The question I want answered is simple, even though I don't expect to ever hear an answer: if We the People are (via our government) buying all those mortgages for cheap, why not let the mortgage-holders pay off their loan at the same price that We the People paid to buy their debt?

In other words: Joe Dohn owes $100,000 on his mortgage. We the People bail out a big bank by buying his mortgage for $1,000 (I have no idea if that's the ratio; this is just an example.) Let Joe pay an extra $1,000 in taxes this year -- or more, maybe -- and forgive his debt.

The financial sector wins because they got bailed out. Joe wins because he gets to keep his house, and rather than spending the rest of his life under crushing debt he can be a productive member of society. We the People win because we get paid back, and the Government which represents us wins because they don't have to deal with the overhead of harassing Joe until he declares bankruptcy because he'll never be able to pay off the full $100,000 anyway (which is why it's a "bad" debt in the first place.)

I know why this won't happen. But why can't it happen? Is my math wrong?

My allotment of the Bush bullshit "stimulus package", received today:	$180.65
My latest donation to the Obama campaign, sent today:	$180.65

'Nuff said.

So I'm standing there at Macarthur & Athol, waiting for the NL transbay bus. 10:10 AM, nice spring day, and it's a quiet residential neighborhood, though -- like most of Oakland -- it's just a few miles from some crummier parts of town.

A guy walks up to the bus stop, and I can see right away that he's in a bad mood. (He's also black, early twenties, maybe 5'6", wearing a black hoodie and black pants.) After a few minutes he asks if I've got change for a five -- I don't, I only had enough $1 bills for my own bus fare.

A few minutes later, he walks over and pulls a big boxy-looking black gun partway out of the back of his pants, and says something like "give me everything you've got."

I had to laugh and ask if he was serious -- I wasn't feeling any real threat from this guy, but maybe he was scared enough to shoot anyway, so I offered him the $3.50 in my hand. We conversed a bit more, and I stayed with the attitude that I didn't think he could possibly be for real. Finally he insisted on taking my phone (but not before I removed the SIM -- "I'll give you the phone, but I'm keeping the data") and walked away without the cash as a bus was pulling up. I couldn't resist yelling after him: "It's gonna come back on you. You know it is." Maybe it was my imagination, but I think his gait changed -- I think he looked kinda sheepish.

This idiot didn't ask for my wallet (which has money in it, but I wasn't going to offer it), or my backpack (which contains my laptop and my iPod and other goodies, but I wasn't going to offer that either.)

I got on the bus (wrong route, but that's okay), told my story to the driver and the primarily elderly riders, and got off a couple blocks later to call 911 on a pay phone.

The police responded quickly -- there was an officer there to take my statement within a few minutes. I got to my meeting only 45 minutes late.

I've been paying T-Mobile for loss & damage coverage, so they'll ship me a new phone (which is silly 'cause I've already decided to drop 'em when my contract runs out in June), and I even have an unlocked phone at home for emergencies & international travel. So, my loss is minimal, and the criminal will be lucky to get $50. It's just annoying.