Consumer, investor confidence is everything to economy; it's why 2010 will another bad year; for the first time in my life I am afraid for my country

Of the $14 trillion U.S. economy, $10 trillion comes from consumer spending.

That truth was cited tonight on CNBC to make a point. And it shows why more economists and analysts see 2010 as another lost year for the U.S. economy. That's disastrous, since President Obama's wildly irresponsible budget is built upon the economy growing in 2010 by healthy rates of 3 percent or more each quarter.

It will not grow at all. Even Obama's top supporter, Warren Buffet, now says so. And the Dow Jones lost 4 percent of its value today or 300 points. The S&P is teetering less than one point above the 700-point floor. When it crashes through, the rest of the market will head to new and shocking lows.

Consumer and investor confidence in this nation is in full flight for cover. I heard people all over affluent Williamson County, a suburb of Nashville, saying as much and more this morning as I made my rounds of my former home.

People are cutting back even more on spending, particularly delaying big-ticket purchases. We are going to see car dealers and furniture stores going out of business in big numbers by the end of the year.

Vacant store spaces in malls and strip malls will become the most visible sight of the declining American economy. Commercial real estate will increasingly head into foreclosure.

If you think things are bad now, you ain't seen nothing yet -- including now for 2010. Some people say we should be talking positive and encouraging hope.

No, let us talk about reality and hard times, so that people can prepare for the worst.

For the first time in my life, I am afraid for my country. And never in my life have I been more convinced that the president in charge and the majority in Congress are bad for this nation and threaten its fall.

These are the true stakes at hand in an America that will never be the same.

God help us all.