Seeking to change the subject from her foreign policy exaggerations, Sen. Hillary Clinton turned her attention to domestic matters, proposing a $30 billion plan to help state and local governments reduce the number of foreclosures.

Moreover, she proposed creating a "high-level emergency working group" comprised of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan "father of the mortgage crisis" Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and reported Barack Obama supporter/ former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. The New York senator thinks the world needs another government study whose recommendations will be ignored.

"As much as she focused on ways to ease the mortgage crisis, Senator Clinton also dwelled on what she called 'a crisis of confidence in our country,' and portrayed herself as the candidate best able to address the economic problems of middle-income and economically struggling families," according to The New York Times.

Voters, though, are showing a lack of confidence in her. Odds of her winning are slim and none, according to Politico and other political media. That being said, the housing crisis and high oil prices will be the top issues in the campaign. Expect a billion or so commercials on the topics between now and November.

Freelance writer Jonathan Berr edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs.

Talk about closing the barn door after the horses are gone.

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson called for greater oversight of financial institutions in the U.S. Apparently, some bankers got a little crazy with the fancy financial instruments and now the credit markets are busted. So Paulson is calling for a new sheriff to come in and clean up the town.

But where was the sheriff when the party was really going wild? This is not the time to worry about that. As Paulson said, "This effort is not about finding excuses or scapegoats. But poor judgment and poor market practices led to mistakes by all participants." You see, everybody is equally to blame. Bankers who made millions selling AAA-rated junk bonds, brokers who flipped houses on the side, little old ladies who lost their homes -- everyone made mistakes. Now it's time to clean up the mess, no questions asked and no hard feelings.

Paul Volcker, the Fed chairman who succeeded at squashing inflation in the early 1980s, once said controlling psychology is one of the most important functions for the Fed's head.

Yesterday, the current Fed head, Ben Bernanke, left the Fed Funds rate unchanged at 5.25%, saying he is still watching for inflation. If the Fed is doing anything, it is watching inflation go down.

During the next few months, the Fed will use the weakening credit market as its vehicle to suck out any excess liquidity from the economy and crush any expectations that inflation will soon to return.

With the long bond rallying, gold pricing stable and the junk-bond market shut down, Bernanke knows he is close to being done. Another month or two of pain and he will be fighting deflation rather than inflation expectations. Then the money pump will be turned back on.