With all the hubbub over the bailout plan and diminishing fortunes of our 401K, Congress and the agencies involved may want sage input from outside the Beltway.

I figure all of us are working an additional five years due to current issues; naturally that’ll qualify us to hit the Social Security insolvency right about the time we’ve regained our footing – advancing our retirement age yet another five years …

So, with an additional “dime” added to your sentence, I figure they owe us a couple minutes near the microphone and may want to hear from the angling contingent.

All they’re looking for is the first 700 Billion, and I’m figuring the angling crowd could fix the entire debacle with about ten simple pledges:

I’m willing to give up two of the ferrules on my four piece rod, it’ll make the action smoother, make rod building less expensive, and will bitch-slap the guy that insisted a nine foot rod should fall apart regularly.

I’m willing to tie my flies one size smaller than they should be, allowing me to conserve fur bearing animals, limit my lust for exotic chickens, and will allow me to accumulate cash reserves for economy stimulating large screen TV’s made offshore.

I’m willing to donate the barb from all my hooks, allowing us to restore dilapidated infrastructure, like bridges – saving what wildlands that remains from onerous strip mines and the inevitable federal cleanup funds that follow their creation.

I’m willing to tax my fishing buddies with the resale of intellectual property,  as the sumbitch couldn’t have ever found the spot without my invite;  rather than take only the blame, I’ll want my share in the proceeds as well. This new revenue can augment my damaged 401K to make my retirement a complete crapshoot.

I will work unless I’m sick, and the presence of large ravenous migratory salmonids will no longer hold my health hostage. Figure 1.5 million fly fishermen, 12 days a year minimum, 18 million additional work days devoted to the production of goods and services … Game over.

I foreswear the use of offshore cane, thereby reducing subsidies to foreign warlords and encouraging the domestic hemp industry to grow bigger stems and more seeds. Someone will make a hybrid big enough to plane – until then elitist’s can join the rest of us in suffering.

I will eat what I catch, lowering my subsistence costs, exposing my offspring to the raw purity of hunter-gatherer woodsmanship, and reducing energy costs to my neighbor (and his groaning freezer) as he’s no longer the recipient of my catch.

I will no longer supersize, opting for mid arbor rather than large, or maybe cutting costs and opting for small arbor. My sacrifice will restore precious raw materials to the industrial complex, stimulating native products and restoring their competitiveness in world markets. Arbor size has never really mattered, it’s always been how it’s used..

Just so it’s completely fair – with both us and the government adjusting our combined largesse; make a sweep of the financial district, gather up anyone ordering steak or salmon tartar, carrying a partially filled Starbucks container, or uses the word “play” to describe a stock transaction, hand them a shovel, and point them at New Orleans or South Texas ….