Xark!

Bailouts Aren't What They Used to Be

Late last week, I began reading a news story on MSNBC that centered on Bush’s “bailout” of those individuals who were losing their homes in the current mortgage crisis.  Before getting very far into the story, my attention was drawn to a link for a reader discussion entitled, “Should U.S. bail out subprime borrowers?”   Arriving at the discussion, I found page after page of angry notes, furious citizens fuming about how unfair a “bailout” would be.  The logic, which I’m completely sympathetic with, went something like this:  “I pay my bills; I only buy what I can afford.  I’ll be mad as hell if Bush bails out those people by paying their mortgage.”

The problem is, and this may well ultimately haunt Democrats as well (and it should bother all of us), the term “bailout” is misleading in this circumstance.  While Bush has proposed a number of ways to help keep borrowers lenders in their homes, most of these ideas seem ultimately aimed at allowing a refinancing of the loan—it’ll still have to be paid, but the time will be extended, different terms introduced or so forth.  Yes, in some ways, it’s a slight change in the rules, but the policies don’t carry the force that the term “bailout” implies.

A visual thank-you

A long over-due thank-you to Pam, who guided Janet and I out to Pete's Herbs on John's Island a couple weekends ago and got us started on the season with a bunch of great plants. Here's a shot taken last weekend of an herb bed we put together with plants from Pete's.

Pam, thanks for talking us through all those plant questions. And for those of you looking for a great place to buy locally grown, healthy plants, Pete's is definitely worth the drive. In fact, going out to a real grower is really part of the fun.

To document the starting point in what could be a never-ending project, here are the "before" photos from Chez Xark.