>You may perceive the proposed bail-out as letting crooks off the hook. I prefer to focus on families being able to keep their homes or to find the funds for send Johnny to Med School.

So bail out the families and hang the crooks. Convert their debt into something with less-than-skinning rate so they can repay it, and finance nobody's golden parachute, just preserve these thousands of houses and families.

>If we believe that our main task in life is to ensure that those who follow us have a better life, this crisis needs to be resolved even if the resolution allows a small number of greedy incompetents to get away with it. They always do, Dragan.

I know, but should we give them money once more before letting them run away with the money they lifted already? Doesn't sound smart.

>The silver lining is that there will be legislation and value transfer to government that never would have been tolerated while the electorate was thoroughly enjoying the easy credit bubble.

I am amazed at the collective stupidity of the masses who fell for this bubble. It's not simple cutting of the branch one sits on, it's also the other Serbian proverb, about cutting ears to patch the butt, and the third, most important one: "dug je zao drug" (debt is an evil friend).

As to anyone who sees this as dems vs goppers, fourth one: "selo gori, baba kose cešlja" (village burns, granny combs her hairs).