Check Please

I was reminiscing this morning a little bit about days gone by.  In high school, I wanted a new pair of Air Jordans, a brand new pair of parachute pants and I remember having a hearty appetite after a night of living it up with my friends.  Ahh, the good ol' days right?  Then I began to deflate a little bit thinking about that one friend who always ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and never had the cash to pay for it.  You know the one.  You all had at-least one blood sucking leach in your crew who always had the propensity to say:  "Man, I forgot my wallet.  Do you think you can get me this time?  Problem was, "this time" was more like "every time." So, there you were stuck with the bill and your so called buddy got yet another free pass.  Sound familiar?

Knee deep in the negotiations of a 700 billion dollar government bailout of the stock market, I can't help but think, damn!  I'm stuck with the bill again!  Problem is the blood sucking leach is no longer the friend that could get regulated with a beat down--its the federal government.  Wall Street, with their aviricious appetite once again gets a free pass.  The so-called "market experts" couldn't see this coming?  When housing prices skyrocketed over a year ago, I couldn't help but think, "How can the average, middle class family afford these inflated mortgages?"  For the majority of America, who live paycheck to paycheck, how on earth are they going to afford housing?  Yet the banks, who were well aware that most people couldn't afford to pay the bill continued to set the banquet table for people who really couldn't afford the meal.  

Whose to blame?  I think we all can assume at-least some of the responsibility.  But, an unregulated market driven by greed can force the hand of  Main Street USA by forcing us to pay more than we can afford to for shelter and other sustenance needs (feel free to insert gas prices here).   

How much do you think I can get for those parachute pants in the closet on ebay?