McCain 2 - funded by willing bond buyers? ... Yes, but who pays those bonds at maturity? And, who holds the risk if those toxic securities never do see a return? Aren't the taxpayers still on the hook, albeit for something less than $700B?

It seems to me that an overlooked, but critical question is whether the poor improve their situations as individuals? I mean is it always the same poor families, or do they not perhaps improve their lives as others? Our concern should be about upward mobility for individuals, something that is lost in the statistics.