The housing bubble burst when the house of cards built by reckless lending practices and an out of control derivative market came crashing down. The Federal Reserve drove interest rates down, while banks came up with creative financing methods to fund sub-prime mortgages that would otherwise not be safe investments. When it all crashed, the taxpayers picked up the bill, not the banks. 

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Photo Credit: Isaac Arjonilla, Daily Bruin

University of California President Mark Yudof has faced criticism during his tenure as leader of the prestigious 10-campus system. However, he explains there is more to his role than raising tuition and cutting services.

It's been nearly four years since a radical Muslim Army psychiatrist walked into a processing center on Ft. Hood, shouted "Allah Akbar," and opened fire. The shooter killed 13 people, including a pregnant woman, and wounded another 32.

In the years that followed, much attention has been paid to the gunman. However, after the initial media storm, little attention has been paid to the victims and their families, and this has caused many of them to file suit with the government, the shooter, and his Muslim leader.

Independent voters now account for approximately 40 percent of all voters in the United States. Following the national trend, California voters are increasingly leaving the two major parties, with almost 3.7 million voters now registered under "No Party Preference" in the state.

As expected, the counter stories are coming out on all the scandals. The IRS scandal is merely some low level Cincinnati people, who apparently don’t belong to the same Government as the President. The AP scandal isn’t really a scandal because nobody taped anything, all they did was tap incoming and outgoing phone calls. No problem there. Just the press, anyway.

In today's political climate, it's difficult to find a politician that voters of opposing political affiliations can agree on. Chris Christie, the Republican Governor of New Jersey, is quickly becoming one of those few politicians.

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