I'm sure everyone else is reeling in shock from the financial news this week and the staggering numbers involved in bailing out our financial institutions from the bad mortgages they so eagerly gave out--in fact, sometimes thrust upon ill-educated and non-English speaking borrowers. Instead of explaining carefully how Adjustable Rate Mortgages worked--that your mortgage payment goes up with any increase in the Feds lending rate--they just let people think they could always afford their mortgage payment, which started out low. Most people, alas, don't read the volumes of fine print in such contracts--they rely on the explanation of their real estate agent mainly. Who speaks legalese? And under de-regulation, no one was watching to make sure these things were explained properly or that the borrower was really able to take on the debt. So here we are, watching the domino effect spill out onto stock markets, mutual funds, and other parts of our financial system. Now it comes down to the taxpayer--and the children and grandchildren and possibly the great-grandchildren of today's taxpayer.

Today we are all mortgage brokers...

Let's remember--and tell our grandchildren to remember--Republicans are NOT the party of fiscal responsibility any more. They have spent so much on war and greed and irresponsibility that it will be a miracle if we can finance health care and shore up our infrastructure and repair our schools for global competition.