Sequester your sanity

You are going to need it. It has been pointed out by many, including a number of readers of this blog, that I am no economist.

I have a very simple, literal view on the economy. Things like, if it’s based on growth rather than sustainability, it will fail. But, as Arlo Guthrie said halfway through “Alice's Restaurant," that's not what I came here to talk about.

I am really here to vent about the "sequester." It has supplanted the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling as the current huge dip in the economic rollercoaster we have been riding for several years now.

When the buzz is that the economy is improving, people tend to believe it. Everything seems to brighten up. The phone rings and customers are asking about a new dining table or kitchen upgrade. But then the airwaves fill with the doom about the next big financial crisis – in this case, the sequester – and bam, the line goes dead. The stock market is falling. China wants its money. And the only people who call are selling insurance or collecting bill payments.

This is starting to make my head hurt! I'm thinking instead of worrying about whether or not to ban assault weapons, we should think about banning news. Or at least what passes for it these days.

D.D.