While the politicians are busy playing the blame game, our economy is continuing to deteriorate. Without a doubt, there are plenty of fingers to be pointed, but we are where we are and it is time to move forward.

In tough economic times women get disproportionately hit by job cuts. There is a mentality in our country that women are last in and first out when troubles arise. In a New York Magazine article titled: “Only the Men Survive,” the plight of women on Wall Street was summarized as follows: “The gender breakdown of the Wall Street workforce, according to a Securities Industry Association study, went from 43 percent women in 1999, just before the peak of the tech boom, to 37 percent in 2003, after layoffs.”

So brace yourselves sisters, because things are going to get worse before they get better. The wheels are already in motion for a major recession and there is no bailout miracle to save us at this point. We all need to readjust our behavior and understand this new paradigm. There will not be a quick bounce back even if our government does get its act together to pass a bailout bill. The seeds of destruction are sown, and the only questions now are the severity and longevity of this downturn.

What would a bailout mean? Ultimately, the form and substance will determine its success, but what the government needs to do is free up money for our banks to lend. Wherever we point our fingers of blame, the results are the same – our banks are lobbed down with mortgage securities that they cannot sell. As a result, our banks do not have money available to lend back out to us consumers in the form of credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, etc. For those of us running a small business, this also means that we will find it harder and harder to get financing for our business needs. There are two ways that our government can help here: the government can buy these mortgage securities from the banks at a discount (and if the government is smart they will partner up with private equity funds and hedge funds who have already raised billions of dollars to buy these mortgage securities), and/or the government can raise the amount that the FDIC will insure from $100,000 to a significantly higher amount. The latter will help because it will allow consumers to keep more cash safely at their banks and the banks will therefore have money to lend.

The other issue is that banks are disappearing each week. Sadly, for us consumers, this is long-term bad news since there will be less banks competing for our business and therefore the days of easy credit are gone (at least for the short to medium term). Remember when you came home from work each day and there was another bank solicitation offering you a new credit card? Those days are gone.

So now is the time for a reality check, ladies. Take a look at your financial picture and give some thought to what lies ahead. This storm, bailout or no bailout, is upon us and will be for quite some time.