Even in Magic Valley, Idahoans are starting to get the picture.

More financial woes wait in wings

While many of my fears have come true, there are some biggies waiting in the wings.

Despite propaganda about our economy "recovering," why even pretend that the White House is capable of telling the truth?

Unpaid credit card balances are more than $850 billion and rising fast - and this just for the United States. In the last quarter of 2007, Capital One wrote off $1.9 billion in bad debt. While loosening controls for the greedy allowed the sub-prime crisis, credit card debt has been handled in the same way - 45 percent of the $900-plus billion of it - packaged up and sold. How many businesses will fail because of this?

Free-market policies since Reagan deregulated banking resulted in lack of the oversight that kept Wall Street in check.

Greenspan's failure to address predatory lenders and sub-prime greed will result in a failure of our economic system more widespread than that of the Depression.

Danny Schechter writes in "House of Cards":

"Add to these failures a complicit Congress, with Democrats and Republicans alike dependent on donations from the three leaders of the FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) economy."

The government cannot allow big institutions to fail (at least until the end of the year), because they're federally insured.

While the courts have abolished protection from usury, real estate lending is reinforced by laws which state: "Whoever knowingly makes any false statement or report, or willfully overvalues any land, property or security, for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Farm Credit Administration, Federal Crop Insurance Corp. or a company the corporation reinsures ... shall be fined not more than $1 million or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both."

Getting a little sick and tired of watching big business bailed out with your tax dollars?

SHARON METCALF

Gooding