The Recession Will Make "U.S." Stronger

Poor President Obama. He's inherited a political and economic nightmare. Today he did his best to reassure America that our current struggles will make us stronger in the long run, all while making sure not to get our hopes up.

Reuters reports that "the politician whose memoir was called "The Audacity of Hope" and who won the White House in last November's election amid chants of "yes, we can" was also back in stride, telling recession-weary Americans they can expect better days ahead."

I can't say I have that much faith in the U.S. economy. While we have recovered from various recessions and even a "great depression" in the past, what has pulled us out of those downturns cannot be replicated. It's looking like what we really need to get us out of this mess is World War III - and that's not something I'm going to hope for.

Everyone predicts that some day the market will recover. It always seems to. But this time - are things different? Are we in a perfect storm that we can't see? Are we putting a trillion dollar band-aid on a wound that needs to air out in order to heal?

What do you think?