Sacrifice For America — By Spending!

Do the patriotic thing and run up your credit cards again

NBC's senior White House correspondent Chuck Todd asked President Obama a very important question during his Tuesday press conference: Why wasn't he asking Americans to sacrifice more?

Truly, in these difficult economic times, people want to be asked to give up more things. We have so much, after all! Some of us still have houses, for example, and others have both houses and jobs. Chuck Todd probably has a house and a job and who knows, perhaps even health insurance. Hypocrite!

So that we may all feel better invested in the collective enterprise that is our failing American economy, here are a few ways we might sacrifice:

  • Throw a virgin of Bobby Jindal's choosing into Mount Redoubt
  • Contribute clothing to a worthy cause and wear only barrels
  • Cancel cell-phone data plan
  • If still employed, quit job immediately
  • Stop paying for items with worthless US currency and start paying in gold bullion, to encourage a return to the gold standard
  • Eat nothing but beans on Wednesdays

Maybe sacrifice isn't the answer, though. Saving too much could plunge our economy into a Japanese-style "lost decade." If our newfound thrift and refusal to borrow money are only making our fiscal woes worse, then maybe the answer is to "sacrifice" by borrowing and spending as much money as possible.

In other words, President Obama can ask us to sacrifice the very same way that President Bush did seven and a half years ago: by shopping.

Sara K. Smith writes for NBC and Wonkette.

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