Run on the Bank

By Sniffles

Please excuse us cats if we're more concerned with the health of our financial institutions than the death of the press-enabled Bush excuse-maker Tony Snow (David Gregory, you're officially excused from that little swipe we just did with our claws).

Federal regulators have seized IndyMac. A giant bank has failed — the fifth this year. This is right on the heels of this week's panic about the state of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And goodness knows what's going to happen when the stock market opens on Monday.

Now, as cats, we don't handle money. And sometimes we have trouble understanding all the details of these bank failures. (The 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life probably provides the best explanation of the whole thing.) But although IndyMac's customers' accounts are insured up to $100,000 — which surely would take care of 99.9 percent of all depositors in Bedford Falls — this is an alarming reminder that the credit crisis is not ending anytime soon.

We can't wait to see how John McCain and his crack economic team — headed by former Senator Phil "Nation of Whiners" Gramm — are going to react to this.