I'm sure we've all been watching all the scary stuff on TV. Banks failing, major companies going bust, a trillion dollar bailout? Oh.my.gosh! I'm afraid I don't have a really good handle on what exactly is going on, but it sounds pretty freaky to me. Especially since I work for a bank. Fortunately, one of the more solid ones, but still it's a little scary.

There's so many questions - where is this trillion dollars coming from? What are they going to do with it? Are they buying all these mortgages or are they just guaranteeing them? Do we get a say in this? I'm hoping they're going to answer some of these questions before they go doing something really drastic.

I just can't imagine that something a bunch of rich guys in suits come up with over a weekend is going to be anything good at all. Am I the only one freaking out about all this? I am hoping that they aren't just going to let the people responsible for all this mess go skipping off into the sunset counting their money.

I think the big problem here is GREED and lots of it. You have the people at Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns who were doing their best to make a buck (or two - MILLION!). After all, they've got multi-million dollar CEO's to support. Then you've got the Mortgage brokers who were selling Mortgage loans to every Tom, Dick, and Harry to they can meet their goals and make their thousands of dollars in bonuses. I used to work in the Payroll Dept and I've seen some of those executive bonuses. They are more than I make in a year!

I think the consumers are even greedy. Here they are taking on a mortgage obligation for a house they know they can't possibly afford. Again, greed. It's just champagne taste on a beer budget. I can't even imagine taking on an adjustable rate mortgage. Sure you get a nicer house than you ever dreamed of, but did they ever think that the mortgage might adjust higher than they could afford? They're certainly more trusting than I am. When I sign for a loan, especially for something as important as a house, I'm going to make damn sure I can afford the payment. That is where my family is going to live and even if it's not as nice as I'd like, I wouldn't be willing to take the chances that some of these people did.

And don't get me started on our pal Bush and all his buddies in big business that he's always so anxious to help. Can a President be horsewhipped? I would love to know how many years ago his advisors warned him that this was going to happen? I can't believe that this was a total surprise for them. Yes, let's have another four years of Republican's running the country. It's worked out well for us so far.

I just want to line them all up like they do in the frat houses and just whack them all with a big paddle for a week or two. Because these people were so stupid and greedy, all the rest of us have to suffer and heaven only knows what kind of long term damage this is going to do to our economy and to our children and grandchildren.

Sorry for ranting, but this whole thing is just really freaking me out. Between this and the war, the environment and the elections, it's a wonder I can ever sleep at all..... I think we've got lots more scary stuff coming up in our future regardless of who is sitting in the White House.