What happened to the total disaster that had been predicted only a few weeks ago? It was supposed to happen by now if we didn't do exactly as we were told. What happened?  We are still alive.  We are only nearing the greatest percentage drop in the Dow, from the high of a year ago, since 1929.  We did exactly as we were told.  We gave Hank and Ben everything they asked for and saved ourselves from total obliteration ... or did we?

The answer is that the disaster has been happening since the beginning of 2008 but Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson only got worried about it when it began happening to their friends.

Everyone I know has had their credit lines cut and their interest rates quadrupled, and some have had their credit cards abruptly closed. The better the payment record, it seems, the more likely the interest rates would be raised. At the same time, the banks are busy throwing in all kinds of new charges and rules that result in even more new charges.

Nobody is sending me emails about refinancing my mortgage, anymore. Now the emails are about clearance sales. The alcohol and drug treatment programs are new in the spam filter. They seem to be outnumbering the Viagra ads, which is interesting from a sociological standpoint.

Alan Greenspan is shocked, SHOCKED to think that there just may be a tiny flaw in his reasoning. I only wish someone in Washington D.C. had come up with this realization a year ago when all the rest of us did. But these people all live in Penthouses many stories above all the rest of us way down here on ground level. The 'Penthouse People' only get worried when the mess is so deep and pervasive that it reaches their lofty lifestyles. And now that they are aware of the mess, they are worried that it might include them.