'Payback' for debt-fueled growth?

USA TODAY, July, 2008 by David J. Lynch

So this is what a day of reckoning feels like.

Already down 23% from its October high, the Dow Jones industrial average touches a two-year low. The Labor Department says wholesale prices are rising at their fastest pace since Ronald Reagan's first year in the White House. Embattled automaker and American icon General Motors suspends its dividend to stockholders. The last time that happened? 1922.

In Washington, somber statements came from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. President Bush, meeting reporters at the White House, acknowledged, "It's been a difficult time for many American families." On Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke warned lawmakers, "The economy continues to face numerous difficulties."

If it wasn't clear...