"Cash will be king," the cable news talking head chirped Saturday morning.       The "expert", whose name I didn't catch, was telling MSNBC that the economic crisis and the bill that President Bush signed Friday to supposedly end it will mean big changes in the way we run our households.

        She said we'd start living on budgets...that we'd start spending within our means.      And, she said we'd all make the swing to cash purchases, leaving our credit cards in our purses/wallets.

        I call b-s.

        Does anyone REALLY think we at home have had a come-to-Jesus money moment?        Are you honestly NOT going to whip out your plastic and pull out a thick wad of cash when it comes time to buy a new microwave?

        Suze Orman nailed it on Larry King Live the other night when she bemoaned the fact that we are a society that abuses credit, using MasterCards to make even the most mundane daily purchases like gas and food, then committing the ultimate personal finance sin by paying off only the monthly minimum.      That, she warned, is how we point ourselves toward individual financial ruin.      It's only when the credit card companies turn off a person's flow of cash and demand full payment that the lesson is learned.   

        This recent brush with economic meltdown is something that really didn't hit Main Street--it played out at levels many of us never visit and barely comprehend.      While we heard tales of pending gloom and doom, did you really feel anything close to a financial pinch?        I hope you aren't one of the unfortunates who got caught up in a sub-prime loan and are stuck in a monetary hole--those folks were at the vanguard of what we just experienced, but for many of us, cash could still be had.      And, the money supposedly will keep flowing, if the legislation passed this week delivers as promised.    

      Money...and credit.     Which means our days of spending rage will go on, unabated.       Spend, spend, spend.     Then, for too many of us, pay just the minimum.

      I remember those who said our country would be changed by what happened on 9-11.      People would be kinder.      We'd be a more compassionate nation, with brotherhood and civility replacing anger and cruelty.         We'd be more understanding.      We'd be less crass.      We wouldn't even flip each other off on the freeway any more.

      That lasted until, what, about Halloween of 2001?

       This is a nation of credit, and debt.       It's how business works, and how households churn.    The responsible know their limits.   The reckless or unfortunate drown in red ink.      And, when it gets really, really bad, we need Uncle Sam to make it all better again, amid great debate about socialism and at a tremendous financial price.

        In 1929, we got into a mess because many of us borrowed money to buy stock.        When the market fell and the loans couldn't be covered, we entered the Great Depression.      We learned from that mistake, but the need for greed fueled new ways for cash to flow and for profits to be made.      We'll someday look back at the sub-prime loans of recent days and wonder, "What in the hell were we thinking, dishing up cash like that?"

       And, for now, I'm guessing we'll still be whipping out the plastic while living beyond our collective means until the next near-meltdown.       This country isn't about boundaries, especially when it comes to indulgence.     It's about more, better, bigger, faster--regardless the cost.      Being in hock used to be something to be ashamed of.    Now, it's the way we do business.

       And, I'm guessing that business will soon be very good once again.