That seems like a strange question to ask. Anyone who has turned on a television, a radio, or talked to a coworker at the water cooler, or passed one of the thousands of "action alert" emails knows this matters. Of course, it matters, and it should matter.

But why does this matter at "Growing Vertical." After all, as the name of my blog indicates, this is supposed to be about growing vertically, growing towards God, or sanctification. (The name is a spin on the old Mountain Dew ad about "going vertical with Dew.") So, what does the bailout or the price of gold have to do with sanctification?

I would say everything.

Our Lord said in Luke 14, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" (v. 28-30)

When we set out to follow Christ, we must count the cost. Following Christ entails many things. One of those very important principles is honesty.

If I sell you a box of jewelry and you open it only to find that it is full of corn flakes, I have been dishonest with you. I have sinned.

In Leviticus 19:35-36, the Lord said, "You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt."

In Exodus 22:10-12, the Lord said, "If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, then an oath of the LORD shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it."

The 8th commandment clearly states, "Thou shalt not steal."

So, if I make a gold coin that is only 50% gold, and sell it to you as if it were 100% gold, I have stolen from you. If I counterfeit a gold coin with brass, I have stolen from you.

If a government counterfeits its own money by printing more of it than there is precious metal on reserve, it has stolen from you.

When a counterfeit is initially made, the counterfeiter prospers. But as that counterfeit makes its way into circulation, everyone begins to suffer as the exchange rate is effected. We call it inflation.

As Murray Rothbard said in What Has Government Done to our Money?

Inflation, then, confers no general social benefit; instead, it redistributes the wealth in favor of the first-comers and at the expense of the laggards in the race. And inflation is, in effect, a race—to see who can get the new money earliest. The latecomers—the ones stuck with the loss—are often called the "fixed income groups." Ministers, teachers, people on salaries, lag notoriously behind other groups in acquiring the new money. Particular sufferers will be those depending on fixed money contracts—contracts made in the days before the inflationary rise in prices. Life insurance beneficiaries and annuitants, retired persons living off pensions, landlords with long term leases, bondholders and other creditors, those holding cash, all will bear the brunt of the inflation. They will be the ones who are "taxed."

And yet the Bible tells us to care for the widows and orphans. "You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless." (Exodus 22:22-24)

What about price controls? That trickles down, too. If you can't raise the price of a product, you have to cut the quality. Ever notice how much smaller Little Debbie cakes are now than when you were a kid? Soon you won't know the difference between a snack cake and a Tic Tac.

Those who still believe in honest money and are willing to take the risk, sell their products in an alternative market, also known as the "black market."

I'm not going to take the time now to get into the sins of fractional reserve banking. Read Rothbard.

I just pray that the Church in America will wake up, and with the rest of America, stop drinking the Kool-Aid.