I don't really have an opinion here as much as I have a concern, and the larger question arising from that concern is troubling. When the recession began, thrift became the watchword. Americans cut back, began saving more and spending less, prompting predictions that their financial habits might finally be changing permanently.

With holiday shopping in full swing, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. The problem isn't spending money but how we're spending it and how much. The credit card is making a comeback.

Thanksgiving holiday retail sales shot up more than 8.5 percent from last year, according to MasterCard's Spending Pulse, with sales highest in the western United States. Payments made with credit cards rose more than 7 percent on Black Friday, according to the payroll-processing firm First Data, and Americans continued spending heavily online after a record- setting Cyber Monday, with sales topping $6 billion for what became Cyber Week – mostly on credit.

Meanwhile, credit card solicitations are rising, up for the second straight quarter. Financial research firm Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton projects that credit card payments for online purchases will jump 63 percent between now and 2016, compared with 2 percent for debit cards.

Contributing to the credit boom, the plastics people are offering incentives to use their credit cards. A federal regulation that took effect Oct. 1 slashed the fees banks can charge retailers when consumers pay with debit cards. Banks simply turned around and began eliminating rewards programs for debit cards while sweetening the deals for credit cards.

Many consumers seem to have taken the bait. The term "frugal fatigue" has begun to reappear in the media and around the blogosphere. You even run across the term Frugal Fatigue Syndrome, "a new disorder," writes the British publication, Management Today, "born out of the past years of economic downturn. Initially, one feels self-satisfied and responsible, but, like all things, the feeling wears off quickly."

Too much coupon clipping, buying at thrift shops, no more eating out. The Huffington Post's business writer confesses, "The truth is, frugality has left me exhausted. Minding our pennies is tedious. Living in fear of spending is no way to live."

Oh death, where is thy sting?

"This is nothing new," says Baylor University marketing professor James A. Roberts. "We tighten our belts. We save a little bit more, spend a little bit less. But as soon as we see any kind of blue skies on the horizon we go back to our profligate ways."

That pattern has been consistent with every recession since the Great Depression, Roberts tells me. "Oftentimes, we spend more money after the recession than we did before the recession."

Not to knock the Black Friday shoppers. Despite the apparent insanity, some endure the cattle call of consumers crashing the doorbuster displays because the lower prices help them save money on their Christmas bills – although Consumer Reports found last year that the Black Friday prices were often still available in December.

And in fairness, we don't know yet how many will pay the credit card tab in full when the Black Friday shopping bill arrives, or whether people will make only partial payments because they spent money they didn't have.

But Commerce Department figures show our savings rate has been declining monthly since June, down to pre-recession levels, and despite the Black Friday hype, the season's busiest shopping days are still to come – typically in the week leading up to Christmas.

Is frugal fatigue inevitable?

"No," says Professor Roberts, "but it's very difficult when everyone else is following the Pied Piper of spending."

Sort of goes along with the title of his new book: "Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy."

It's really a conundrum. We want retail to prosper. Two-thirds of the nation's economy relies on consumer spending. And no one's saying people shouldn't buy things they don't need.

But here's my question: If we haven't learned the lessons of what's been a crushing recession, if we return to our profligate pattern of careless spending – and it sure seems like too many of us spend carelessly, and it sure seems like that's what we're about to do again – should we be surprised when the government we elect does the same thing?

If the government is nothing more than a reflection of its electorate, how can we expect the government to pinch pennies if the people who elect don't? How high should our expectations be when we can't meet them ourselves? Do we even have a right to complain when we do the very same thing we're complaining about?

Makes you wonder: Do we really care about spending within our means, or is that all talk?

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Bruce Maiman is a former radio show host living in Rocklin. Reach him at brucemaiman@gmail.com.

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