I talk to a number of registered voters every week as a volunteer for the local Democratic Party. One thing that's pretty clear is that many of them really don't understand the mortgage meltdown or the broader financial meltdown. And in talking to these voters, it became clear to me that I didn't understand it all that well, either.

So I spent a little time trying to understand it better (I think a "thorough" understanding is beyond me, and may well be beyond any single person). This isn't complete, by any means, but here's some information that might help with the basics.

I talk to a number of registered voters every week as a volunteer for the local Democratic Party. One thing that's pretty clear is that many of them really don't understand the mortgage meltdown or the broader financial meltdown. And in talking to these voters, it became clear to me that I didn't understand it all that well, either.

So I spent a little time trying to understand it better (I think a "thorough" understanding is beyond me, and may well be beyond any single person). This isn't complete, by any means, but here's some information that might help with the basics.

I talk to a number of registered voters every week as a volunteer for the local Democratic Party. One thing that's pretty clear is that many of them really don't understand the mortgage meltdown or the broader financial meltdown. And in talking to these voters, it became clear to me that I didn't understand it all that well, either.

So I spent a little time trying to understand it better (I think a "thorough" understanding is beyond me, and may well be beyond any single person). This isn't complete, by any means, but here's some information that might help with the basics.

You don't have to be a lawyer to have an intuitive feel for what "charitable" means. And I'll bet that most people's intuition would say there's nothing "charitable" about trying to stop the Alaskan legislature's investigation into whether Sarah Palin abused her authority in what has become popularly known as "Troopergate" when she fired that state's top law enforcement official, Walt Monegan.

Heard the one about how Clinton monkeyed with the law and caused the housing/mortgage/credit/stock market crisis? No? How about the one where Jimmy Carter did the same thing, but like 20 years earlier? Hey, did you hear that? It's crap whizzing by at the speed of light. Let's see if any sticks. Did you hear the one about how the crisis all stems from the fed government making banks issue mortgages based on the applicant's welfare benfits and unemployment benefits?

Boy it's really "unfair" and "unbalanced" for Gwen Ifill to serve as moderator of tonight's Palin-Biden debate, huh? I mean, she must be horribly biased and prejudiced and untrustworthy to cause such an outcry from Malkin to Drudge, to produce so much discussion on Fox, to merit so many news stories on "can she be impartial" (see here, for example).

On Thursday I asked "will they [House Republicans] use this [bailout proposal] as an excuse to do away with still more taxes on rich folks?" Of course they will, or at least try until they're exhausted......

I thought both candidates were strong in last night's presidential debate at Ole Miss, but I'd give the edge to Barack Obama because he had more to prove and John McCain showed so much contempt for his opponent, a trait that's as attractive on him as it was on Al Gore in 2000. McCain avoided eye contact with Obama the entire debate and didn't express a single moment of good regard towards him, even when touting the importance of bipartisanship in solving the Wall Street banking crisis.

It was a very strange, extremely political, day. It started with Senator Chris Dodd saying: that Dems and Repubs had "reached a fundamental agreement on a set of principles," By the end of the White House meeting, however, it was obvious that (a) there was no agreement and (b) House Republicans had their own version of a plan which apparently had little to do with the plan that had been discussed up until then. Even before the meeting, Barney Frank accused McCain of , according to the Washington Post, "undermining the [current] proposal and prodding House Republicans to lay out a wholly different approach that is opposed by the White House."

Interesting results from Fairleigh Dickinson University's Public Mind Poll of voters in Delaware and Alaska on whether they think Palin or Biden is more qualified to become President....

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