Plus, I have a pretty bad bacterial eye infection and can’t bear to write any content of my own right now. I will let her do the work for me.

As an attorney advising banks and mortgage lenders for the last 30 years, I know a fair amount about what has happened in the housing market. I have read many articles and heard John McCain repeatedly blame the GSE’s – (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) for today’s troubles. He is simply wrong. I am attaching a recent article written by the McGlatchy newspapers, the third largest newspaper in America, which publishes The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, the Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer which I think has the analysis right. While John McCain has criticized Fannie and Freddie for years, it is not for the reasons he states. He simply fundamentally believes (like the Wall Street Journal) that government should not be involved in housing policy. He argues that the big banks and free market do just fine on their own. There is no need for these entities in America. The fact that housing prices for conforming loans (loans eligible to be sold to Fannie Mae ) were .25 basis points to .60 bps cheaper than non-conforming loans, helping average Americans purchase homes less expensively was not persuasive to him. He didn’t want government competing with the free market banks.

The problem with that philosophy is that when times are good, everyone rushes into the market. When times are bad, they stop lending. Even the Wall Street Journal (and Hank Paulson) recognize today that Fannie and Freddie serve a fundamental and critical purpose. They (and FHA) are the only entities buying mortgage loans in today’s market. McCain recently stated that Fannie and Freddie should be privatized – their government charter taken away. This makes no sense to me. Fannie and Freddie are now buying 80% of the mortgages made in America today, with FHA buying the rest. If the government charter was removed and the companies privatized, somebody tell me who would be lending AT ALL in this market? If you think you have trouble selling your homes today with credit tight, imagine what would happen if 80% of the funds that are buying mortgages today were removed? If 80% of the money for mortgage lending was eliminated, what do you think that would do to housing values? DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.

I don’t know if McCain will continue in the debate tonight to blame Fannie and Freddie for today’s economic problems. but I wanted you to be aware of how poorly thought out his solution is of privatizing these companies. I have already lost a very substantial sum in my 401K, brokerage account, housing value, etc. I don’t think I can afford another 4 years of Republican economic policies, particularly if he continues his plan to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But then again, he keeps changing his position on the economy. Maybe he’s changed his view on this as well…..Read the article attached and make up your own mind.

(View the article)

I stopped a week ago Friday on my way back to Chicago from San Diego to visit a client in Las Vegas and stayed overnight with Jason and Matt. We, of course, decided to go to GVR to play poker, and got involved in a 2 / 4 limit game. Jason used his high profile rep to get the poker manager to open a new table for us, so we got to sit immediately. A woman sat to my right in the number 7 position, and announced that this was her first time playing in a casino poker game. On her second hand she bet pre-flop and got about 4 callers. The flop came down As 10s xx and she bet again, getting another couple of callers. The turn came Js and she bet again when it was her turn, causing the table to fold around. As she prepared to toss her hand in the muck, the dealer said “You don’t have the Ks Qs do you?”, to which she replied “Why, yes I do” and showed the two cards face up. Unbeknownst to me, but apparent to Jason and Matt, had she simply mucked she would have forfeited a prize of $500.00. As soon as she found out she won, she started chittering “I have to tell my husband” and as soon as she got paid she got up [tipping the dealer so at least she wasn’t rude!] and wondering off. She never returned, so I guess she figured making $500.00 in 10 minutes was enough excitement for her night.

About an hour later the table next to us erupted in loud cheers, and we found out a guy had made the last big hand of the parley sheet in the room, 4 deuces with an Ace on the board. It paid the player about $1,100.00 and every player at the table got about $275.00. For a moment everyone at our table thought they had a bad beat, which would have paid everyone in the room including us, but it wasn’t to happen. I finished our 6 hour session down $55.00 but Jason and Matt both made a little money. The night was finished off with a late dinner in the mall next to the casino.

I was supposed to fly back to Chicago Saturday afternoon so I got up early and went to Southpoint to play blackjack. I won $225.00 in 40 minutes and went back home before the boys woke up. We played some Wii bowling and had lunch [tasty hotdogs on the boys’ weiner maker!] and headed to the airport to catch my 5 pm flight. Unfortunately, all flights were canceled and I had to spend the night again. We played another 5 hours of uneventful poker, and I lost $100. To be honest, I didn’t care since I was on a freeroll from my blackjack winnings and I played about 75% of all the hands I was dealt. Matt commented that he had never seen anyone play so many hands.

My Sunday flight was at 7 am so both Jason and Matt decided to stay up all night while I caught 3-1/2 hours of much needed sleep. I got on my plane, flew to Charlotte, NC on the first leg of my flight home, but again fate was against me. My last flight was canceled and I was told I’d be stranded for 2 days in Charlotte. Not to be deterred, I rented a car and drove the 13 hours home which included a full night sleep in Lexington KY. I arrived at 2:00 pm Chicago time, traded my car at the airport and drove home.

Let’s recap: Planes, Train (airport shuttle train), Bus (Avis bus at O’Hare), and Automobile. I could be in a movie….

1. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising – GBA – Not actually a close call. 30/30 war room S-ranks, and SUPER CO Power music.

2. RE4 – GCN – Probably the most well put together single player adventure I’ve played.

3. Metroid Prime – GCN – Held the single player title until RE4.

4. Super Monkey Ball – GCN – Best puzzle game of the generation, as well as the most difficult.

5. Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness – PS2 – I ‘only’ leveled my guys into the 300s, far from the 1000 level max.

6. Fire Emblem – GBA – The first in the series released outside of Japan, and has several things that work even better than AW2.

7. Katamari Damacy – PS2 – The simplest, best game concept ever.

8. Ikaruga – GCN – The most difficult game I played last gen.

9. Winning Eleven 9 International – PS2 – FIFA is a fun game, but playing Winning Eleven is so close to watching top-flight soccer it’s uncanny.

10. Shadow Hearts: Covenant – PS2 – Interesting story, terrific battle system.

Notable Mentions:
God Of War – PS2 – (very close to breaking the Japanese-Dev only top 10 list).
Mega Man Battle Network 2 – GBA – Surprise Megaman, it’s your birthday!
Front Mission 4 – PS2 – If it were harder it would have made the list.
F-Zero GX – GCN – If it weren’t impossibly difficult it would have made the list.
Super Smash Brothers Melee – GCN – Was the final nail in my college dropout coffin.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Xbox – The only great Xbox game I completed worth mentioning.