A thought about the "Financial Crisis." Don't get me wrong about the Quotes. I do think we are in a financial mess and calling it a crisis is probably appropriate. Unfortunately, a lot of the panic is being fueled by politics. Consider two, probably competing, interests. One: Bush and the Administration wanting to do anything they can do to avoid economic turmoil and the blame that goes with it. Two: The democrats wanting to harp on how bad Bush has ruined the economy. Together, they have convinced everyone that the world as we know it is coming to an end.

Now, the world may very well come to an end tomorrow. This may be the last you hear from me on My Man Mitt or anywhere else. But if it does, a lot of it will be because the "crisis" hit during prime time political season. Consider the stock market for a moment. People the country over who have any kind of money tied up therein are trying to find any other kind of investment vehicle that exists for their money because of the "crisis." Someone with more financial wisdom than me may dispute this, but aren't we talking primarily about financial institutions being in trouble? I was under the impression that many companies that are traded publicly have little to nothing to do with the credit derivatives and other gnarly schemes the JP Morgan types all conspire about at the cocktail parties. Even if there are problems with the insurance companies, do we realy think all of these other companies are going to default on their credit obligations for some reason?

The problem here is that the government lacks credibility and so they have to scream at the top of their lungs "crisis" to get attention and that doesn't reassure us, it just makes us want to pull money out of our banks. Oh yeah, and since the government wants to throw another 700 billion on the credit card to buy stupid loans, we have lingering doubts about the whole FDIC thingy. We're acutely aware that if all goes south as predicted, the FDIC is grossly undercapitalized.

So, where does this leave us? The Republicans are choking, many Democrats are gagging, and the whole country is turning blue as the administration, Pelosi and co. try to shove the package down our throat. If it doesn't pass and all goes bad, its the Republicans fault. If it passes, it is the Republicans fault for getting us into this mess. And if the world doesn't end tomorrow, it will be the Republicans fault we have to live to feel the hangover all of this "crisis" talk is giving me. So, I just want to thank the Democratic controlled Congress for the important work they have done the past two years to keep this from being worse than it could have been. I look forward to many more fine years with their steady hand at the helm.