I was watching Chris Matthews' show this morning, and he was pinging both a republican and a democrat about how the government was handling the latest downturn in the economy. I didn't catch the republicans response, but I did note that the democrat took to lambasting President Bush, saying that the President didn't understand the full effect of these economic problems, and went on to criticize him for trying to sugar coat the economic problems we're facing today in the finance markets.

My first reaction was in agreement. How could the President stand there and tell me that everything is rosy!? I'm outraged!

Then, my cup of coffee kicked in, and I started thinking rationally.

Are things really that bad?

Think about your own personal situation. If you removed any comment ever made by the talking heads on T.V. from your memory, and quit looking at your stock portfolio every day, are things really all that bad?

If you quit assuming we're in for a recession, and look at the cost of every day life, it might dawn on you that things aren't quite as bad as they seem.

If you stand back and realize that the media needs to make a big deal out of any potential subject that might keep you from changing the channel, do you still have a realistic outlook on the future?

The cost of gas is going up. The cost of food is going up. The cost of services is going up. Does this lead me to think we're headed into a recession? If you only look at the stock market, maybe.

What do you think? Is the media blowing the severity of our financial problems up for ratings, or is this something the average Joe really needs to get mad about?