Standin' on your momma's porch you told me it would last forever

When I am feeling particularly patriotic I visit local shops that promote all items for a dollar. You know these shops as "American General", "The Dollar Store", or sundry other names where one can get some retail therapy to fight the blahs. Where else can one purchase a genuine replica of the American flag made from Egyptian cotton and sewn in South Korea? As a low income consumer I can do my part to bolster our sagging economy by shopping for items I don't need but must have. Wandering around inside the shops one quickly discovers that these places are where all the shit in the world goes to die. I picked up a real find just yesterday when rummaging through a pile of overstocks of autobiographies and grabbed the only copy of Sarah Palin's self-titled tome, "What It Means to Be A Feminist". A dollar well spent.
When I leave one of these shops I do experience pangs of guilt. That dollar I spent on a pair of needle-nose pliers made in Mainland China might have been better spent. For the same dollar I could have purchased a lottery ticket and supported my state's continuing efforts to enable the gambling addiction of all classes of citizens. Or, that dollar might have been donated to a not-for-profit charity whose top-heavy, over paid administrative staff of socially conscious Prada wearing, Lexus driving individualists toil thanklessly to make their world a better place. Those pliers I bought for a dollar might have instead been spent at a fast food restaurant staffed by employees who have been hired to fulfill the requirements of the State's welfare-to-work program. So few dollars and so many choices.
Walking through the neighbourhoods of this small city for my daily exercise I pass home after home whose owner's mortgages have been foreclosed. Lovely homes whose backyards don't have children playing in them. Homes that just last spring had gardens of annuals planted all about. Homes whose garages and driveways are empty. Homes without curtains and drapes. Gardens unmowed and walks untrimmed. Walking downtown the shop fronts are empty. The underclass and the disenfranchised rummage through rubbish cans searching for deposit bottles and cans or bits of unsoiled food. I am reminded of Dicken's journal of his tour of America and his disappointment at finding similar circumstances. The Banks are open - at least for another day it appears.
I would support a candidate who proposes bailing me out of my debt. My student loans and my car payment along with my credit card debt. My responsibility to my creditors I take very seriously and I meet my obligations each month. Its too bad they don't act the same way.