...."The greater good?" When do you start wearing the black beret with the red star? Let's go over a few points... First, ARMs serve a valuable purpose. They allow people to buy the home they need but structure their mortage payments based upon anticipated increases in income. Many college graduates purchase homes with ARMS because the higher interest rate kicks in right about the time their student loans are paid off. A military officer may choose an ARM because he knows that his career track means he'll be getting that next promotion just before the rate kicks in. You don't make something illegal just because a lot of house flippers got burned when housing prices collapsed. ARMs benefit far more people than they hurt. If you want to prevent a future mortgage mess, establish federal minimum requirements for borrowers, and make altering or camouflaging the real numbers a felony for the mortgage pimps. Second, there is no way that you can modify a legal contract by executive fiat. I have a binding contract with my mortgage holder that says I pay 4.5% interest. No one can change that. If it was 8.5%, guess what? It would be just as legally binding. You can't turn hundreds of years on contract law on its head simply because we're going through a rough period. Regarding executive compensation, two factors need to be considered. The first is that layoffs in excess of 7% may be exactly what a company needs! Many corporations are fat, bloated dinosaurs and need a radical trimming. The second thing to consider is that executive compensation is between the shareholders and the BoD. It's none of the government's business. In the case of those corporations receiving government assistance, yes, the government has a right to try to limit executive compensation, but again, many of those executives have legally binding contracts with the corporation reagrding compensation. The government can't simply vacate them in the absence of a bankruptcy proceding. BTW, I noticed that you left out the ridiculous cost of the UAW contracts in your comments on the auto industry. Those contracts need to be vacated far more than any executive compensation contract. That's why bankruptcy would be a good idea for all three auto manufacturers - not a bailout. I won't even comment on your nonsensical proposal that a farmer has no right to sell his own crop to the highest bidder, and that wiping out the U.S. biofuel programs is a good idea while we import well over half our crude oil. Kevin, have you considered that you might NEED an economics class or two??