The fact that on Monday the Dow Jones industrial average lost 5.6 percent of its value and is off 2,000 points since April 29 is devastating enough for individuals whose retirement nest eggs are tied to the market.

Savvy investors may be strong enough to weather storms like Monday's huge Wall Street drop but most people who saw a portion of their 401k investments drop off the stock market cliff are not as even tempered to handle it. One counseling specialist out of Dallas, Texas, has seen a big boost in clients, and she isn't alone.The fact that money is at the root of many family arguments in normal times is bad enough. But the fear and emotional instability compounds when you factor in what we're seeing with the economy, both at home and abroad. The steep dive Monday on Wall Street was accompanied by another dramatic number. The Volatility Index, also known as the fear gauge, jumped by 50 percent to its highest level in more than a year.Since countries are so knitted through the global economy, our anxiety level heightens when we see what's happening in other industrialized nations, such as the European Union. Some even believe that the rioting we're seeing in the streets of Great Britain is a preview of what American could soon be seeing.One who warned of similar dire circumstances if America is not able to get its house in order is none other than James Carville, the Democratic strategist. In an interview two months ago he called our nation's lingering unemployment rate a "humanitarian crisis of the first magnitude."If the bleak economic numbers continue - especially the high unemployment figures - Carville feels we're going to start to see "civil unrest in this country."This is not a good projection for President Obama, who built his last presidential campaign on a platform for "hope and change." The kind of finger-pointing we saw in the latest budget fight has not helped, but it seems Democrats have already settled on a strategy for the 2012 presidential campaign - bash the Tea Party.Apparently, the tactic of blaming George Bush for everything bad in the economy has run its course. That's been long overdue, since we've now tasted and been feeling the effects of Obamanomics for nearly three years. Under the new Democrats' attack strategy, we can expect to hear much more blame heaped on the Tea Party over the next 16 months.Poll numbers, however, should show party-driven politicians that most Americans are tired of the blame game. There's enough of a muddled mess to go around in this sorry economy for all sides to share the blame.If only the elected officials could apply the same energy they expend in fighting their political battles to attacking the deficit, the 9-plus percent employment and reducing that fear gauge, we'd be all the better off for it.By Jim Zbickjzbick@tnonline.com