Economic Mumbo Jumbo

I have been trying very hard to make some sense of the Economic Bail Out that is currently working its way through the bowls of the Congress and I think that I may finally have it. It is crazily simple in its complexity and I hesitate to say that I understand it because, if I am right, it makes almost no sense. It is so nutty that it just might work.

All of this debt that banks and mortgage firms built up over the last few years is crippling them and in some cases, driving them clear out of business. What the Feds are proposing is that they (we, the taxpayer/citizens) will buy up all of these mortgages and mortgage based securities on the premise that they will indeed be valuable again one day. It seems even the banks that are being crushed by this dept believe that. The problem is, none of them have enough money to absorb the losses and remain in business long enough for the value to return. That's where we come in, with the dump truck full of money.
The Federal Reserve buys up all of mortgages and debts at rock bottom prices, and for good measure, loans themselves the money to do it. Thus they become both debtor and creditor and can allow themselves to slide on the payments. In the meantime, they collect money from all the good mortgages and any payouts from the securities. After some time passes, those mortgages and securities will become somewhat valuable again as the bad loans are weeded out. At that point the Fed begins selling them off to the banks again, but at a profit.
That is the plan as best I can piece together. My big fear here is that if enough people see the mirrors through the smoke they will realize that the whole system is built on deception. If that happens, all bets are off and everyone begins investing in beads and shells.

sadness

A friend of mine died the other day in a motorcycle crash near Yosemite. Pat and I were not super close, but I call him a friend because he was a person who I enjoyed drinking beer with and would have backed up in a fight. I did not see him often and had not known him for a long time, but I very much enjoyed when he was around. I will miss him.

The Politics of Insomnia

I have officially given up on sleeping this night.
I don't know why, but i just cant seem to shut down. It may be related to the sad state of political affairs in this country that has be revved up.
Politics has been a rancorous and ugly process since ancient times, but it looks worse up close. I guess I expect better of our enlightened modern selves than I do of the men of old, though apparently I should not. Well, there is far less murdering in the streets now so we have that going for us.
I find that the subject of election year politics is so polarizing that it is nearly impossible to have a civil discussion with someone unless they are already in agreement with you. Even then it is difficult to have an intelligent conversation. I find that most people make visceral rather than reasoned decisions about who to support. Few people can give you their reasons for supporting Candidate Alpha over Candidate Beta, they just don't like the other guy. As long as they can vilify Beta, Alpha's policies are policies are not relevant nor open for discussion. Any defense of Beta is seen as an attack on Alpha even if you are correcting some bit of verifiably false information. In all likelihood your new info will be dismissed as media bias and you will be dismissed as a patsy.
It is a sad state of affairs and I wish I were better and more eloquent writer so that I could make an impassioned plea for change that would move the hearts of my countrymen to do better. Move them to ask the tough questions and demand good answers of candidates instead of platitudes and ad hominem attacks. I feel we are half way there, but that second half is much bigger than the first. Citizens do demand answers, but only from the Other Guy. And no answer can be good enough.

games

There are 2 new games in my life, though i have very little time to play them.
Wii Fit - it is not exactly a game as others are but it sure can be fun like one. It can also be frustrating to have a machine call you a disgusting fat body, though in the most polite way possible.

Fantastic Contraption - This is the greatest web game I have come across in a long time. It is awesome fun and has great replayabilty. I highly recommend it to any of you mechanically minded readers out there. That last bit was an attempt at humor, I know I have no readers.