Upton Sinclair was certainly right when he said, in effect, that you can’t make people believe something if their jobs depend on not believing in it – certainly an apt description of the REIC (real estate agents being some of the worst offenders and mortgage brokers the enablers).

Homeowners had to believe prices would continue to appreciate, against all reason, or they would be in deep trouble. Certainly those who get in at the top of a pyramid scheme are guaranteed to lose. Those who got in and got out soon enough lined their pocket with the largesse of what was a totally preventable asset bubble.
It is particularly poignant to think of the 2 million more Americans who lost their health insurance last month while listening to Congress whine about 2 million Americans possibly losing their homes. They can rent. If you don’t have health insurance the financial implications are far worse than being “forced” to rent instead of own a place to live.

The vast majority of people in trouble with their mortgages bought more than they can afford (or recklessly borrowed against their home’s value). Is it any wonder Americans have become more and more cavalier about debt? Their government does it. And our politicians encourage spending over saving. At the heart of this mess is a primary problem: our economy has been in trouble for a long time, but the smoke and mirrors of seemingly comfortable lifestyles that easy credit afforded the slowly drowning middle class made everything seem hunky dory. I am not surprised to see politicians scrambling to figure out this mess, I’m just surprised how few mainstream media outlooks are pointing out the real culprits.

Frankly, I don’t see any bail out saving the housing market. It is certainly ironic that classic free-marketers on Wall Street who HATE regulation would even suggest such a thing. I would hope, however, that if Wall Street gets any sort of “welfare” from the “state” that they would be forced to also swallow the bitter medicine of regulation with it.

“Yeah, I found a guy who’ll do it. Fidel. Yeah, the Cuban guy.”

For those who don’t know – this recent letter basically suggests the people of the U.S. will wimp out and force their President to leave Iraq too soon and, well, that will allow them to set up an Islamic state and move out from there – eventually taking over the whole Middle East (no more Israel). If true, this is a powerful letter supporting the administration’s “we will stay until the job is done (although we can’t quite tell you what that job is)” policy. Some are questioning if this is simply propaganda created by the administration.

They might not be so suspicious if they knew about the “lost letters” – these are very similar in how they portray the “people” of America vs. their government. The lost letters are very interesting. These were translated roughly into English – and I’m only including the relevant parts (cutting out most of the various ‘peace be upon hims’ and ‘salams’):

And it should be said that any indictments of Karl Rove or the one they call Scooter will be very helpful in establishing an Islamic Caliphant. If they do indeed proceed, this could be the event that turns the war in the Holy Lands to our favor.

I am hoping the pressure to go back on suspending the Davis Bacon Act in the Gulf States devasted by Private Katrina will be bowed to. If they force them to pay what the Infidels call a prevailing wage, this could cause us to lose the great jihad in Iraq.
I also have analyzed the situation with the Senator they call Delay. Should they successfully prosecute him, this will certainly help all jihadists throughout the world. The American people are helping us so much with these actions.

We dread greatly the confirmation of the infidel woman to the Supreme Court. If she is confirmed, this will set back our jihad many years. We do hope the infidel Bush relents and withdraws her nomination.

I was concerned during the time after the devastation by Private Katrina. It seems Americans were pressuring their government to act quickly to save the victims – if the government had listened it would have undermined our jihad in many places. It is fortunate that the leaders of America are not swayed by the American people as by doing so they would most certainly harm our great jihad. Death to America. Jihad Forever. Salam Malakim.

I thought this was very much in line with the letter that Al Qaeda denies they wrote – showing that maybe they did write it, as they have a similar, how should we say it, spin.

And yes, that is Geraldo – once again braving all dangers to get us breaking news!

One of my favorite entries is by Patriot Boy.

“I just realized at 9 miles to the gallon, I was part of the problem,” explained an ex-Hummer fan who asked to remain anonymous. “I kept thinking I had something on my face or my fly was down anyway, people were giving me such strange looks when I got out of the thing. At first I thought they envied me, and I felt important, but then I realized they were looks of disgust.”

Recent studies have shown that U.S. consumption of oil has been increasing at a rate of 2% of year. Many people attribute this to the move toward bigger vehicles that use obscene amounts of gas.

“When it costs people $80 to fill their tanks every week, they start to think about their decisions. In many ways, rising gas prices could be a good thing. It forces people to understand the economic consequences of energy gluttony,” an expert on energy matters stated.

“Oh balderdash,” responded the president of America Only, Only Americans. “This is our gas, our oil. Let the Marxists conserve gas like the pansies they are. We are Americans. Anyone suggests making my Escalade smaller and less powerful so I look like some fairy Frenchman, I say to them “from my cold dead hands.”