Dudes, You Broke Our Country

I pick up the Wall Street Journal last week and to read about some poor sugar producer in Brazil taking a beating because his income is received in USD while his expenses are paid in Brasilian Real, against which the US Dollar is depreciating.

No offence, Brasil, you're still up and coming after all these years, but ... The Real is a third world currency, and the USD is depreciating against it?!? WTF!?

But it gets better.

Last week the press was about people simply walking away in droves from their underwater mortgages, and not just the sub-prime ones. OK, people walking away is annoying, but still within the spectrum of reality.

Today's story was about people in multi-million dollar homes who have simply stopped paying the mortgages and still live there because (hey, they might be real estate dumb, but they aren't totally dumb) they have observed that it will take years for a foreclosure to even get in motion, all the time of which these folks will be living in relative luxury while paying nothing for the privilege. Nice work if you can get it. I could have signed up for one of those deals last year and didn't. Stupid me.

So, as much as I hate to say it, after 8 years of the Bush Presidency, it may very well be time for a Clinton Presidency. 80% chance it will happen, because, Republican Dudes, you broke the country.