Something stinks. I showered this morning so it's not me.

It boggles my mind that any business entity believes it can rampantly extend credit to risky customers with no consequences. Home ownership, nor credit of any kind, should have never been a “community initiative”. If a fraction of the money and effort had been spent in creating jobs instead of creating opportunities for businesses and consumers to overextend themselves we would have built a free market foundation for those willing to work for what they have and can afford. Clearly we’d still have corruption and manipulation; it’s human nature.

There's a fundamental difference between charity and entitlement. Charity is personal and we have seen it work. Entitlement is contrived and although there are exceptions, rarely works.

It scares the hell out of me that one of the people (Obama), his hands as dirty as anyone, perhaps dirtier than most, has a very good chance of becoming President with a democratically controlled congress. It doesn’t calm my nerves that McCain has been in Congress since 1983 while this sore festered either.

Entitlement does not work. This mentality goes as far back as Franklin Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter apparently planted this time bomb that just went off. Each generation has built upon a house of cards. I hold every President and congress person who’s held office since 1977 culpable. We can choose to knock it down and start over or put some tape on it and hope it remains standing until we can move out and let our kids and grandchildren deal with it.

Complexity breeds corruption and manipulation. It’s time to get back to some common sense basics. People should get the credit they can afford. People who overextend themselves need to deal with the consequences. Companies that extend credit to risky customers need to deal with those consequences. Our government needs to protect the public from fraudulent and criminal behavior.

If you believe the “bailout” will solve anything, google “Henry Paulson”. Just who is getting bailed out here? How much of Paulson’s $700 million net worth is still tied up in Goldman Sachs, where he was CEO from 1999 to 2006. His network extends all across many of the ailing and now defunct financial institutions. People like Steve Wynn and Warren Buffet are putting forward ideas (and actions) that free up the credit market, hold the financial institutions accountable, and allow the market to sort out the garbage of overpriced assets.

There are already too many regulations that are not enforceable. The tax code is too complex, which by its nature encourages manipulation and corruption resulting in an unfair distribution of cost. There are too many programs that require a tax base that is becoming unbearable. The SEC is asleep at the wheel.

Our government is the 32 year old kid that hasn’t moved out of his parent’s house, throws wild parties, has loser friends that come and go at will, he’s stolen your credit cards, eats all of your food then trashes the furniture and won’t clean up after himself. Our society has become the parents that turn a blind eye, clean up the house, put more food in the refrigerator and makes the minimum payment on the credit card bill.

On the brink, but it's not what you think...

The political posturing of our public servants over recent days is despicable. Nobody can claim credit for anything right now. It's analogous to offering to give CPR to someone you just shot. The vast majority of us are not short sighted enough to lose the fact that it has been poor policy, over-legislation and under-management in our governments and big business over the last 20 years (at least) that has made making an honest living one of the most difficult things to achieve today. Nearly none of us would accept the excuses or self-centered behavior we've seen them demonstrate from our employees or children. Why do we accept it from our so-called leaders?

People with little or no credit should not get loans. If they do get credit and can't make their payments, they should lose their asset. Businesses that routinely extend credit to risky customers should go out of business. Our government should enforce legislation that protects us all from fraudulent and devious activities. Complexity in systems encourage manipulation and chaos. It's time to get back to some basics.

This said, now that we're on this slippery slope let's pray that our leaders put together an "investment" package that 1) clearly defines the rules for which businesses qualify for "investment" , 2) as with the airline packages in the recent past, loans, instead of investment, state a term for repayment at favorable but fair rates, 3) no special interest funding or earmarks and 4) investigation and accountability into the firms and the past legislation that allowed debt to accumulate and be traded at the magnitude we're seeing.

There are a lot of smart business people that can guide this wreck forward. Paulson isn't one of them. It would be interesting to know how much of Henry Paulson's estimated $700 million net worth is invested in interests that might be involved in this so-called bailout. For that matter, full disclosure would be more than interesting for those crafting these financial devices. After all the money is spent scooping up these assets, the bad debts will still exist, right? Do you really want the federal government deciding to foreclose on your house or reposess your car because they now own the loan you weren't qualified to get in the first place? Warrants, loans, or just gifts of money do not erase bad debt. Nobody in this equation is going to forgive missed payments.

It should make all of us sick that the executives of these "failed" companies have fleeced the system for billions of dollars while they ran their firms into the ground. These are the same companies that, through their financial might, have influenced our public servants and shaped favorable legislation that has built the culture of industrial irresponsibility that has created infamous names as Enron, Ty, MCI, and I predict Fannie Mae, Lehman, and Goldman Sachs will join them before this is over.