I am becoming more and more convinced that this is a wag the dog campaign on a major scale - a shitload of money has been lost in this country thanks to the machinations of Bush's cronies, a number of people lost more than 50% of their retirement funds (these folks alto tent to vote) - so under ordinary circumstances you would expect a major public outcry. Iraq war, anthrax, or sniper attacks seem work well to direct public attention elsewhere.
Wojtek