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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> You don't seem to be saying that they won't be hurt, but instead, that in 
> the long term it would be beneficial, after  the pain. 

Not precisely.  As many fool as I know who borrowed money on the fake rise in 
equity of their houses and kite from one credit card to the other just to 
eat, I know just as many people who were wooed by the banks to take out a 
HELOC 
loan ("You deserve that vacation to the tropics!") and said, "Sorry, but only 
a 
fool would do that."

You, Bob, paint a picture that the honest, hardworking, frugal person who has 
been very careful with their affairs will be blind-sided by this debacle and 
stand there, palms upturned, shrugging their shoulders, and saying they are 
suffering harm through no fault of their own.

I'm telling you that's not so.

One interview I read was of a woman with an investment business who was 
bemoaning the fact that she could not get yet another bank loan to tide her 
over 
because two clients had bellied up and could not pay her.  The gist was, 
'hard 
working people like this'.  Hard working?  Pshaw.  It reminds me of the line 
in 
the song, "That' ain't woiking, that's the way you do it, money for nothing 
and you chicks for free..."   That isn't someone who is hard working and, boo 
hoo, after all my hard work look at what's happened!   

In my misspent youth I was the night audior for a group of local motels.  The 
vice president of the company's first name was Morris and the people who 
worked there referred to him as Morris the Cat because he was never seen to 
do 
anything of any benefit.  The night auditor had been there since eleven the 
previous evening, and that usually after a day in college, trying to untangle 
the 
books with charges and reciepts scribbled on the backs of folios and vouchers 
written on chewing gum wrapers and stuck under the drawer.  Here would come 
Morris the Cat sailing in at 5:30 in the morning, gruffly demand to see the 
ledgers, then go off raising hell with the kitchen staff because they did not 
have 
the breakfast of such a busy man as himself ready.  After all, HE got up at 
4:00 every day and worked haaaard!  But all the worthless wankle ever did was 
check the ledgers in the morning and did nothing at all the rest of the day.  
Yet sold himself as being the epitome of the hardworking businessman.

Most of the 'ooooo, these hard working people are going to be harmed' falls 
into that category. Anyone doing real work, producing real things, and doing 
so 
under sound business practices is going to be fine.

What I mean by bettering their lot is that people will no longer be able to 
put up the pretense of 'working' when all they are doing is shuffling piles 
of 
paper and bits on a computer from here to there.   </HTML>