Many citizens are having a difficult time making financial ends meet these days. A rapidly growing number of economists are forecasting a very dark 2009, particularly in regions of the world like the USA, where politicians, bankers and individuals have grown so found of taking on huge debt loads.

Well, cheer up you members of the afflicted lower castes! You will be relieved to know there is one group of prominent citizens that continues to prosper from their exalted perches.

That group is Congress. Those folks have so perfected the art of deceit and cowardliness that they no longer even have to be involved (i.e., no voting required) in securing their enhanced compensation. Each of them will be receiving an automatic pay increase of $4,700, costing taxpayers about $2.5 million.

It seems that a crumbling economy, more than 2 million lost jobs this year, and congressional demands for CEOs to work for free has not motivated lawmakers to forgo this taxpayer gift.

Now, you might say that the average pay of a member of the U.S. House and Senate of $169,000 per year is deserved, given their sterling records of integrity, service and unselfish sacrifice. Just how much more "service" from them can we stand?

For example, as the debate has raged in Congress over the $700 billion bailout for bankers, the bankers' best friend has been shoveling out trillions of newly-minted dollars through the back-door to those same bankers. I speak of the Federal Reserve System, and its chief, "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke. Congress apparently does not care, or does not dare, or does not know, to exercise any control over this unbridled, explosive debasement of our currency.

Zimbabwe, here we come.