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One could argue that the essence of the recent bailouts of many major financial institutions is a "slap in the face" for the American middle class.

While some of the spinsters and politicians will argue that the government intervention and extraordinary level of deficit spending has kept the economy afloat, the reality of the situation is that it's like putting a band-aid on a wound that needs major surgery.

Each day, more consumers and taxpayers are going under because the financial playing field is anything but level and they just can't stay in the game. For example, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that, if a bank can charge double-digit interest (with enough additional fees to choke a horse) on money it buys for a few percent at best - and still needs to get bailed out to the tune of tens of billions of dollars (all under the supposedly watchful eye of the federal government); something has to be drastically wrong.

There is.

The folks in Congress have become, habitual, incurable over-spenders. They are, and have been for quite some time, giving too much money and giving too many breaks to the wrong people.

Getting some common people with common sense in Congress may be a better approach to resolving the financial crisis at hand.

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual