To a certain extent, the economy, life is a casino. The Republicans have been systematically dismantling the various forms of savings and insurance, which the middle class has to protect itself against the random buffeting, which is inevitable in life. And, the aim of that dismantling has been to transfer income to the very wealthy and the CEOs and the Wall Street wizards.

The compensation of Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe is now obscene. The top 25 hedge fund managers in 2004 made more money than the CEOs of the Fortune 500, who were mostly grossly overpaid as well. Meanwhile, payday lenders replace the neighborhood savings and loan, and credit card companies routinely charge rates of 33%.

Much of the so-called housing bubble was, in fact, an orgy of predatory and fraudulent lending. A lot of ordinary people got caught up in that, hoping for something from nothing — con men don’t target the wholly honest person. But, the big bucks went to the Bear Stearns of the world.

We should not be bringing down the economy’s financial market around our own ears, but neither should we be held hostage by this nonsense. Proper regulation has to be the price of rescue. And, regulation ought to include greater efforts to protect ordinary folks from predation. Usury limits should be enacted. Payday lenders should be replaced by far less costly alternatives — like local savings banks.