening to sink a number of private firms and governments as it is, and will only get worse in the future.
This may be the next shoe to drop.
adriansmits: you might understand those drops and rises a bit more if (1) you compared this chart to the economy at the time (surprise surprise, consumer spending goes down in a recessiona and up as soon as it is done) and (2) you took your partisan blinders off and your head out of your a–.
So long as the world financial system continues to treat debt as capital, against which loans can be made, this insane rush to accumulating more debt will continue. Until such time as debt, or at least a large percentage of it, is recorded on the books as a liability rather than cash in hand, the system encourages greater levels of borrowing.
Do you have a graph showing Canadian consumer debt? I can’t imagine its much better. Might be interesting to look at our side of the fence before commenting on the neighbour.
On the bright side, the youngsters are learning a fundamental truth the hard way: Don’t spend money you don’t have.
Lisa’s dead on the money. I wouldn’t blame it on a culture of entitlement. Its just plain stupidity by culprits all over the ideological spectrum.
We put everything we can on the Credit card and then on the last possible day, we pay it off. Needless to say we don’t impulse buy, just treat the card like cash.
This way we keep our money earning interest for us longer, have the full convenience of the credit card system, pay no interest and collect Air Miles – every two + years we get round trip tickets to Europe to visit friends.
And we never, ever use a debit card – they too easily scammed and are door right into your bank account – highly vulnerable
Fred – Debit cards are highly vulnerable? No more so than a credit card, and just as well insured.
These debt graphics are interesting, but not indicative of much. The country and world have changed much. A car that would last 3 years a while back, now lasts 10 years. When debt interest is significantly lower than investment gains (the last few months not withstanding) then it is not fiscally bad to go for the lower interest debt (as long as you can cover the outstanding out of investments). A few years ago, I went to a tractor dealer to purchase just the right tractor for my needs. When I got out the money to pay cash, they offered me 3 years at zero interest. I’d be stupid not to take it, as long as I could pay it off at will. I got to drive the tractor for 3 years on their dollar. Of course, in the good ‘ol USofA, trying to pay cash for a car will get you in jail for money laundering. In fact, if you get stopped by the local constabulary while driving to the dealer, they will sieze your money for their own new cop cars.
Ol’ Country Boy says: Of course, in the good ‘ol USofA, trying to pay cash for a car will get you in jail for money laundering. In fact, if you get stopped by the local constabulary while driving to the dealer, they will sieze your money for their own new cop cars.
That’s only in Louisiana. Only slightly kidding… Truth is, you don’t actually take the cash to the dealer. Go, find your car, make the deal then go back with a cashier’s check. Simple as pie. Of course, the dealer hates cash transactions. They lose their cut of the finance charges! My last truck, the dealer actually wanted to ADD 2% to the price to cover his lost “income”!! He walked sort of funny with the deal stuck up his butt. ‘-)
Regarding Lisa, the redneck bride.
Kudos to you. Your economic behaviour is like that of the parents of the baby boomers. I, being a baby boomer, know my parents(who grew up poor even before the depression) scrapped up savings to build their first and last house in 1952. They scrimped and saved to pay for their cars with cash. They never had a credit card. Saved for the TV when they came about. Always cash on the barrelhead. Bills always paid on time. They both worked at modestly paying jobs. They were thrifty and frugal. As for me, I am debt free, own my house and car and pay off my one and only credit card before interest can be added on.
But realisticly, if everbody started behaving like you Lisa, the economy, as we know it, would collapse like a house of (credit) cards. Reckless credit is the crack cocaine of the economy.
Oh wait, that collapse may be already happening due to reckless borrowing, spending, sense of entitlement and greed.
I’d love for you to post the Canadian Consumer Debt to GDP graph.
We’re like Lisa, too. Our total household income has never exceeded $50K/yr and most years was a little below that. Today, my wife and I are in our late 50’s.
We’ve always been ‘thrifty’ – no double double’s or buying snacks as we gas up, always use coupons (hey, it’s free money!) etc.
Not to brag, but our thrift has allowed us to live on a 5 acre view property on Van. Isl., with two homes on it – and no mortgage for the last 10 years. I just bought a ‘new’2007 Fusion with all the bells and whistles – heated seats, AWD, leather etc. Simply by waiting a model year, I got a premium car with under 10K mileage and saved $15K off the sticker price. Oh, and by the way, I paid cash.
We’ve been to Costa Rica, Mexico (x5), Italy, Greece, Portugal, the Caribean and other places – always putting on the M/C for air miles and paying it off in full when the statement arrives.
Because we owned a (very)small business – just my wife and myself – we don’t have a pension plan, so we’ve had to put money away to look after ourselves. And while the market is in the tank right now, we’ve taken the responsibility to look afer our own future.
By contrast my two kids, despite the example we’ve set, are in debt up the yin yang. ‘Starter’ home in the best part of town, a $75K boat, a 25′ travel trailer, walnut dining room table for ten, pedicures and facials…. you get the picture. A household income of over $100K annually and they are maxed out. Mortgaged to the hilt, having taken their ‘equity’ to buy a lifestyle they haven’t earned.
There are two Canadas and two Americas. And the thrift of the first is going to be asked to pay for the sins of the second.
Fred.
Yes the old fashioned virtue of paying out of one’s savings was set on it’s ear by the scams on the debit card. Of course if one kept using the old fashioned hand written cheque and took that out of one’s bank savings- ok.
For bit of a laugh, I had a debit card and sent about 29.95 dollars to the old country for ancestry information. When I learnt of the risks, I cut the thing up.
I used a credit card at a bookstore in Northern Michigan. I only used it the once- just on a whim. Three months later we had a call from a Southern voiced lady. Some clerk had used the numbers and took the credit card company for $4500.
We were not the losers. Only because of the names of the two books and the fact that it traced right back easily, was the clerk caught. I think all they did was to no longer employ the clerk. Had we used the card many times, it would have been hard to trace.
If it had been the debit card! (sweat).
There’s lot’s of fault to go around in this mess.
Recently I heard that Oprah’s mother was in debt to the tuen of nearly $200K and she blamed it on the easy credit she was given by the credit issuers – VISA and M/C. Not because she used the cards carelessly, but that they should have never given her access to that much credit.
But hey – it’s Oprah’s Mom, if anybody should be good for it, she should be, right?
And indeed, the banks issuing M/C and VISA cards are partially to blame. They give an 18yr old a card with a $2K limit and the kid has no problem paying the interest – let’s not worry about the principle now, shall we.
They’re now a ‘good credit risk’ so the bank offers an unsolicited new card with a $5K limit. Interest is still not a problem, life is great and well, priciple is just a number in the background.
Now you’re a really good credit risk, let’s give you a $10K limit. Suddenly, the principle is becoming a mountain and just meeting the interest is getting scary. Then you get laid off… or sick…or the car breaks down….or
I understand that more than 50 million Americans are carrying a minimum of $17K in credit card debt and so I’d guess that 5 million or more Canadians are in the same boat.
BTW, guess what credit card companies call people like me – those who pay off their principle every month – DEADBEATS! I kid you not.
Robert W has asked for it and so have I. Where is the graph of Canadian debt to GDP? We can talk about American debt smuggly but where do Canadians stand regarding “savings” compared to America? Well, let me tell you. America has roughly 10 times the population of Canada. In savings they have 20 times the savings of Canadians. Our savings are at about 9.1 trillion while America’s is at some 190 trillion. In other words they beat our savings rate 2 to 1.
I guess you can put up all kinds of graphs but what do they really tell you. They might tell you that sometimes we are being a little too smug. You think? Lets put up ALL the numbers.
It is urbane and affable Lloyd Robertson that has a rare but known cliche. I have been watching the venerable and “the most respected voice” for years.
He has that little half smile used for his “light” news item. Sort of ending with a video of some dog being able to surf board. He uses the cliche thus:
We can all feel a little smug tonight ….
Lloyd gets full marks for being a real trooper. He will never go into a retirement. Of course, that is his choice. Lucky Lloyd.
Fearless Americans . . fearless on debts . . . until fear catches up in foreclosures.
Nothing to fear but fear itself.
A culture of entitlement?
Now that’s not counting my mortgage that I can’t pay because I’m unemployed is it?
How much of that credit card debt has also been packaged up in collateralized debt obligations that were once rated AAA? That would truly connect to the Obamanation culture of entitlement.
So how does this compare to governmentdebt/deficit charts? On both sides of the border would also be interesting. I believe people don’t follow the “do as I say, not as I do” words of wisdom from their political leaders. It’s a mad case of keeping up with the Jones’.
If you look closely at that graf 1993 was the beginning of the major up trend since 1965.What happened? Bill Clinton negotiated changes to the community development act spawned by Carter in 1997 that led to the housing bubble which has destroyed our economy today.So much for lending money to people who don’t have the ability to pay you back.I am dumfounded we as a world economy could have been so short sighted and stupid!
lol to adriansmits. Did you also notice that in 2000, there was an upshift of equal magnitude? Do you know what happened? George Bush came to power! Gasp! Obviously its all his fault since we know that correlation implies causation? /sarcasm Get a grip.
What blows my mind about this chart is that this is consumer debt…this doesn’t include public debt. As a percentage of GDP, total American debt must be hovering around 100%. At least its not as bad as Japans public debt which sits near 200%.
Oh yes, Clinton is responsible for everything! And two terms of a Republican prez and the Republican Congress of Clinton and Bush years – they fixed everything so we’re in great shape now…
People – isn’t this about taking responsibility? Or is the game all about blaming the folk we don’t like because that is sooo much more fun?
In the age of flash and glitz, how do we promote values?
Truth be told, the problem is fiat money. As soon as the gold standard was abandoned, gov’ts could print as much money as they wanted. As people watched their savings being eroded by inflation, there was no reason to save. It was better to spend & stay on the same side as the government – stay in debt & pay off in inflated $$ later.
The final solution is a currency that cannot be debased. Wait and see.
Not this redneck bride.
We have exactly one credit card. It hasn’t been used in so long, I don’t even know if it is still active. I made the move to “cash only” about 20 years ago and have never looked back. My husband and I have made economizing a sort of game. Each week, we are both given our “allowance” — lunches, fuel, pocket money. At the end of the week, whatever is left from those funds goes into a jar for our entertainment expenses (dining out, movies, trips, etc.). We live well, but it is all budgeted carefully each month. When a pool of dollars is gone, it is gone and that is that. Paramount in making our budget work is that we save before we play. Savings deposits are budgeted just as prominently as household expenses. If more Americans could learn to live similarly, they could afford their homes, wouldn’t have thousands of dollars in credit card debt (I wouldn’t even be able to sleep at night!!), and would appreciate the luxuries they do have rather than covet those which they do not.
No sense of entitlement here. We have earned our luxuries. And they are paid for in full. My portion of the bailout *gag* *wretch* can go to someone less responsible…
Folks your not paying attention.I said We as a world economy.Just because some leftards made some dumb legislative moves it doesn’t mean the rest aren’t culpable.Bush tried to push through legislation to reign in fannie and freddie a number of times for the last 8 years but He failed so a pox on His house as well!Let’s stop pointing fingers and fix the problem.
Posted by: Lisa at October 17, 2008 3:18 PM
Well spoken Lisa. People get sucked into debt everyday. It is up to them to say no!.
I stumbled on this blog that has daily insights into all things economic, especially things not well reported in the MSM.
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/
I myself have a credit card but I don’t ever carry a balance on it…I just like getting my 1% cashback at the end of the year on all my purchases 🙂
I agree about the gold standard Rosco, but my question then becomes why did we start using fiat money in the first place? I assume it was to make capital much more easily available than it was back in 46 – 72 or however long the Breton Woods system was in, and to manage deflation by allowing a floating currency rather than a nations wealth rising and falling with the price of gold. However as governments start destroying our wealth through issuing more money, I’m sure more people will like to move away from fiat currency.
I grew up with “buy now, pay later”, but rejected the idea when I discovered that “later” you paid much more.
Now we have “buy now, don’t pay at all”.
Wait until the suckers find out just how much this is going to cost them.
Gee – that looks like a global warming (err… climate change) graph!
Does anyone know how Canadians compare? Or other Western nations?
Don’t worry about the household debt in America….
Take a look at Canada where combined personal debt is now double the national debt of the Canadian government…
Canadians owe one trillion dollars, and now that their home equity is disappearing and their RRSP’s are worth about half of what they were a year ago…
Everyone got suckered and the worst is yet to come….
Another myth that has yet to die on both sides of the border is that we are all entitled to retire at age 55, despite the fact that life expectancies are increasing thereby putting tremendous pressure on the financial viability of many pension plans.
These pension obligations are threatening to sink a number of private firms and governments as it is, and will only get worse in the future.
This may be the next shoe to drop.
adriansmits: you might understand those drops and rises a bit more if (1) you compared this chart to the economy at the time (surprise surprise, consumer spending goes down in a recessiona and up as soon as it is done) and (2) you took your partisan blinders off and your head out of your a–.
So long as the world financial system continues to treat debt as capital, against which loans can be made, this insane rush to accumulating more debt will continue. Until such time as debt, or at least a large percentage of it, is recorded on the books as a liability rather than cash in hand, the system encourages greater levels of borrowing.
Do you have a graph showing Canadian consumer debt? I can’t imagine its much better. Might be interesting to look at our side of the fence before commenting on the neighbour.
On the bright side, the youngsters are learning a fundamental truth the hard way: Don’t spend money you don’t have.
Lisa’s dead on the money. I wouldn’t blame it on a culture of entitlement. Its just plain stupidity by culprits all over the ideological spectrum.
We put everything we can on the Credit card and then on the last possible day, we pay it off. Needless to say we don’t impulse buy, just treat the card like cash.
This way we keep our money earning interest for us longer, have the full convenience of the credit card system, pay no interest and collect Air Miles – every two + years we get round trip tickets to Europe to visit friends.
And we never, ever use a debit card – they too easily scammed and are door right into your bank account – highly vulnerable
Fred – Debit cards are highly vulnerable? No more so than a credit card, and just as well insured.
These debt graphics are interesting, but not indicative of much. The country and world have changed much. A car that would last 3 years a while back, now lasts 10 years. When debt interest is significantly lower than investment gains (the last few months not withstanding) then it is not fiscally bad to go for the lower interest debt (as long as you can cover the outstanding out of investments). A few years ago, I went to a tractor dealer to purchase just the right tractor for my needs. When I got out the money to pay cash, they offered me 3 years at zero interest. I’d be stupid not to take it, as long as I could pay it off at will. I got to drive the tractor for 3 years on their dollar. Of course, in the good ‘ol USofA, trying to pay cash for a car will get you in jail for money laundering. In fact, if you get stopped by the local constabulary while driving to the dealer, they will sieze your money for their own new cop cars.
Ol’ Country Boy says: Of course, in the good ‘ol USofA, trying to pay cash for a car will get you in jail for money laundering. In fact, if you get stopped by the local constabulary while driving to the dealer, they will sieze your money for their own new cop cars.
That’s only in Louisiana. Only slightly kidding… Truth is, you don’t actually take the cash to the dealer. Go, find your car, make the deal then go back with a cashier’s check. Simple as pie. Of course, the dealer hates cash transactions. They lose their cut of the finance charges! My last truck, the dealer actually wanted to ADD 2% to the price to cover his lost “income”!! He walked sort of funny with the deal stuck up his butt. ‘-)
Regarding Lisa, the redneck bride.
Kudos to you. Your economic behaviour is like that of the parents of the baby boomers. I, being a baby boomer, know my parents(who grew up poor even before the depression) scrapped up savings to build their first and last house in 1952. They scrimped and saved to pay for their cars with cash. They never had a credit card. Saved for the TV when they came about. Always cash on the barrelhead. Bills always paid on time. They both worked at modestly paying jobs. They were thrifty and frugal. As for me, I am debt free, own my house and car and pay off my one and only credit card before interest can be added on.
But realisticly, if everbody started behaving like you Lisa, the economy, as we know it, would collapse like a house of (credit) cards. Reckless credit is the crack cocaine of the economy.
Oh wait, that collapse may be already happening due to reckless borrowing, spending, sense of entitlement and greed.
I’d love for you to post the Canadian Consumer Debt to GDP graph.
We’re like Lisa, too. Our total household income has never exceeded $50K/yr and most years was a little below that. Today, my wife and I are in our late 50’s.
We’ve always been ‘thrifty’ – no double double’s or buying snacks as we gas up, always use coupons (hey, it’s free money!) etc.
Not to brag, but our thrift has allowed us to live on a 5 acre view property on Van. Isl., with two homes on it – and no mortgage for the last 10 years. I just bought a ‘new’2007 Fusion with all the bells and whistles – heated seats, AWD, leather etc. Simply by waiting a model year, I got a premium car with under 10K mileage and saved $15K off the sticker price. Oh, and by the way, I paid cash.
We’ve been to Costa Rica, Mexico (x5), Italy, Greece, Portugal, the Caribean and other places – always putting on the M/C for air miles and paying it off in full when the statement arrives.
Because we owned a (very)small business – just my wife and myself – we don’t have a pension plan, so we’ve had to put money away to look after ourselves. And while the market is in the tank right now, we’ve taken the responsibility to look afer our own future.
By contrast my two kids, despite the example we’ve set, are in debt up the yin yang. ‘Starter’ home in the best part of town, a $75K boat, a 25′ travel trailer, walnut dining room table for ten, pedicures and facials…. you get the picture. A household income of over $100K annually and they are maxed out. Mortgaged to the hilt, having taken their ‘equity’ to buy a lifestyle they haven’t earned.
There are two Canadas and two Americas. And the thrift of the first is going to be asked to pay for the sins of the second.
Fred.
Yes the old fashioned virtue of paying out of one’s savings was set on it’s ear by the scams on the debit card. Of course if one kept using the old fashioned hand written cheque and took that out of one’s bank savings- ok.
For bit of a laugh, I had a debit card and sent about 29.95 dollars to the old country for ancestry information. When I learnt of the risks, I cut the thing up.
I used a credit card at a bookstore in Northern Michigan. I only used it the once- just on a whim. Three months later we had a call from a Southern voiced lady. Some clerk had used the numbers and took the credit card company for $4500.
We were not the losers. Only because of the names of the two books and the fact that it traced right back easily, was the clerk caught. I think all they did was to no longer employ the clerk. Had we used the card many times, it would have been hard to trace.
If it had been the debit card! (sweat).
There’s lot’s of fault to go around in this mess.
Recently I heard that Oprah’s mother was in debt to the tuen of nearly $200K and she blamed it on the easy credit she was given by the credit issuers – VISA and M/C. Not because she used the cards carelessly, but that they should have never given her access to that much credit.
But hey – it’s Oprah’s Mom, if anybody should be good for it, she should be, right?
And indeed, the banks issuing M/C and VISA cards are partially to blame. They give an 18yr old a card with a $2K limit and the kid has no problem paying the interest – let’s not worry about the principle now, shall we.
They’re now a ‘good credit risk’ so the bank offers an unsolicited new card with a $5K limit. Interest is still not a problem, life is great and well, priciple is just a number in the background.
Now you’re a really good credit risk, let’s give you a $10K limit. Suddenly, the principle is becoming a mountain and just meeting the interest is getting scary. Then you get laid off… or sick…or the car breaks down….or
I understand that more than 50 million Americans are carrying a minimum of $17K in credit card debt and so I’d guess that 5 million or more Canadians are in the same boat.
BTW, guess what credit card companies call people like me – those who pay off their principle every month – DEADBEATS! I kid you not.
Robert W has asked for it and so have I. Where is the graph of Canadian debt to GDP? We can talk about American debt smuggly but where do Canadians stand regarding “savings” compared to America? Well, let me tell you. America has roughly 10 times the population of Canada. In savings they have 20 times the savings of Canadians. Our savings are at about 9.1 trillion while America’s is at some 190 trillion. In other words they beat our savings rate 2 to 1.
I guess you can put up all kinds of graphs but what do they really tell you. They might tell you that sometimes we are being a little too smug. You think? Lets put up ALL the numbers.
It is urbane and affable Lloyd Robertson that has a rare but known cliche. I have been watching the venerable and “the most respected voice” for years.
He has that little half smile used for his “light” news item. Sort of ending with a video of some dog being able to surf board. He uses the cliche thus:
We can all feel a little smug tonight ….
Lloyd gets full marks for being a real trooper. He will never go into a retirement. Of course, that is his choice. Lucky Lloyd.
Fearless Americans . . fearless on debts . . . until fear catches up in foreclosures.
Nothing to fear but fear itself.