Some days, you can't win

These days, a bank can't afford to have a bad day. The Mortgage Meltdown was the fault of bad banking policies and poor oversight, and it has lead to an economic downturn that is now being called "The Great Recession" by many. Many of the largest U.S. banks of 2008 don't even exist anymore in 2009.

So, one can't help being amazed by stories like this one, where a bank sold a house out from under a woman whose mortgage was in excellent standing. It took a Miami judge to set things right, after police officers forcibly evicted her family and locked them out of their own house for 3 days.

The eviction came after Ramirez’s home was mistakenly auctioned off to the highest bidder by her bank, Washington Mutual (yes, we know WaMu is now Chase, but we're in denial). Usually, you get a warning before you get the boot. A foreclosure letter. Maybe a sign saying your house is up for sale. Not Ramirez, who found her belongings bashed and battered in the street...The man who bought the house told Ramirez he paid $87,000 for it, which shocked Ramirez, who bought the house for $260,000.

This is a good reminder to keep a close eye on your creditors in these dark economic days. Just because you are playing by the rules, that does not mean some lazy bureaucrat can't harm you.

GM slouches toward bankruptcy, despite bailouts

When President Bush began the bailout of GM and Chrysler, it was with the idea of keeping them out of bankruptcy and savings the millions of jobs that these companies directly and indirectly create. President Obama continued this policy and has given out multiple extra bailouts to the companies in the meantime. He even managed to get GM's CEO fired in the process.

What it is the result of all of this expensive government intervention? Bankruptcy for GM as well as Chrysler. And, of course, Chrysler sold to Fiat, an Italian company who will likely ultimately move the jobs to Italy. We're right back where we started. GM is even talking about leaving Detroit entirely, despite the fact that one of the MAJOR reasons given for the bailout was to save the struggling region.

Are we finally ready to bite the bullet and admit the bailouts were a mistake?