Your take on Georgia is right on Robert. I would also add Alabama in this category. The failed banks were largely state chartered banks heavily investing in the residential and commercial construction bubble throughout the Southeast and Arizona. Remember, these are among the reddest of red states (i.e.- laissez faire, tax subsidies, no regulations, etc., etc., ad nauseum). These were ponzi scheme types that attracted a lot of "hot money" which fueled fantastic growth in their organizations in a very short period of time. As we are seeing, these smaller "houses of cards" are now crumbling. The FDIC was ill-prepared to deal with this level of failure and the larger ponzi schemes of Wall Street, the Treasury, and the Fed's QE will be that much more difficult to continue. The government's efforts to deal with the financial crisis during the past year has been a fool's errand at best. At worst, it has been the largest criminal fraud ever perpetrated in human history.