say when?

"Dear Friends,

The current economic situation has caused American families to re-order their priorities. Many are cutting back - tightening their belts. The situation requires it.

The Congress finds itself in a similar situation. The time has come for us to re-evaluate our national priorities. The role of the Congress in these times must be to hold back on new programs which are not absolutely vital to the economic recovery of this country. "

Inspiring words, huh? Would you like to meet the Senator who said we should quit spending billions of dollars on crap we don't need? Well, you can't.

Those words came from a newsletter from the summer of 1975, from Senator Gladys Noon Spellman (may she rest in peace) back when we had our last huge recession and gas crisis.

It's been my general goal to not get on my soapbox here, but as my firls know, I'm a fan of dead people, particularly useful dead people; and I could not help but to draw the tired connections between then and now.

Of course, I also want people to keep buying art, and making their world a more beautiful place. So for the next week or so I am going to make the effort to find fabulous original artworks for under $20. And I am going to challenge all of you - if it's the last thing you buy this year that's not required to keep body and soul together - make it an original.


P.S. Senator Spellman co-sponsored the original Emergency Homeowners Relief Act. You see, once upon a time (thirty-ish years ago) people were also losing good jobs in a recession, and even when they were able to find new jobs, they were often lower-paying positions that threatened their ability to keep up their mortgages. Did the Congress authorize billions to bail out the banks when they were left with vacant foreclosed properties they couldn't sell? No, the goal of the program was to create short-term bridge loans, that allowed homeowners a short-term, lower interest payment to get them through those trying years. From what I understand, that government program only gave banks funds to subsidize the difference between the original interest rate of the mortgage and the temporarily lowered one.

My goodness, it's a shame no one thought of something like that last fall.

(If your computer could drip irony, your fingers would be damp right now)