While all the facts that Mr. Ewing pointed out in his letter Tuesday detailing Democrats being in charge of Congress when the recession started are true, I believe that he has erred in his apparent conclusion that the Democrats are the ones solely responsible for our current financial difficulties. It was not the failings of just the Democrats, but of the entire system: Democrats, Republicans, bankers, mortgage brokers, speculators, those seeking loans with bad credit, etc.

This was a problem years in the making rooted in the belief that home ownership was good no matter your financial situation, and that home prices would always go up. This was a classic recipe for an enormous bubble in the housing industry. And given the highly interconnected system of banks packaging and selling mortgages around the globe, it tied the global financial system to that of the U.S. housing market.

Democrats had nothing to do with the unraveling of this enormous mess, but it was overseas banks that had bought those packaged mortgages which first raised the issue that the mortgages might be worth less than they were told. That was the beginning of the bubble popping.

The situation was bad enough as it was, but it was exacerbated by the fact most people borrowed against the value of their house to buy things. When the bubble burst and housing prices started falling to a more reasonable value, it had the effect of draining billions from the economy.

Jason Churilla

Junior

Electrical engineering major