Has Dana Perino, mouthpiece for President George W. Bush, even looked at Operation Lifeline or HOPE NOW? In response to what the Bush administration was going to do for the little guy, after keeping Bear Stearns alive with a $30 billion low interest loan to JP Morgan Chase to acquire the firm and keep it afloat, said:

“The other way to help work on the housing issues is to take advantage of some of the programs that we have in place, to talk with HOPE NOW or Project Lifeline, for those who are in more serious dire straits, and also to work -- for us to continue from the administration to call on Congress to finally take action on Federal Housing Administration reforms, which we think are necessary to help homeowners across-the-board.

But I would remind you, and remind consumers all across America, that the decisive action taken by the Fed yesterday was precisely to prevent long-term economic harm to everybody in the United States, including, as you said, the little guy.”

Ms Perino – there’s no hammer in those programs to stop the stupidity that caused this problem. There are no penalties to the individual men and women who made these crazy bets, and have caused the entire nation such harm. Where’s the stick to the back of those leaders of these companies who convinced their investors to bet the farm – with 20-to-1 debt to asset ratios?