Congratulations! You're the Proud New Owner...

of potentially worthless pieces of paper valued at $700B!!!!! You've got to be kidding me! But, alas, we have reached the point in our society where 'instant gratification' and white-collar criminals have met. I'm writing from work, so when I get home I'll attached an excellent, low-budget powerpoint presentation on the subprime mess. It spells it out as simple as any thing I've seen or read.

True to my mission statement, it's time for some accountability. Clearly, the white-collar criminals figured out a way to tap into work arounds to the traditional way of securing a mortgage. How could someone with no job (and no requirement to verify employment) possibly afford a $500K house? Creative financing, that's how! There aren't nearly as many now as there were last year, but they are still out there, hiding amongst the shadows hoping that they can lure another unsuspecting victim into their 'creative' financing lair. So, while I hope we catch all the criminals, make them pay back the money, and make them suffer and lose their homes, the ol' foreclosed mortgaged homeowners bear some responsibility and need to be held to task for their piece in this debacle. Interestingly enough, it looks like only about 10% of all mortgages were effected. Can you imagine if we secured mortgage folks foreclosed. Our economy would really be in shambles. As it is, the only entity that could help did--the Feds. I am not for a big federal government and I support the free market economy, but sometimes equilibrium takes a generation to acheive and we simply can't wait that long. The Feds, with the power to tax (read 'generate income'), at least stuck their thumb into the leaking financial crisis dike. Obviously, only time will tell if this is a success.