>>>Like a lot of conservatives, you mistake individual economic greed for quality of life.
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>>>And like a lot of liberals, you want to punish success. I believe that people have a right to enjoy what they have worked so hard to achieve.
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>>Being part of the society at large and the more able paying a higher portion of the bill are not new concepts, nor are they punishment.
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>>I sense in you the same thing I do in Jake -- that you look at everything in economic terms. When that's the case I'm sure it's easy to disregard other things and look at society in a Darwinian way. I don't remember exactly how Jake put it yesterday but he basically said for the system to be strong, the weak have to be allowed to fail. That's it, they fall by the wayside, end of story. Well, I don't agree.
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>If someone makes bad investments while looking for the quick buck, why do I have to bail him out?
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>If someone contracts for something they can not afford (like a home), why do I have to keep him in it?
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>If someone runs a business into the ground, why do I have to artificially keep it running?
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>I'm listening.

We're still talking about money, money, money, so I guess I didn't make my point very well. But OK, let's talk about money. I actually agree with you on an individual basis. Bad decisions should have consequences, whether it's an individual or couple who buys a home they should know they might not be able to afford or businesses who place huge stakes in highly risky financial instruments as though they were as safe as T bills. (Did you know AIG had twice their market capitalization in default credit swaps?) Consequences -- this is what we try to teach our children.

When these things are happening on a macro basis, though, as they have been for the past year or more (longer in the real estate market), it becomes a problem for all of us. Do you think it's healthy for us as a country to have millions of people foreclosed on and forced out of their homes? To have many of our largest financial institutions fail and the lubricant of credit seize up? To have tens of millions without health insurance? IMO it's naive to think even those who have been financially prudent will go unscathed in that kind of catastrophe.