I Wrote To Congress

Sent this today to Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Boxer, and Rep. Eshoo:

You MUST NOT support or approve the Paulson bailout in its present form. The perpetrators of the largest Ponzi scheme in world history are asking us not only to let them off the hook, but to make THEM whole for their losses, leaving ordinary Americans stuck with the double-whammy of their mortgage, investment, and home-value losses PLUS the tax bill for the bailout.

If we’re going to nationalize the financial markets like a socialist economy, we should at least seize their assets as well as their debts. As it is this is a gift from our grandchildren to the very wealthy, with no conceivable upside for the Treasury. (Face it, if there were any possibility these bad loans could become profitable, the market would be functioning and there wouldn’t be a crisis.)

At the very minimum we should demand transparency, accountability, and applicability of all relevant laws. Letting the Bush administration evade the law for even four more months with $700 billion of our money is insane.

Any bailout should include compensation for the taxpayer. When these companies are whole and prosperous in five years, and we’re still saddled with a trillion dollars in debt, the folly of this plan will be obvious.

And you have your job cut out for you in crafting and passing legitimate, strong regulation of the financial market casino where the market incentive is to make crazy gambles rather than to manage money prudently.