Clark recently read an article that took a unique angle on the foreclosure epidemic. The Wall Street Journal reports that animal shelters are being overrun with pets that are abandoned when families face foreclosure and have to leave their homes.

Meanwhile, Maryland has passed some tough legislation aimed at correcting the mortgage crisis. First, they've moved to eliminate pre-payment penalties. The federal government will say you can't do that, but Clark is in the support of the state on this issue. He hates pre-payment penalties, which are often attached to sub-prime loans. Second, Maryland has criminalized the kind of lender behavior when they write loans that they know you can't pay. Of course, this won't help out the millions who are already in a rough spot. Finally, they've also criminalized mortgage rescue fraud. That's where elders are conned into sub-prime loans on houses that may already be paid in full. Seniors sign over a house in return for a promise that they'll be allowed to live there until they die. Then they get an eviction notice several weeks later.

Clark is pleased with Maryland's actions, but where are the feds on these issues? Where's Eliot Ness? The sad fact is that the president himself appointed Roland Arnall -- a guy who made a killing on sub-prime loans with his company Ameriquest -- as an ambassador! Meanwhile, Christa recently read a Boston Globe story about a mortgage broker who was apprehended after hiding out in a hotel. This particular broker fabricated tax returns and falsified bank statements to help people get jumbo mortgages. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!