From: Travis Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 2:00 AM [image: THE CAGLE POST] <http://caglepost.com/> Would you like to reprint our cartoons on your site or in your publication? It's easy! Visit us here <http://politicalcartoons.com/>.
* <http://caglepost.com/ticker.aspx>* Cartoon by RJ Matson<http://cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/matson.asp>- Comment on the cartoon<http://caglepost.com/cartoon.aspx?id=6F39C748-1153-4582-8076-D2A259762D5C> We have a great collection of cartoons called "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac" LOOK! <http://cagle.com/news/FannieFreddie> *Taking The Pulse*<http://www.caglepost.com/column/Martha+Randolph+Carr/7724/Taking+the+Pulse.html> by Martha Randolph Carr<http://www.caglepost.com/c/60/Martha+Randolph+Carr.html>- Comment on the column<http://www.caglepost.com/column/Martha+Randolph+Carr/7724/Taking+the+Pulse.html> This weekend the federal government took over the two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was a latent signal of what had become very obvious to most Americans already. We are in the beginning of an economic downturn that may not have hit bottom yet. The upside to the government action is that a slightly clearer picture of just where we all stand will likely emerge. It was a federal audit that discovered Freddie Mac was not exactly as financially sound as they had said that lead to the dual takeover. Policy changes at Freddie Mac were allowing people who were behind on their mortgage payments an extra year and a half to recover. That allowed the lending giant to keep them on the plus side of the books instead of downgrading the loans to poor. There is probably more bad news to come before the entire story is out. But, finally getting the whole truth, no matter how bad, is when things have a chance at turning around because then we know what our starting point is at last. No more false starts or unrealistic expectations. It doesn't mean that there won't be hardships or belt-tightening for all of us but the element of denial starts to get peeled away. However, as I've said before, where the economic bottom is, has yet to be determined. There are a few factors that are still coming together that make the old equations a little out-dated. Take the scenario of a homeowner in the suburbs who has a fixed-rate mortgage, decent credit and employment that's covering the bills. But the job is almost an hour away in rush hour and all around his house are foreclosures driving ... *READ MORE<http://www.caglepost.com/column/Martha+Randolph+Carr/7724/Taking+the+Pulse.html> * Follow Daryl each day on Twitter at: twitter.com/dcagle<http://twitter.com/dcagle> [image: Visit the newest cartoons by all of our cartoonists!]<http://caglepost.com/ticker.aspx> ------------------------------ *TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Do Not Reply): email [EMAIL PROTECTED] or CLICK HERE<http://list.caglepost.com/unsubscribe.aspx> . Copyright Cagle Cartoons Inc, Columns and cartoons copyright the respective cartoonists and columnists. All Rights Reserved.* -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
