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The Fourth of July is Clark's favorite American holiday.

He is a grandson of 4 Eastern Europeans -- a Russian, a Pole, an Austrian and a Lithuanian. Each came to this country to either escape oppression or for economic opportunity.

America gave his family freedom and opportunity. We enjoy such privilege living here. Yes, we mess up from time to time as a country, but we always figure it out and find the right path.

Freedom in America means so much to Clark. The freedom of thought, speech, movement and religion. The freedom to succeed or fail. Our Constitution guarantees us basic rights. The Bill of Rights is an unbelievable expression of freedom. Both are enduring documents.

Yet here we sit on the eve of the Fourth of July and there are still people who can be shot dead in the streets, such as in Iran. Simply because they wear green, they're viewed as an enemy of the state.

One of our staffers is Iranian-American, born of an Iranian mother and an American father. She has a unique perspective on the fight for freedom that the Iranian people are now undergoing. She remains proud that the people raised their voices after the election and continues to pray for them.

Clark hopes the day comes when Iranian citizens can celebrate freedom too, just like we do on the Fourth of July.

In addition, the consumer champ says he's proud to serve in the state guard, which he joined after 9/11. He believes freedom is earned and then you must work to keep it.

The Supreme Court has denied the right to challenge Cablevision on the issue of storing on-demand programming on servers instead of individual home devices, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This is a move that paves the way for technology to make your DVR obsolete. It also almost certainly means there will be new ways to watch video programming that we can't even conceive of yet.

Back in the late 1990s, staffers on the show thought Clark was crazy for talking about ReplayTV, which was the predecessor to TiVo.

Well, this Cablevision decision is bigger than DVR.

Within the next 2 years, the consumer champ predicts we'll have some kind of video device -- either at home or of the portable variety -- that will allow you to watch whatever you want, wherever you want, as you wish.

The coming developments will blow apart the traditional model where programmers decide what to air and when. You'll be completely in control of where, when and how you watch video content.

Will there even be program schedules -- other than for actual live events -- in 10 years from now?

The federal government has expanded its Home Affordable Refinance program to include more Americans who originally were ineligible because they were too far upside down in their homes.

The first incarnation of the program only applied to those who were 105% upside down. But now that limit has been raised to 125% of a home's current value.

The government is doing this to give an incentive to hang in there to struggling homeowners. Mortgage rates have dropped recently to about 5.35% on 30-year loans and 4.85% on 15-year loans. (Editor's note: Rates accurate as of June 30, 2009.)

Speaking of 15-year loans, there's a special new incentive from the feds. Under the new rules, the government will cover much of your closing costs if you shorten the length of your loan and go for a 15-year note.

Clark says this is a real triple threat -- in the good sense. First, you have the expanded opportunity to refinance. Second, you have the incentive to go into a 15-year loan, which automatically has a lower rate. Third, you have the feds absorbing some of your closing costs on a 15-year refi.

It's win, win, win.

Why would the feds work extra hard to get you to shorten the length of your loan? You start hitting more of your principal from the start on a 15-year mortgage, which ultimately lowers the risk to taxpayers.

Yet there's a lot of resentment from people who have been able to pay their mortgages. They wonder why we are paying to subsidize those who are drowning.

Clark's response? You're missing the bigger picture. Stopping foreclosures helps preserve everyone's property values -- including yours.

One caveat: In order to take advantage of the new expanded mortgage bailout, your loan must be owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. See instructions on how to determine if you qualify.

CLARKONOMICS: The national unemployment rate has risen to 9.5% from 9.4%, a move that's actually considered to be good news since the jump is less than expected!

One factor that has been tough is lengthier unemployment. One-third of those who are laid off have been unemployed for half a year or longer, according to one report.

So often when we can't find a job, it's natural to think, "What's wrong with me?" This statistic about serial unemployment could be a positive; it lets us know that there's nothing wrong with us as individuals. We're just caught in a bad economic cycle.

For too long, our economy defied the natural cycles of ups and downs with too many false positives. There was a flood of foreign money that propped things up and created extra cheap borrowing conditions. That allowed companies to borrow on the cheap and overbuild.

So as a result, we'll have to go through a period where it will be harder to find jobs. We have to get the fundamental health of the economy back on track and that will take some time.

Meanwhile, the average wage that people make is going nowhere. Historically, wages rise a few points each year and generally stay ahead of inflation. But right now they're flat. That means you might have to tighten your belt even if you're employed. In addition, your hours may be reduced.

And when will this all be over? The whole cycle is a long term play into 2020, Clark believes. We could have some good cycles over the next decade, but the true rehabilitation will take that long.