Here's the rest of it.

Perhaps Bob Barr.I know, I know, nobody wants to hear about third party candidates because "they can't win." Ross Perot took a credible run at it, didn't he? Can Bob Barr? This close in, perhaps not. But this doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and frankly, while you can argue over the other specifics of The Libertarian's policies (and I do, especially when it comes to foreign and energy policies) without a functional economy there isn't anything else to worry about. Bob Barr's campaign is the only one to flat out say that The Fair Tax is a reasonable alternative to what we have now, that calls for accountability to Congress for The Federal Reserve (and other monetary organs) and calls for reform of government spending in a fashion that actually means something. Is their platform perfect? No. As I said, there are points on which I disagree. But without an economy, what else do we have?Nothing.And unless John McCain changes his tune, and fast, choosing either of the two "main" candidates will guarantee the destruction of our nation's economy.I sent a letter to McCain's Headquarters, along with Governors Ridge and Keating, this afternoon. I think everyone should read it. It lays forth the fact that absent dramatic change - and calls for that change, explicitly - John McCain has no chance in the election. None. Zip. Zero. Nada.More alarmingly, that electoral map puts The Democrats within one vote of a filibuster-proof majority in Congress.ONE VOTE.The Wall Street Meltdown is clearly fingered as the item that changed the electoral map in ways that are, absent decisive action, unrecoverable. The time line does not lie.This is not, as you might imagine, the first letter I have sent to McCain's campaign. In fact I've lost count since I attended their "rally" in Washington DC in late July. I have been working like a banshee behind the scenes to try to get some common sense injected into his economic program, without success.No more "behind the scenes" - that letter is a small sample of what he's had laid upon the table in front of him, and if the Republican Base (or any state coordinators who are tired of the BS coming from McCain's campaign) want the rest of the letters, contact me. Let there be no mistake made about it - McCain's campaign has had full and complete communication from me on this matter, as I identified him as having the best shot at being willing to address these issues of the two major candidates.Thus far, I have been wrong. We will see if that changes, and if state Republican coordinators and leaders have "had enough" and are willing to get off their duffs and demand that Mr. McCain do something intelligent here, lest they walk off with their support and funding in the critical last month. After all, if McCain is going to ruin the economy (and so is Barack) why not keep your money instead of giving it to John? If The Democrats get a filibuster-proof majority in Congress (which a month ago I would have said is fanciful - not any more!) then absolutely everything and anything that Barack Obama wants, he will get. There will be nothing to stop it.If you're a Republican, if John McCain doesn't change course right now you're gonna need every dime you have given what's to come. Blowing it on pointless campaign contributions is the idiot's move of the century. Snap that wallet shut right now unless McCain gets off his duff and adopts something similar to what I've been propounding.Seriously.Full disclosure: I am an oldtime Republican. Voted for George W Bush twice and Bush the elder. But never - and I do mean never - should you take from this that I think Republicans and Democrats do not bear equal responsibility for this mess, because they do.This is not a partisan issue and those who strive to make it one are going to be responsible for making the mess worse, not better.There is no "bipartisanship" involved in solutions here, nor "partisanship". There are only non-partisan solutions to this crisis.The facts of what we now face and the choices we either must make or will be made for us:Leverage must come out of the system and will. We will get back to 12:1 or less one way or another. We can either do it under regulatory fiat, which is neutral and nails everyone, or we can do it in a disorderly fashion as Mr. Market imposes it upon us and wind up with a Depression in the process. There are no other options; this is reality whether we like it or not. Deal with it.Ditto for homes. If you think 20% down, 36% DTI and no more than 3.5:1 home price to income is going to be avoided, you're wrong. Again, we can either do it by regulatory practice and principle, or we can do it in a severely disorderly fashion (what we have now) as one market after another crashes and burns, taking people out to the woodshed and bankrupting both them and the institutions serving them. Deal with it.Full financial balance sheet disclosure. It will happen. Again, it can occur one of two ways - either by regulatory fiat or it will happen as firms that refuse to do so go bankrupt, one at a time, as has been happening in a disorderly fashion. Down the "disorderly" rabbit hole lies the destruction of our financial system in total, a DOW that trades at 2,000 or less, an S&P;500 that trades at 200 or less, 25% unemployment, a Depression worse than the 1930s, no recovery for a decade or more, Social Security and Medicare being rendered insolvent and a potential default on American sovereign debt. Deal with it.To those who say "it can't happen" I point you at Iceland, where it already did happen with zero warning - they went from "under stress" to "screwed" literally overnight!Iceland imports food and energy. Their currency collapsed by 2/3rds overnight which means those imports (along with everything else) instantaneously tripled in price. Iceland is the first but will not be the last. There are a half-dozen other nations in the general area of Europe who are in at least as bad of shape as Iceland was just before it collapsed and America is not that far behind. In fact there are large global banking interests that current rate the US as about "number eight" in terms of credit risk for sovereign debt (that's right, 8th worst), in the general area of nations like Iceland, Pakistan and similar.Why?Because our government refuses to tackle the problem head-on.Because our people refuse to demand that our government tackle the problem head on.Because we still think we can have our cake and eat it too.We cannot.We will not succeed with this "plan" of (in)action.If we do not wake up and face reality, we will have reality served up to us, and it will not be a pleasant experience.The EU has decided to guarantee interbank lending, doing what the G7 refused to announce after their meeting. But they remain cautious:"``I don't even want to imagine what might happen'' if the markets react negatively, Klaus-Peter Mueller, head of the German banking association, said earlier today in Washington before the blueprint was unveiled. The market response may be something ``we haven't seen at any stage in our lifetimes.''"No kidding.This should slam Euribor (Euro Libor) to the mat. It better. If it instead spikes it higher then the game is over and markets around the world will instantaneously collapse in unison - both stock and credit. Bunds, Gilts, Ts, all of them will get sold in a furious attempt to raise cash to meet ever-spiraling margin calls and liquidation of leveraged positions.What you saw last week was not "as bad as it gets."Last week was a warning of what can happen (and will) if trust is not restored immediately. That, if it occurs, will be "as bad as it gets."Trust cannot be restored by "papering over" the problem. It can only be restored by actually doing things that enhance trust.Actions that our leaders so far have refused to take, and our citizens have refused to demand.You must choose America, and you must choose today.Choose wisely.

Too long to read it all.

The guy is full of it on many counts but, for starters, the Gramm bill passed with full participation and support of the Clinton administration. It was bipartisan. The specifics of that bill strengthened financial institutions and allowed some to avoid the problems of Bear and Lehman. The diversified commercial banks were in large part less hard hit than the investment banks. Also this whole boogeyman of regulation vs deregulation is a joke, just not a funny one. What has killed us is not too much or too little regulation but BAD regulation. Regulation made in a knee jerk reactionary mode to show action to the voters instead of sound, carefully thought out regulation that actually fixes something with a minimum of onforeseen ramifications down the road. Well intended is not enough. Right now we need systemic fixes which a rushed through in 4 days legislation doesnt give us.