Thomas Paine wrote inflamatory papers during the American Revolutionary period that advised a common sense approach to the issues of the day. It is now said that there is nothing common about common sense today. Having suffered through this past election I'm more inclined than ever to agree that there is very little common sense in the public realm. President George W. Bush has been blamed for the current crisis but there is very little evidence to support this line of thinking. Liberals have forced lending institutions to accept mortgages that had no possible means of being repaid, so the banks ratcheted up the interest rates to cover the liability. 100% of nothing is and always will be nothing. The shell games and greed that enticed so many to write faulty loans did not benefit those that otherwise wouldn't have been able to own their own homes, to the contrary they were a recipe for failure. Sadly those that knew better chose money and/or votes over common sense and now in addtion to having lost life savings and dream homes those that were talked into signing bad loans have destroyed credit and the rest of us that have worked hard to pay our bills can't get legitimate loans. All the while those that got rich on these schemes are getting bailed out by those of us that can't get business loans or lines of credit to keep the economic engine turning. Yet again our government painted us into a corner and has now put the responsibility for cleaning up their mess on my children and grand children. Had the Constitution been followed we wouldn't be in this mess. Thanks to all who put themselves and their greed above the common good. I only hope the Fed will open many, many criminal investigations and levy hefty fines that will go into the treasury.