Posted by
Trafalgar21 on Thursday, October 02, 2008 11:53:37 AM
We have what is obviously a severe problem in the financial markets. We have all prospered (to one degree or another) from what created this problem, whether it was easy credit and mortgages, low interest rates, more for the 401Ks, and so on. Average citizens enjoyed the benefits and were blissfully unaware (for the most part) what it took to provide that easy money to us. Businesses also enjoyed the credit boom, though it seems to me that they took the opportunity to move many operations overseas, though I admit there was also a lot of expansion here in the USA too.
Now we find that credit requirements were greatly relaxed to enable more people to buy and sell. I ask you--what happened to the laws and regulations that are supposed to protect against this sort of thing? How did lenders get around these laws? Why could lenders get around the laws --what happened?
At any rate, if lenders tooks risks when they lent out their money, shouldn't they shoulder their own risk and not ask the taxpayer to do it for them? How can the taxpayer have confidence that the money we give to bail out the lenders will be used wisely and corretly, when the lenders didn't use their own money wisely in the first place, even skirting the law when they could get away with it? I understand that the money lenders lent was client money--coming from businesses and individuals--but it is still our individual choice to choose to keep our money and 401Ks where they are so that lenders can lend it out--and we can move our money to other lenders too as our choice. But when we pay taxes and our Congress decides to give tax money to lenders who took risks and lost--we have no recourse. We can't call the money back from Congress. It will be spent before we can recall or un-elect the Congress members who voted for it.
Which brings us to the next problem: Do we have confidence in our Congress that they are spending our money wisely? Do we believe that they have no ulterior motives and that they are making the best decisions based on the information they have (which we apparently we as citizens don't have). I have to tell you with all honesty that I don't see that Congress has a good track record. If I were a lender (and in this case, as a taxpayer, I am indeed!) I would not trust Congress to do the right thing, and I would not give or lend them anything. I would consider it a wise business decision, based on Congress' past history, to deny them a loan from my taxes. Of couse, the bail out bill is not a loan it's a giveaway--so much for prudent business decisions! There is no accountability for Congress just as there is no consequence to the lenders who made bad decisions. Again, by the time Congress is voted out or even recalled, the decisions are made and the damage is done.
My idea is this: I believe we need for our Congress to be nimble and accountable to the people. The best way I can see to accomplish both is to have definite limits to how long a person in Congress can serve--I think one term is enough. We have too many career politicians who are too far removed from their constituents and too much beholden to party and special interests, not to mention addicted to pork.