[quote=earlyretirement]I’m no Obama fan but the truth of the matter is that it wouldn’t have mattered if a Republican, Democrat or Independent was the President the past couple of years. Everything playing out now and the past few years were things set in motion already. VERY little of it could have been changed off it’s course.

I do think Obama could have done some things differently but he couldn’t really have changed the destiny of all the horrible things going on in the economy and the fallout from years of “sins” from Wall Street.

That’s just the plain truth.[/quote]

I agree completely – there wasn’t much anyone could do to turn the ship to avoid the financial glacier we were approaching. What irks me the most is how the people and firms that caused the most harm from their greed and short-sightedness were the ones that got the most bailout funds/government assistance. The moral hazard caused by this will haunt us for years to come.

They should have allocated the bailout funds to the people and institutions that DID NOT act irresponsibly – reward the GOOD behavior of the fiscally conservative. Let us reap the benefits of acting responsible through a period when everyone was going nuts!