It's my contention that many of us seem to be in denial about the root causes of the current mess, which in my opinion is the fact that our post world war II Empire is in decline, the Average American can't afford the standard of living to which they are accustomed to in said Empire (including foreign policy),and that we have been borrowing and living beyond our means for a little too long. Now it's catching up with us.

So while it is valid to focus in on problems with Chicago public housing, and to blame Hippy Californians (though they are either semi-nomadic commune dwellers, or dope smugglers, which I understand is a purely cash business, and therefore don't have credit problems), it's like John McCain focusing in on earmarks. It's only 2% of the federal budget. Ron Paul was the only candidate that came close to discussing these structural problems. And we all know what a fringy whacko he was.

The cost basis for American labor versus places like India or China is astounding. We can't compete head to head unless we are better. But how better are we really? Germany seems to be dealing with this same situation fairly well, but they are are smaller country and have different attitudes towards education and seem to lack our anti-intellectual streak.

That's why I'm skeptical about the elimination of the double corporate taxation doing much to increase our global competitiveness. By itself, it's not sufficient.

Too many average Americans (meaning people like you and me, not those others) have become addicted to credit. Too many American businesses have become addicted to offering credit. The Housing bubble was a mania that was widespread throughout this country. There are some interesting graphs available on the internet showing parabolic housing prices in markets like Phoenix and Las Vegas. Check them out. They will show you that the craziness was widespread. If poor people are stuck, then so are many average Americans. They can't sell their houses without a loss, and nobody wants to buy something they can get cheaper later.

That's why Barney Frank and Paulson are dropping the bricks. They fear stagnation. Like any addiction, you have to keep increasing the dosage in order to see the same effects, until the fatal point of toxicity is reach and you over dose. I think we're getting pretty close to that point now with credit. I agree that handing out more cheap money to solve the problem of too much cheap money is like pouring gasoline on a burning fire. You and I can agree about taking responsibility for our actions, but while we watch the houses of the rich and/or foolish burn, we need to understand that the whole town may catch fire. That would be bad.

As far as the Senior Citizens go, it's not entirely their fault that life expectancy has increased greatly since social security was set up in the late 40s and early 50's. It's also not their fault that the cost of medical care has greatly exceeded inflation. Those are two of the reasons that the auto makers carry a lot of liabilities on their balance sheets.

Does Obama have a chance at turning this around? Maybe. A green revolution could revitalize our economy and change our foreign policy, though Empires don't yield gladly.

I'd probably give Detroit another shot, but more than just the UAW needs to change. If you want the unions to work like the Japanese, how about giving them healthcare like the Japanese, and how about giving the CEO's the same salaries as their Japanese counterparts?

It sounds like you are saying "if only the poor had more money,this whole mortgage crisis would never have occurred. Especially those public housing types in Chicago". While I agree it is better to have lower income folks own a house, then to stash them in public housing, the real issue with the Mortgage crisis is too many average Americans, most of them in the coastal areas and places like Las Vegas and Phoenix overpaying for houses and treating the house like an investment and an ATM. For example, as I recall, home equity lines of credit (aka 2nd mortgages) withdrawals in 2005 alone was north of $500 billion. That's pretty much two thirds of the original Paulson bailout.

Yes, lower income people with mortgages got ripped off, made LIAR loans, and are in trouble. But the real problem for the Country is in the Alt-A and Prime mortgage markets.

Now we are really screwed, and we (as a nation) can either work off that market imbalance fast or slow. If we go fast, a lot of (formerly non-poor) people will lose their houses and quite a few creditors will get taken to the cleaners. Before you write off the later, consider that some stereotypical retired person may be dependent on that income stream out of their pension or 401(k).

If we are lucky, it will be slow like the Japanese real estate bubble. We'll miss a depression, which I'm all in favor of, but real estate will take years to 'recover'.