Whether dreadful or costly, kicking bad habits is crucial for survival, more so regarding the economic welfare of the nation. The landscape is ominous: jobs shed by the economy in 8 months 600,000; American households on the verge of losing their homes, one in ten; inflation rate 5.6% the fastest inflation rate since 1991.

When things go so wrong any tips for recovery might do, here are just two taken from a manual on how to kick a bad habit:

1.Tell Others. 

The government is not doing bad in this regard, its already out there, we have a serious problem.   As one top economist said it: “now we can stop scratching our heads, we entered a recession”.The steroid money from the Bush administration’s ‘economic stimulus’ has evaporated by now and the hangover of foreclosures and more job losses is back with a vengeance.

2.Get your thinking straight. 

This is the hardest part of the deal; we become so delusional that it’s hard to admit that uncontrolled budget deficits and unrestrained growth of financial markets based on mere greed such as the one in the housing market were altogether wrong.  The salvage of the now state-run Mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie May will cost an initial $20 billion, and the U.S. government must bow another $200 billion to ensure that foreign investors like the communist People’s Republic of China are paid back.

These are just two useful tips from a popular guide on “how to kick the gambling habit”.

When president Bush admitted that “America is addicted to oil”, for a moment we thought his was a moment of true epiphany, just to soon realize that his suggestion to counter the problem was to drill Alaska for more oil.

Like a ‘junkie looking for the next fix’ as some experts put it, we might have admitted to the world we have a problem but our thinking is not straight at all.

For the accolades in the high spheres of finances and government contractors, an elite made privy to experiencing the hallucinogenic ecstasy of unfettered greed, its all too easy to tap on public moneys to cover up their excesses. 

If we were to apply the mantra of the late Milton Friedman, a true believer in free greedy markets, ‘that no good should be done with other people’s money’ what is wrong in allowing the corrupt financial system, and not tax payers, to take the blow?

The creed of ‘not doing good with other people’s money’ conveniently served the purpose of dismantling social security, public health and government itself, hopefuly the present crisis might help the government and its experts to get their thinking straight and stop reasoning like junkies.