The 500 pound gorilla

I heard a lot on NPR this morning about the housing market. Senate hearings calling the Secretary of the Treasury on the carpet like the fact that Americans over spent was his fault. Why didn't our government do more. (No one is clear on WHAT it should have done. Can you imagine the reaction if the government started interfering with mortgages or property sales because it decided the borrower/buyer could not afford that?)

Ladies and gentlemen, the home mortgage "crisis" is a small scotch terrier on the couch compared to a couple other animals in the room. First we have the 500 pound gorilla over there on the divan; his name is consumer credit card debt. If he starts rampaging around we'll have a much bigger problem. It's been reported on, noted, etc. and we ignore the reports and move on. But when he shifts, someone will be called on the carpet for not doing Something about it. Over there in the corner, behind the end table, you see the large 1 ton elephant that no one is talking about? That is the Social Security debt. It's so big that some people consider it a scared cow. It is also occasionally reported on, but ignored on the assumption that if we don't think about it, it won't do anything. But if it starts to jump around, well, you'll long for the good old days of the home mortgage crisis.

I guess the Senate did not want to talk about that.