News reports confirm a story by the Wall Street Journal yesterday saying that the federal government is poised to take over mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Forbes [1] has more details. It could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, and will virtually wipe out the value of stockholder shares.

These government-sponsored, publicly traded companies back half the mortgages in the U.S. and have made it possible for average people to participate in the American dream of home ownership. John McCain's economic advisor Phil Gramm [2] is the mastermind behind turning that dream into a nightmare for millions of Americans, who are facing the worst foreclosure crisis [3] since the Great Depression.

In related news, a Nevada bank is the 11th bank failure this year. According to this Bloomberg report [4], the rate of bank failure in John McCain's "mental recession" is at a 14 year high. John McCain's son was on the board of directors of Silver State Bank, the latest failure, until his resignation in July.

Flashback: The Keating Five [5] scandal, and how John McCain skated [6].