You have an interesting namesake… the creator of the first ever American flag, I believe? That seems very appropriate for your mention of the roots of the American Constitution.

Thanks for your input, Betsy. Whilst I admit to oversimplifying the details of post for a general voxpop style overview I don’t believe that what I wrote about the $700 billion bailout can be “all wrong”.

Of course you’re correct in the fact that a two-party system is a problem in the USA. I mention this in my post on American Politics where I believe that, in simple terms, it merely creates polarisation with no third way, no middle ground, no alternatives.

I also agree that political campaigning in the United States has become a grossly distorted circus freakshow that can only be run with vast amounts of money. That’s not the America I remember as a kid when I recall that humble farmers could be Presidents. Since when did wealth qualify anybody to be capable of leadership?

Yes, America’s children do seem to have been sold down the river and in Britain our own short-sighted government seems to be banking the future national debt in order to dig us out of the hole that we are currently in. But $700 billion is still a bailout for the incredible trade in Collateralised Debt Obligations stemming from the housing market.

If you have any evidence of the bailout being a result of the cost of political campaigning then I’d very interested to see the facts or even any anecdotal evidence if it has been, as you say, swept under the carpet.

I don’t disagree that the campaigning may be a part of the whole financial meltdown scenario and, to a very small degree, a contributory factor but I find it a little too convenient that the housing market bubble just came along at the right time in order to be a scapegoat.

I predicted about 4/5 years ago that subprime would end in tears and for presidential campaigning to be a reason for this current predicament is too much of a curveball! More likely a candidate, if you’ll forgive the pun, would be the cost of the Iraq War with the “defence” spending, the syphoning-off of funds into phantom operations and the rehabilitation of the many seriously wounded US soldiers.

But, details aside, the current administration has been the worst ever in American history and in two weeks it will be gone. Although I don’t like the fact that Bush will still cost American taxpayers far too much money to have Secret Service protection for the next 10 years and take a huge pension nearing $200,000 a year!

Happy New Year, Betsy, and let’s hope America can be restored over the coming decades.

American politics has reached a new low, and those traitors in Washington sold out their own kids, and all of America’s children, in order to remain in office. And affected the world markets also in the process.

With the American people the greatest victims of all.