Posted on October 1 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Come on guys. I gave you a chance to blame the democrats since during Carter's time regulations were removed that allowed the fiasco that was the savings and loan bailout to happen in Reagan's term and this one is directly due to removal of more regulation allowing banks to get in the investment business because of a law passed during Clinton's watch (albeit a Republican bill in a veto proof Congress). To blame poor people grabbing an opportunity for house ownership more than the rating agencies that resold these toxic mortgages at inflated prices is a kiss up and kick down mentality. Many people speculated that their house would just keep going up, up, up and then walked off with a house worth less than their mortgage and they weren't just poor people but also people owning several houses. If you bought it, you should have to pay for it. Time to quit calling it a housing bubble and start calling it a credit bubble since that was all it was - many people buying more than they could afford with easy credit. We always want some low level person to fall on the sword and if you want to blame poor people, help yourself. Fannie May and Freddie Mac was after the fact - it was just the first attempt of the government to stop the hemorrhage.

On Will U.S. Treasury's $700 billion bailout fix the weak economy?

Posted on September 29 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

After the last depression, all kinds of safeguards were put in place so that it wouldn't happen again. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the United States and included banking reforms. Some provisions such as Regulation Q that allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts were repealed by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 which brought on the Savings and Loan crisis and doubled our national debt. Provisions that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other financial companies and would not have allowed them to get in the investment business were repealed on November 12, 1999 by a bipartisan, conference committee version of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act signed by President Bill Clinton.

It is actually the removal of government regulations (less government) that caused this, not more government.

On Will U.S. Treasury's $700 billion bailout fix the weak economy?

Posted on September 3 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A little history: "All colors and kinds of immigrants have historically been the subject of violent and bigoted campaigns, targeted by so-called Nativists who demand that their arrivals cease. These range from the Know Nothings whose main efforts focused on keeping out Irish and other Catholic immigrants, to the anti-German agitation that peaked in the 1870-1920 period, followed by the anti-Asian campaigns that flourished between 1880 and 1924. The latter were notable for the appearance, for the first time, of an effort not merely to prevent their arrival but to actively deport those already here, accompanied by the requisite eliminationist action, including violent massacres and concentration camps. The same impulse lives on today in the agitation against Latino immigration, which has proved to be a major bridge for extremists to expand their reach into the mainstream of American discourse." - David Neiwert

On Immigration group drives billboard through Twin Cities

Posted on August 31 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

So many people who sexually abuse have been sexually abused themselves. You would think that they would be the last to do so, but the experience often destroys any empathy toward other humans - that is why so many violent criminals have a background of child abuse. Just saying.

On Ages released of alleged Good Sam abusers

Posted on August 30 at 8:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

So suicides have surpassed US deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wish all the people who have "Support the Troops" stickers would band together and set up peer counseling places for PTSD victims instead of waiting for them to check into VA hospitals. Some things just don't have a medical solution. Excellent opinion piece.

On U.S. need to address soldier suicides better

Posted on August 28 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

There is also plenty of information about turning algae into biofuel. According to Wikipedia, "Since the whole organism converts sunlight into oil, algae can produce more oil in an area the size of a two-car garage than an entire football field of soybeans".

On Perhaps treat the lake with paramecium?