I hate to sound like "Debby Downer" or "Pessimistic Pete", but I fear for this country's future.

There is a lot of junk on the news these days, so you really have to be careful to what and who you listen to and make sure to take it all with a grain of salt and open mind. I do not watch the news very often, but lately I have paid close attention to what the "financial experts" are saying about the economy. There is still a large disagreement. One side says that we are pulling out of the mess and the economy is on the rise, and the other side says that we are in for another "doomsday" or "dooms-YEARS."

Unfortunately, I agree with the latter. I'm not one to be pessimistic but you simply cannot deny the disheartening facts: We have to pay for our irresponsible actions... literally.

Because of congress's overspending, our debt is now over 12 trillion. If the debt continues this direction, it ensures that one of two things will happen: The value of the U.S. dollar will drastically decrease, thereby creating mass inflation and lack of trust from foreign investors, OR worse yet, America will go bankrupt, lose ALL trust from foreigner investors and be forced to start all over again which may take decades to do.

Even though it is hard to swallow, I can see good things coming from either one. People will be forced to sacrifice and live within their means, and the U.S. patriotism and community will hopefully become much stronger as we work together to rebuild the great nation that this used to be (and still is in many ways).

In my humble (maybe even naive) opinion, I think these two fates can be avoided if congress would stop spending unnecessary money, educate Americans on the consequences we will face if we do not pay off our debt, and then charge a tax to be placed on everything (like a sales tax, but where every single individual part from manufacturer to the retailer is taxed). This would be an extremely large amount of money and would still take years to pay the entire debt off, but it is worth it in the end for the future of this nation.

Regardless of what ends up happening to our economy, it is up to individual Americans to be prepared. This means, paying off personal debt, saving for emergencies, and living on less NOW- not later.

Another way you can take action is to write your state's representatives and senators by going to defeatthedebt.com. I just did, and I encourage you to take two minutes to do it as well. Simply share with them that you are concerned about the debt and woud like them to stop spending money. Let them know that you are willing to make small sacrifices if that is what is necessary.

Let's be proud of the country we are in and start taking action to protect the future our families, our friends, and our country.