I am absolutely amazed at the 2010 political agenda and how disconnected Washington politicians are from the rest of their constituents.  My wife and I are just like you.  We are mid to late 40's and are working to help put three kids through college.  It is time that congress wakes up to the realities that the rest of us face everyday.  Washington has to start solving problems and stop creating new ones.  You have to do something to solve problems, but you don't have to be radical about it. Just a few items on our list that can save us billions of dollars:

What you need to know to prepare for a long term deflationary cycle and why.

The average price home in California costs about $569,000 but who has the cash laying around right now for a 5% down payment much less a 20% down of $114,000. Even the largest home finance company Countrywide has indicated that they are only providing conforming loans which have to be less than $417,000. This is a 28% discount to current selling prices. So how do you sell the average home when a new buyer can’t get the financing? You don’t. There are a glut of homes on the market and more on the way. The sheer volume of homes will push the price down to below the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae numbers.

The larger and more detrimental impact is to city and state government’s tax collections. This will accelerate the deflationary cycle.