Question: Scott wants to know what makes Dave an expert on the economy. He thinks Dave would take a Herbert Hoover approach of doing nothing while the economy goes down, perhaps even into a depression. It's a question with an attitude, and Dave has some to match.

Dave Ramsey's advice: I would take that approach. And what makes me an expert on the economy is about the same thing that makes you an expert on the economy, smart aleck. The difference is that I've been walking around out here for about 40 years watching capitalism work. And by the way, if you do a history lesson, you'll find that it was World War II that pulled us out of the Great Depression, not Keynes-ian economics or the New Deal, you twit!

Go look at this stuff before you decide that socialism is the way to go, because it's not. Capitalism is the answer.

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Question: Dave talks about something that he finds very disturbing. It has to do with people's attitudes toward Washington, and what they think will come out of there.

Dave Ramsey's advice: By and large, 70% to 90% of you wanted something to be done to calm the economy, but you didn't want $700 billion in new debt to bail out Wall Street. The stock market has had record declines since then. What's going on?

You need to remember that you need to take control of your life. It's disturbing that people in government totally disregard what the people tell them to do. It's disturbing that the market goes down and the media panics about this. It's disturbing that greedy banks made loans to people who couldn't afford to repay, and people signed up for the trip when they couldn't afford it. It's disturbing that Washington ignores its constituents and takes huge strides toward socialism.

All of these things are disturbing, but none will cause this great nation to cease to function. They are not the beginning of the end. But the most disturbing thing is some people's reactions. Don't react based on fear or panic. Another negative reaction is that you are looking to Washington to fix your problems. They have never fixed your problems, and you want Obama or McCain to fix things. There has never been a president who can fix your problems. They always say they can and they never can.

YOU are in charge of your destiny. YOU are in charge of your life. When you look to Washington to solve your problems, we've got the seeds to destroy this country. It's time for you to change your life. It's not Washington's job to fix what's going on with you. If you are waiting on Washington to change something, you've got a very long wait! It is YOUR job to take care of you. Don't sit around and watch TV and panic and think you can't do anything. I've made and lost money, and every bit of that had to do with me being smart and diligent or stupid.

Quit blaming Congress or looking to them to fix you. YOU have to fix you! When you wait on the government to fix your life and wait for money to be taken from others and given to you, that's a spirit of envy. The only system that works is capitalism functioning under moral restraint. Go be somebody!

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Question: Lonnie asks Dave to explain what it will mean to the average person making $35,000 a year if the bailout bill doesn't get passed.

Dave Ramsey's advice: No one knows is the truthful answer. I'm just speculating like everyone else, and I tend to be more optimistic than a lot of people. Maybe that's knowledge of the stock market history or maybe it's because I've been through bad times myself. My best guess is that the bill not getting passed won't affect your trip next year, or buying a baseball glove or ballet lesson.

It would potentially affect the stock market. Its hissy fit may evolve into a seizure and you may see some drops in your mutual funds. If you panic based on the news, you're being silly and making a bad judgment call. When they didn't pass the bailout on Monday, the market threw a fit. The stock market is emotional on the short term. On the long term, the emotion is ground out of it. Companies are worth more as they make profit over the years. Your investments will recover.

I think the lending landscape has changed completely. It's good that people who can't afford to borrow money can't get a loan. That's GOOD! You can buy a $20,000 car today, but you can't finance 140% of it. You're going to be fine, and if they don't pass this bill, then in a year, your 401k will probably be worth less, but it will come back over time. Some industries will struggle because they were based on subprime lending and they'll go away, and that's good!

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