the economy

okay this is just a post for me so it will be very boring. lately i have been very confused at how in the world our economy got in such a mess and how in the world are we going to get out of it. i am not very smart at politics and how it works and i happened on a news story, i think it was 20/20 and they were talking about how that most of our debt is owned by china...well i guess in my oblivious world i didn't think about that we were indebted to someone else, i just thought america paid herself back?! so then it got me thinking that if we are trillions of dollars in debt, it's hard to say we're completely free. i know the feeling of having debt and it's not fun. we recently paid off everything except our house and it feels wonderful and i know that we would not be able to stay up with our bills if we had not paid all this debt off, especially with all kents crazy job changes. so anyways in our local paper there was a story about an earmark that rexburg got in the great big stimulus package to refurbish the old west wood theatre for $150,000-i agreed with the writer that putting money into such things as these is not such a smart idea in such rough times, she quoted Thomas Jefferson "I, however, place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." and then as we have been reading in Alma in the scriptures, all the wars and stuff-we came across this scripture: Alma 51:18 "...and it came to pass that the armies did march forth against them; and they did pull down their pride and their nobility..." and in my fun little family scriptures(which i love) President Ezra Taft Benson commented on this scripture: speaking about modern concerns in the U.S. warned us "if our blood-bought freedom is surrendered, it will be because of Americans..." and he goes on to quote Abraham Lincoln who asked: "at what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected?" and then answered "if it ever reaches us, it must spring up among us. it cannot come from abroad. if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be it's author and finisher..." this just got me thinking-i'm so glad i have the gospel and such great leaders to trust in, that makes me feel very safe and happy:) in such uncertain times!