Really Pissed Off!

By a vote of 228 to 205, the House of Representatives demonstrated their lack of courage in the face of Public Opinion. As each member of the House received emails, letters and telephone calls in a ratio of 100 to 1 against this measure, the big losers in this game of chess is Main Street. Wall Street dropped nearly 778 points, while the NASDAQ fell nearly 200 points. Over 1 trillion dollars was lost in a single day! That’s the most amount of money lost since the Great Depression. And who was the one of principal losers in this market freefall?.......Main Street!

As we traveled through the past two decades while investing our future in the Stock Market, a bridge has been constructed between Wall Street and Main Street. It began back on March 31, 1980, when President Carter signed the Depositary Institutions Deregulation And Monetary Control Act, which virtually ended the Usury Laws and began the deregulation process that culminated in the repeal of the Glass – Steagall Act of 1999. That slight of hand by Sen. Phil Gramm, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Travelers CEO Sandy Weill, Citigroup and lobbyist Roger Levy. With a wink and a nod to President Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, the Glass – Steagall Act was repealed and allowed deregulation a free hand in Wall Street. Rubin shortly after its repeal took one of the top jobs at Citibank. When Weill told Rubin of the pending merger, which would shatter the foundation of government regulation, Rubin replied “You’re buying the government!” With the 2000 Election of George W. Bush, The government and Wall Street joined hands for a new era of unregulated investment.

What does that mean to the Average American? After a fit of outrage, it unfortunately tells that you, the investor, have been playing a game where the rules have been stacked against you, as well as making you a paying partner in “Wild West Economics!” Since the Enron scandal, you’ve witnessed lavish spending and wild speculation in the Stock Market, with a promise by those who control it to join them by investing all of your money. Today, you saw 1 trillion dollars of your money disappear. You have been had by Wall Street by a promise of wealth which may or may not have even existed! You have every reason to be outraged! The Wall Street barons should be tarred and feathered! Unfortunately, their lot is your lot as they have your money. But for that very reason, you should act in your own self-interest by allowing Congress to pass this “Bailout Bill.” It may be bailing out those who have filled their pockets with your money, but it will, hopefully, preserve what little investments you have, as well as your jobs and your future.

We’ve made a pact with the Devil and the Devil is Wall Street! The hope is that the House will reconvene and come up with an improved bill that will strictly limit “golden parachutes,” provide for refinancing the mortgages bought by the Federal Government and allow Federal Judges to intervene, if necessary, in foreclosure proceedings. Other considerations would be to allow the FDIC to insure Deposits beyond the $100.000 rule and clarify the market-to-market rule, which requires financial institutions to show their losses up front. If Republicans will not vote for this bill, the Democrats could take the lead with a 233 to 202 advantage and pass a bill to the Senate. That is highly unlikely, as this should be a bi-partisan effort by both Republicans and Democrats, but this bill, in whatever form it finally arrives at, will not only “bailout Wall Street” but will “bailout Main Street!”

What happened on Black Monday!