I’ve recently been thinking about how much money I spend on Gavin’s clothing and whether or not I am getting my money’s worth. Generally, since he grows out of and/or ruins clothing pretty quickly, I don’t think I am.

The Ex and I, ever the entrepenuers, have recently come up with a cool concept that has the potential to save families a LOT of money when it comes to buying their children clothing while at the same time, allowing them to select from a wide variety of high-quality items.

Our concept is in its initial stages of development, but if you’re interested in learning more, leave a comment with your email or website, and I’ll shoot you the link once we’re in beta. For now, I’m interested in learning how much the average person spends on their children’s clothing. Please answer the poll below (if you’re so inclined).

A little over a month ago, our eloquent Lame Duck in Chief commented that “Wall Street got drunk and now it’s got a hangover.”

I’d say. (Although, I’d say it in a way that suggested I’d spent more time in college studying than crushing beer cans against my head and burping the National Anthem. But, then I’m not the leader of the free world - err, “free” world - so perhaps I’ve got the wrong approach.)

A month and a half after this comment was made, it seems President Bush read the briefing explaining exactly what has been going on in the economy. The $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, the water and Advil of this horrific analogy, needed to pass, he urged. Without quick action [to remedy the disastrous culmination of the past 8 years], Bush warned of a “long and painful” recession.

I have two problems regarding the bailout. First of all, after 8 years of Bush’s presidency, I’m pretty convinced that the best interests of the United States lie in doing exactly the opposite of what he thinks is right.

Second, and more importantly, I’m really annoyed that Wall Street got all the upside of their risk and then the rest of the country gets stuck paying for it. If I have to pay for the downside, I want the benefits of the upside, too! Americans had nothing to gain from the profits of Wall Street, but $700 billion to lose. As much as I support doing something to stem the country’s economic crisis (such as debt forgiveness and converting debt into equity for creditors), I don’t know that I support the bailout. I did, on first glance, but then I started to get angry the more I analyzed the situation. If I have to pay for Wall Street’s greed, I want a share of those big fat bonuses.

Retroactively, of course.

The recently proposed stop-gap for the banking and economic crisis we’re facing is expected to cost upwards of 1 trillion dollars. That’s 12 zeros. A whole lot of money.

I’ve been hearing a lot of (stupid) conservatives complain that this is a terrible idea and that we shouldn’t be bailing out companies for making bad business decisions. While I empathize with their frustrations, I vehemently disagree over whether the government should “bail out” these financial institutions. All these naysayers see are more taxes - which will be inevitable, no matter which party we elect in November (regardless of how much Sarah “I don’t think economics is a prerequisite for the Vice Presidency” Palin says otherwise). What they don’t see are the exponentially worse consequences that we’d face if we didn’t prevent these institutions from failing. For its not the actual companies that Congress is working to save, it’s the very stability of the US economy.

At the same time, the Ex and I are considering buying a condo. It’s not that we’re stupid - we understand just how bad the housing situation is right now. But there is a condo right across the street from us being auctioned off by its owners. They’re starting the bidding at $249,000 for a property that is easily worth twice that much, even in the current housing environment. I doubt we’d get it at the price we’re willing and able to pay, but we’ll see. I’ve got my fingers crossed!