Where is the other side of the story? I remember seeing two candidates running for POTUS -- how about expanding your journalistic integrity by telling us how the other candidate handled this issue or what steps he took to address the issue in the short time he was in office (compared to his opponent)? Or would that not fit the agenda of this piece?

Please try to make a better effort in your research before you jump to conclusions. As a 12-yr loan officer, I was on the front lines when this all happened, and I can safely say (as do my peers who know better) that your "sub-prime crisis" was caused mostly by people who lived beyond their means. And take a guess as to which group of people had a harder time of living on a budget; and take a guess what level of education these groups had and how it showed in their understanding of their credit obligations? You mention only ONE Nehimiah program, as opposed to the whole country's. I can tell you of ONE group of low-income borrowers that has an even lower default rate, but that doesn't paint the whole picture. And bundling the mortgages didn't directly create this mess, either -- it was the hedging with Credit Default Swaps that was allowed to go on unregulated, mainly because no one had any idea how to regulate something so complex and derivative. Your biased agenda is borderline embarrassing. Try talking to the "poor minority people" you mention. Take a good, long look at their credit reports (with permission, of course) to review their credit history -- I would almost guarantee that you will see the similar pattern over extended years. What doesn't help us is when consumer credit is so readily available and it's so easy to finance a car or home electronics or furniture or other huge (and very unnecessary) debt obligations incurred, and the only recourse when times are tight is to refinance the one thing they have left: their home. And guess what? By that time, their credit is tarnished and they are subject to higher rates because of it. But it's all the system's fault, not the consumer, according to you.

then again, both teams then have to fly to the west coast for the next two games, and the sooner they do that, the better...

I've lived in and around Charlotte for 12 years now, moving here from Phoenix, and I can say that yes, the state system is taxing us into oblivion, and things need to change. It will not be a surprise to see Ms. Dole not be re-elected, for the same reasons that former Sen. Faircloth (another Republican who overpromised and underdelivered) was booted out of office. The state administration, from what I can see (based on years of personally fighting city hall) is strife with "good ol' boy" politics and corruption. Given all the taxes we pay, you would not know it based on what you see in the superstructure, and every day our local papers are filled with stories of exposed political embezzlement and graft. The Democrat machine has failed us on the state level, just as the Republican machine has failed us on the national level. I, for one, will be voting for the reverse on both sides, if for nothing else to clean house and have a fresh set of eyes look at things.

Doesn't even exist. The Constitution makes no mention of it (but God forbid that a Democrat do something outside the Constitution -- that's different). But if that's the worst the new guy can do, then I'm ok with it -- I just hope his arrogance and pomposity keeps him strong during those long lonely days and nights while he struggles from getting in over his head...