A Call to Congress

Today I called my local Congressman's office, Joe Donnelly... a democrat. I called to express my frustration with the synchophantic talking points that each and every democrat has regurgitated again and again whenever asked about the most recent financial crisis; ..."four more years of failed Bush policies", is what I continue to hear. Well, I unloaded.

First, I scolded the young man on the other end of the phone for making a campaign pitch when he should have been listening to the needs and concerns of a constituent from his district.

Second, I scolded the democratic party for making back room deals with the legislation currently before them. I scolded the party for attempting to add additional spending onto an already overtaxed and overburded taxpayer base.

I informed the young man that I had worked during the 1980's when the RTC had to bail out S&L's across the country. This mess is no larger than any other mess. It just so happens that we're in the middle of another highly divisive election cycle, one that seems to have the nation divided exactly in half.

God help me, but for all of the talking and press meetings the candidates hold, I can't stomach listening to Chris Dodd or even the highly entertaining and laughable Joe Biden as they continue to spew forth their talking points as assigned by The Annointed One, Barack Hussein Obama.

Why won't the Congress or Senate bring the CEO's, Boards of Directors, and principle shareholders before them for grilling? Why won't they bring in the the members of the House and Senate who have benefitted from the easing of regulations? Why are we not able to demand that those members of the Congress and Senate who have benefitted from this and, indeed, cost all of us money, resign from office, losing their pensions and benefits as so many Americans are?

Mo' Money!

Source - Fundrace.com
Donations by Company Name:

$158,166 was given by people who identified their employer as "AIG".
$36,955 from 34 people to Republicans
$121,211 from 144 people to Democrats

$1,690,976 was given by people who identified their employer as "Merrill Lynch".
$1,035,349 from 656 people to Republicans
$655,627 from 461 people to Democrats

$1,153,390 was given by people who identified their employer as "Citigroup".
$383,410 from 235 people to Republicans
$769,980 from 530 people to Democrats

$1,436,409 was given by people who identified their employer as "Lehman Brothers".
$496,094 from 253 people to Republicans
$940,315 from 354 people to Democrats

$1,919,454 was given by people who identified their employer as "Goldman Sachs".
$547,163 from 230 people to Republicans
$1,372,291 from 490 people to Democrats

$1,000,470 was given by people who identified their employer as "Bank of America".
$389,432 from 258 people to Republicans
$611,038 from 615 people to Democrats

$11,883,109 was given by people who identified their occupation as "Lawyer".
$4,324,911 from 3,385 people to Republicans
$7,558,198 from 6,422 people to Democrats

$6,083,976 was given by people who identified their occupation as "Investment Banker". $2,925,739 from 1,286 people to Republicans
$3,158,237 from 1,343 people to Democrats

And…from the group that REALLY runs America -
$89,080,963 was given by people who identified their occupation as "Homemaker".
$53,927,551 from 28,615 people to Republicans
$35,153,412 from 19,051 people to Democrats

Why We're in this Mess

First, I'm not a highly educated person. I finished high school - barely - and can't do math without the use of my hands and my feet. But everyone needs to know that there is a reason we're in this financial and banking mess today: the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act set the stage for what we're now witnessing. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was enacted to prevent banks and investment companies from merging the money of their depositors and investors. This was done after the crash of 1929 in which bank after bank went belly up. We've all heard the stories, we all have read our history books. What we all have failed to do is correctly place the blame for what is turning out to be another turning point in our history.

Bill Clinton repealed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, thereby clearing the way for what would certainly become the mess we're in now. Congress further exacerbated this problem with they mandated that mortgage lenders make it easier for otherwise unqualified borrowers to borrow huge sums of money. Of course, our Congress is filled with activists, not financiers, and certainly not historians. When the Congress deemed that a family earning $40k a year could qualify for a $300k mortgage they did not foresee the natural greed that would follow. Home prices soared, following the money that was available. There was a ready food source, so to say, and the beast of greed could smell blood in the water. The sub-prime mortgage was born.

Like a drug pusher giving the potential addict a "taste", the lure of "the good life" was simply too much for some people to resist. They saw the big house, and the dream of showing off was reinforced by a lending system that had shortsightedly dreamed of the feast of foreclosure. Many people found themselves, sadly, with the realization that paying a $1000 a month for a mortgage left them little to no money to actually live life. The era of the McMansion had begun, with expensive homes on zero lot lines to spring up literally overnight. When they had to choose between feeding their families and feeding the bank, the family won.

We must place blame where it needs to be: Bill Clinton and the waste of taxpayer money Congress that was in place in 1999.