Thanks for sharing the links. As is usually the case, both parties are talking out of both sides of their mouths on this. However, neither party is denying that the government now runs Fannie and Freddie, and holds responsibility for its debts. The view of Rep. Barney, D-Mass., is akin to the view of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who stated that economy's fundamentals are strong. Both seem to be out of touch with reality, usually the product of political posturing. I want to be clear: I do not want to make dire economic trends that have led to the decisions made in the past few days to be some kind of political Ping-Pong ball. I stick to my point. You can defend free markets or not. But you cannot defend them until they don't work and then place the burden for the malfunciton on taxpayers. Best- Mac McKerral