Was reading the transcript from the Presidential Debate, and I was wondering: what responsibility does the Federal Government have towards the current economic crisis in this country?  Should the Congress enact laws to bail out those banks that issued bad mortgages?  Should the Congress enact laws to save those home owners that entered into mortgages that were and are beyond their means?

The answer to the latter questions is simple:  No.  The first question will be harder to answer, because on the surface, the answer should be none.  But in reality, it has total responsibility for the crisis.

The responsibility to this issue points to the Community Reinvestment Act, signed into law by Pres. Clinton.  The crux of the Law allowed for banks to write loans to those who did not have the means to get a loan, so as to have a more balanced demographic in their portfolios.  In other words, banks had to have loan portfolios that were reflective of the local demographics of minorities.  This meant giving loans to percentages of minorities, even if they could not afford the loan.  This was compounded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack forcing banks' hands by stating they would not buy loans from them if their portfolios were not diverse.

Everyone is wondering what the Government should do to fix this situation.  The answer, get laws like this off the books.  Nothing else.

This sounds cold on the surface because their are people in this country who will loose their homes over this issue.  Sad as that may be, which is worse, letting banks and home owners suffer the consequences of their bad choices, or making the rest of us suffer for their bad choices?

The bailout that is being debated in Congress is currently valued at $700 billion.  Where is that money coming from? Our taxes.  Any Congressional help would compound the problem that it is attempting to fix.

Of all the times to have a "do nothing" Congress, now is the time!  I fear that both Parties and their Candidates for President are busy trying to score points with the American people on how they 'helped solve this crisis.'  This is not what we need in our elected officials.  I encourage everyone to tell Congress to not react to this crisis, but help solve it by turning back the legislation that caused it in the first place.