(Yes, maybe I should buy kruggerands and bullets, grow a lot of beans, set up a windmill, and move to the mountains)

As far as I know, banks are supposed to invest depositors' money by loaning it out at interest, after figuring out how risky each loan is and giving it an interest rate appropriate to the level of risk.

It would seem that many banks either didn't do the evaluation part, or better yet, invested in loans someone else made, or in slices of stacks of loans (CDO's), or even in more complex kinds of investments.

And now I'm expected, you're expected, we're all expected, to have our government borrow a shitload of more money to:

BUY these investments from the banks

at a price the banks set

It's practically a done deal.

Also:

Republican senators have about twice the influence that Democratic ones do
Israeli lobbyists have about twice the influence that Republican senators do
Right-wing commentators love Republicans and hate Democrats
Left-wing commentators hate Republicans and hate Democrats

conclusion: if I have to be something, I should be a Republican. At least when they lose, they still win, and people still like them.

If I weren't so damn lazy, I'd probably go in for the "f*** all y'all" school of political thought, aka real libertarianism, aka every man for himself.