Brother, can you spare a dollar?

With apologies to the depression-era song ("Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"), I was struck by the irony of two articles in today's Des Moines Register.

The first editorial, ("How to Pay for $3 trillion war?") makes a strong case that we deserve more honesty from presidential candidates on the true cost of the war in Iraq.

The second article, ("Almighty dollar loses its potency around the globe") refers to the weakening of the U.S. dollar, but doesn't quite connect with the underlying cause: the national debt. In fact, other than the inconvenience of having to exhange currency to tour the Taj Mahal, I might have the impression that this doesn't effect me.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The U.S. dollar is already at record lows, making nearly everything we import more expensive. The lack of fiscal responsibility by the current administration will become more apparent in the months ahead.

As I write this on Sunday evening, the dollar is crashing in Asian markets, and it's likely that U.S. stock markets will drop dramatically this coming week (this is in addition to the 15%-20% drop in equities since October of last year).

When you get your next 401K statement, see prices continue to climb at the grocery store, or fill up with gas this summer, the problems of deficit spending will become more apparent...even if you're not planning to visit the Taj Mahal.