It's the kind of sacrifice that brings a tear to your eye.

U.S. consumers stepped up and spent more than they earned in disposable income for the month of November. That should ease the minds of retailers fretting over the slowest Christmas sales in five years.

While the personal savings rate is negative, inflation is positive with a bigger gain than expected. The government likes inflation contained between one and two percent, but with higher gas prices and other costs, it had to happen sooner or later.

One of the funniest comments from economists was that consumers are "ignoring" higher energy costs.

If I can speak for them, no one is ignoring quadrupled gas prices and doubled electric bills over the last five years.

We're just patriotic.

If we keep spending, we save the economy. If we don't, we have a recession and lose our jobs.

Which choice would you make?