THIS IS MY CARDBOARD BOX. THERE ARE MANY LIKE THEM BUT THIS ONE IS MINE.

What happened to all that bailout money? The government handed out between $800 Billion and a Trillion dollars in the Bailout Package, or whatever they called it. Where did all that money come from, and where did all that money go?

When you or I need money we have to go out and earn it. When the government needs money they print it. Why wouldn't they? If you held all the plates and the presses to make money and started running low on it would you print more? I would. Would I worry if that the money I was printing wasn't backed by any hard assets or viable securities? I'm guessing not. I would be so overwhelmed by my greed and the smell of new bills that small details like diluting the money supply probably wouldn't deter me.

If I had the monetary plates and presses in my procession I'd be up night and day singing songs of joy, drinking beer and thumbing my nose at the masses. I wouldn't spend time feeling bad or guilty about it. Judge me if you must but its not my fault if I got lucky?

Over time my actions, like all actions, would cause a reaction - that's just the way it works here on earth. Sooner or later my little enterprise would deflate the existing money supply floating through the economic system and inflation would start. Since I have so much money I'm not really that concerned about inflation. If I have to pay five-times more to heat my house in the winter all I have to do is print more paper. But how will everybody else get by?

How will the Tarp money and the Bailout Package help the average Joe? How will it help the homeowner? Nobody knows. There not sure where the money went - if it's all been spent - what it was spent on - where it is now - where it will go in the future - if it will help things get better or make things worse as time goes by.

If inflation rears its ugly head what is going to happen to folks who are already struggling to hold onto their homes and pay their bills on time? How will people pay for housing and goods and services when money looses value from the actions the government took in the big Stimulus Package? Do you feel stimulated? I don't feel stimulated. If I had the plates and the presses I'd feel stimulated.

But wait, we can all take comfort in the fact that if we should get behind on our mortgages and all our other debts the banks and all the other financial institutions we owe the money to will be protected. We u may be living in a cardboard box on the side of the road but thank the Lord the banks will remain solvent.

We can live in squalor and bask in the sun with pride because we will know and understand that we gave up our futures and our financial health to the great financial institutions that used to lend us money that is no longer worth the paper it is printed on.

We did it willingly. We didn't complain. We will live in futuristic cities made of cardboard boxes and be happy about it - because we are Americans, and Americans can take it in the pants when they have to take it in the pants.