Rob you with a fountain pen

"Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men
Some will rob you with a six-gun
And some with a fountain pen."

"Pretty Boy Floyd"-Woodie Guthrie, 1940

Seems like the current economic meltdown is an echo of this song. And it's reminds me of another.

"The bridge at midnight trembles,
The country doctor rambles,
Bankers' nieces seek perfection,
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring.
The wind howls like a hammer,
The night blows cold and rainy,
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing."

" Love Minus Zero/No Limit" -Bob Dylan

Does it seem that the American Dream of home ownership has been stolen for too many? The method was an old one -- old as the ancient English Laws of Enclosure. Back then the villagers were denied access to the Commons. That's where they had for generations grazed their livestock. And so, without a way to feed their families, they were forced to borrow from the lands "new owners". And when they couldn't pay it back, their homes were seized: Tricked out of ownership to the homes their fore bearers had built.

And isn't this what we're seeing now? Home owners tricked into an inflated, artificial real estate market so they would borrow against the equity they had obtained in their homes. The Commons of our nation destroyed or privatized. And now, as the economy trembles, and families lose their livelihoods, these home owners find that what they've borrowed is more than the deflated value of the homes they promised as equity. So those loans are being called in by the banks. Nothing really changed, except the color of the ink on a ledger. Robbed by a fountain pen!

But this is America, and it can't happen here. Right? So what are we doing about it?

The Congress passes legislation to save the system that created the fraud! 700 billion strong! And more and more and more.
And who is getting the money?
The bankers' nieces, seeking perfection no doubt, on their balance sheets.

The wind will definitely howl like a hammer this Thanksgiving for too many. And I expect these poor folk have about given up expecting "all the gifts" that those wise men in Washington will bring.
And now America is like some raven,
At my window with a broken wing.