On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 214 points on better than expected housing reports.

Phew! Looks like we are starting to turn things around.

But here's the one thing: We are rebuilding our economy as another house of cards on a new pile of sand.

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China is now the real Bank of America, but unfortunately the only thing worse than China buying our debt, is China not buying our debt. And that's what is happening. China has drastically cut their purchase of our bonds, which is a lot like your bank cutting up your credit card.

Yet instead of us sitting back and saying, '"Maybe this is a sign that I should start managing my finances a little better," we lie to ourselves that we just go out and find another card.

Our government has sold us the lie that spending is the same as investing and they're leading by example. A hundred billion here, 500 billion there — what's the difference? The average American now has five credit cards and the average American household has over $10,000 in credit card debt.

Even the media plays along. A recent Forbes.com article titled "10 Things to Buy Before the Economy Improves" talks about buying a house, a car, toys, diamonds, furniture, televisions and women's clothing all while prices are allegedly so low.

Yet whenever I ask the experts — economists, professors, even politicians — how we pay for all of this, I'm met with either silence or an expression that roughly translates into: "Oh silly Glenn, don't you worry, there are very smart people figuring all of that out right now."

In other words: No one has an answer. And if you think you have the answer send me an e-mail and I will give you national TV time to explain it. But man, it better make sense!

I know that people seem to think conservatives want government spending to be zero, but that's a lie. I believe in investing in America, but it has to be in projects that can reshape us back into world leaders. You want to spend a trillion on a Manhattan Project to develop a new clean, cheap source of energy? So long as that money stays here in America — sign me up.

Rupert Murdoch, the head of the company that owns FOX News Channel, recently said that we are in a time when, "nations will be redefined." I completely agree, but instead of redefining ourselves the way we did after World War II, we're running right back to the pile of sand.

The Obama administration says we are going to rebuild our economy on "green" jobs and it's not just talk. The stimulus bill has more than $20 billion for investment in a "cleaner, greener economy" and another $500 million for "green" job training. And the Obama administration is predicting it will create or save 5 million green jobs in 10 years.

Sounds terrific, until you start to look at those pesky things called "facts."

Durango, Colorado has bought all of their electricity for their government buildings from wind farms for the past two years. Problem is that it costs so much they'd have to lay someone off to stay "green." They've now gone back to coal.

Instead of blindly pouring cement into this new pile of sand, maybe we should take notice of what's happened to other countries that have tried the things we're suddenly so excited about:

"Cap and trade"? A failure in Europe.

The Kyoto Treaty? A failure almost everywhere around the world.

And "green jobs"? Well, for how that's worked out in real life, just look to Spain.

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