The U.S. Government has now passed it's $787 Billion stimulus package. In addition to the package is a $275 Billion Mortgage program. GM & Chrysler are asking for an additional $19 Billion on top of $17.4 Billion already given to them. Does anyone else have a frightening feeling that if this fails, we end up much worse?

Experts say we MUST implement the stimulus package to get the economy started on the road to recovery, but my greatest fear is that billions and billions of dollars does not really mean that people will make a tough fundamental change in the way they think or spend.

We are in this position because of the way society has moved to a norm of 'instant gratification', selfishness and materialism, and away from a life of relationship, helping others and faith.

Pumping billions of dollars into saving a badly bleeding auto industry and paying for mortgages that are worth more than the value of property only serves to reinforce the new way of thinking - that you can buy your way out of trouble - even if you don't have the money.

That scares me more than GM going bankrupt or millions losing jobs or homes - not because I am heartless and cruel, but because in my gut, I know it will not change the way we think or spend. Look at the 70's oil crisis. It did not take very long before the compact cars sold in the 70's were replaced once again with gas guzzlers like Cadillac Escalades and Lincoln Navigators.

People are too weak, too lazy, or lack the faith to walk the tough road, and ultimately will have to pay a much higher price when the party ends - and it will end.

What do we do, when the auto industry spends the almost $40 billion and still goes bankrupt?

What do we do when people still lose their homes even after the government has spent $75 billion on mortgages?

The media has been throwing around figures of billions of dollars for a while now - so much that we really don't understand what kind of money we are talking about.

Let me try to put it in perspective:

The bailout is currently $787 Billion.
There are approx 306,000,000 people in the U.S and approx 116,000,000 households. So right off the top that equates to $2,572 per person in the U.S. - every single man, woman, youth, teen, child and infant. It amounts to $6784 per household. EVERY household -regardless of what they earn.

But that is not the whole picture. Consumer Credit Card debt has soared over 200% from 1990 to 2003 to a whopping $8000+ per credit card consumer in the U.S. - and there are over 144,000,000 people who charge on credit cards.

That is an average. With an average household income of $50,000 and an average credit card debt of over $8000, the numbers start to mean something to individuals and families.

Add $6784 of bailout money to each household. Any of you struggling to pay down a $2000 or $5000, or $8000 credit card bill know how much you can afford to pay each month, and how slowly the balance declines.

The math does not lie. If we don't do an immediate U-Turn on our attitude to credit and spending more than we earn, no bailout is going to help.

Are we just adding to our credit and debt to try to solve this problem? Is it fiscally responsible to go out a buy a new GM car when credit gets loosened due to the bailout and you still don't have the money and owe thousands on your credit card?

Who are we kidding? The right road is the tough one, and it's going to hurt. This is a time we need to get together to help each other - remember when a family of 8 or more grew up in a little house with one bathroom, and had their grandparents living there too? Every family had one car - if they had one, and it was not usually new. One TV, one telephone, families actually spent time together. Overall I think they were less stressed and happier too.

To look forward, I think we need to look back.