While going through some papers at my desk tonight, I came across a clipping from the June 10, 2008 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

It would have been fairly easy to overlook the heading “Treasury Securities Sales Set,” as the U.S. Treasury is continually selling more bonds to finance our growing national debt, and the details of these transactions rarely make for interesting reading material.

However, the text of this particular notice was actually quite shocking.

The Treasury plans to sell $22 billion of five-day cash management bills Tuesday. The bills will be dated June 11, 2008, and will mature June 16, 2008.

Securities such as 26-week bills, 10-year notes, and 30-year bonds are all fairly common government debt instruments. But this was the first I had ever heard of five-day cash management bills.

June 15th is the deadline for payment of second-quarter estimated taxes, which makes it an important payday for the government. Corporations and individuals not subject to federal tax withholding must make quarterly payments based on their estimated tax liabilities, and these payments are due on the 15th day of April, June, September, and January.

In other words, the U.S. Treasury was selling these five-day cash management bills because the government was running low on cash and needed a short-term loan to keep going until payday.

It’s fair to say that people who seek payday loans are not usually in the best of financial circumstances. In fact, that’s pretty much an understatement, and in most cases, people who start taking these loans often end up making a bad situation worse.

So it’s a scary thought that the government continues to spend at such an alarming rate that payday loans would be necessary to keep things going, especially when these loans are in the magnitude of $22 billion.

I never imagined that a set of clothes could put a smile on my face, but that was before I tried on my new suit.

Last Tuesday after work, I walked down to the Brook Brothers store located on LaSalle and Adams near the Chicago Board of Trade.

Almost every wall had wooden shelf cases with shirts stacked practically to the ceiling. And upstairs, it seemed like there were enough suits to clothe an entire town. After first trying on a dark navy jacket, I chose a two-buttoned grey, and a trim, white-haired man made small chalk markings on the fabric while he took measurements.

This expert tailor finished my suit today, and I picked it up this evening.

And as I was walking back, I realized that most of what I was wearing happened to be made right here in America. The suit I was carrying. The shirt I was wearing. My belt. And even my underwear. All had a “Made in the USA” label.

At that moment, in the light of the setting sun, I took satisfaction in completing a long day of hard work. Because I had given thought to my purchases, other Americans could also share in the pride of a job well done. And I smiled.

This morning (Saturday) I went down to the bank and purchased $200 worth of paper Series I bonds. Even though I've been doing a good job of saving lately, the amount of this investment is less than I would have liked. That's because I'm anticipating higher expenses for the month, as yesterday the company I work for tasked me with buying a business suit for an important upcoming meeting.

Believe it or not, I've never actually owned, or even worn, a suit before. Though I wear dress shirts on an almost daily basis, I typically roll up the sleeves within minutes of buttoning my shirt, and it's been so long since I've worn a tie that I've forgotten how to tie one.

And so, this week I'll set out to buy my first suit. I'm planning to look at one of the men's clothing stores in downtown Chicago, in search of a suit that fits both my frame and my budget.

Only three years ago, I could scarcely afford the cost of a new pair of jeans, and would stay up late stitching patches to repair the burns received from hot sparks of steel that sprayed upon me as I welded. Now I'm a position to enlist the help of a professional tailor.

Aside from this, I'm still a man working hard to accomplish his goals—that part hasn't changed. And while it's been said that clothes make the man, I believe that men are made by actions, not appearances. The strength of a warrior is found not in the breadth of his arm, but in the depth of his heart.