The numbers on Wall Street and on the lips of the Treasury Department stir a note of panic on the ear of the average consumer: the U.S. Dollar has lost nearly 23 percent of its value against the global money market since February 2002. In every sector of the market, prices are rising, from oil (nearly $100/barrel) to foreign fruit. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, and much of the domestic money industry, cringe at the thought of the looming inflation as the dollar fills in the gap between previous saturation and the gap created by a weaker standing. The question on every concerned mind is, rightly, “What do we do?” Depending on whom you ask, the answer is: Nothing. ...

The effects of the dollar devaluation are wide-spread. Facing record spending in the $933 billion Federal budget for FY2008, Congress has been charged with finding new ways to curb spending and decrease the deficit. The White House recently vetoed an expansion to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and has stated it will veto another $23 billion in new spending proposed by and currently in limbo in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Criticism of the move is broad, including Maya MacGuineas of the New America Foundation, charging the President’s veto threats as “politically-driven” as he did not veto spending bills when the congress was controlled by the GOP. She further predicts that vetoing the bills would simply increase the partisan split on Capitol Hill and ensure a stalemate in Congress. ...

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