ase

Okay, I'm going to disagree slightly, if I may-- I think the current financial difficulties are not primarily the fault of the government-- I frankly don't believe that the government has nearly as much to do with economic cycles as people think it does, either the good times or the bad. The current banks-collapsing-things-going-all-to-heck was caused primarily by both banks and individuals, being greedy, and no one-- no politician of either party, no academic for that matter, and precious few sensible people, stepping back and saying "Wait... what?!" (I'm really bitter about this, and also fairly knowledgeable on this subject, because I have been trying to buy a house for the last four years and have been unable to, because of people who kept driving the price up. Often people who could not afford it and were buying on crappy ARMs which no sane bank ought to have backed. Because "house prices always go up." I'm sorry, but no politician told them that; they were thoughtless all by themselves.)

That being said, stupid politicians (e.g., our deficit, bailout thingies) are not helping in the slightest! And if any individuals are somewhat responsible, it's the Fed Reserve folks, who have been appointed by, well. So I don't really disagree with you.

Also, pork chops, yum. I'll have to try that. I'm trying to cook more this month too. I tried shrimp the other night for the first time (fry in lots of olive oil, cumin, paprika, and salt) and it was awesome.