When I think about the current financial crisis facing this country, I can not help but think of all the deregulation and the cavalier attitudes of our leadership and why Congress obviously does not care much what their actions portray to the perceived public. Is the United States a democracy (my question mark is not working on this computer). I sure the heck do not think so and I am sure many others share my sentiment as well. Perhaps this is why Congress has its lowest rating (about 28%) in decades.
Just recently I had my car window smashed to pieces and my pocketbook stolen and mind you, this was in a community park. (of course I have my own theories about what REALLY happened, but I will choose not to elaborate on that right now). When I spoke to the Palmer Twsp. police officer (in Easton, Pennsylvania) over the phone to make a report, he told me that this has been happening quite often. When I asked him why a sign was not posted to alert the public, he said that it would make our community look bad. Well folks, we all know what that is...............politics, just like everything is today. We do not want God to look bad, so we do not warn people about sin and damnation. We ignore doctrine for the sake of peace without much resistance. We continue to borrow and add to our National debt........all the while ignoring the tidal wave that is approaching. Why do we do this.
According to our government, the nations chronic deficits are not a problem as long as they remain under a certain percentage of the GNP (excluding the cost of the war and future entitlements) and that current levels are historically sustainable. The national debt is cumulative though and when you have to keep borrowing to pay off old debts, the wave gets bigger and threatens to drown you (our national government now pays more in interest than for education, health care, and homeland security combined). And keep in mind that our government keeps borrowing from Social Security and Medicare just to pay the interest on that national debt. They should at least have the decency to keep their bloody paws off programs that are funded by workers and promised to them. The creators of these programs intended for them to act as trust funds and that the greedy politicians were to keep their hands off of them.
Even Japans treasury pays about one-fifth the interest rate that we pay. We have basically become the most profitable sub-prime borrower or its preferred customer in the global finance market. And the more we borrow, the higher the premiums they will throw our way. And what about bankruptcy. Remember just recently Congress revamped the bankruptcy laws making it harder for individuals to file bankruptcy. However, corporations some how skirted this law.......as usual. Do you actually think that Congress is acting on behalf of the American people or are they really working for the corporations and receiving clandestine favors from their banking friends. When the banks and credit card companies realize that outlawing bankruptcy is not going to stop people from going broke, they are going to have to rethink their strategy. What IS certain, is that Congress probably will not compel them to do anything, which borders on criminal negligence. When the average Joe falls on hard times, there will be no generous donor to bail him out in exchange for his vote, nor could he expect to have his credit report cleaned up in a matter of minutes.
The two-tiered system we have put up with for too long has shielded our representatives in Congress from appreciating both the magnitude and the urgency of the problem facing middle-class Americans. I think a great idea is to have congressmen forced to live on minimum wage and get food from a pantry or have the President go to a county hospital for treatment and wait an hour and half in the emergency room. Why are there not more lobbyist for American families on important issues. And why should the financial industry be allowed to treat those in power any differently than ordinary Americans. Should corporations, which keep in mind, were originally chartered to have the same rights as individuals, be allowed to keep those rights.....e.g., bankruptcy, while living, breathing citizens are stripped of them. If Congress does not want families to have the option of getting out from under, corporations and investments banks should not enjoy that privilege either. CEOs who have the foresight to pay themselves millions of dollars before their companies tank should not be the only ones afforded a fresh start.
And on the issue of privacy. Is it not amazing how these investment banks and large corporations are given this privilege as well. When the average Joe defaults on his creditors, he will be threatened and harassed by an army of faceless voices who are allowed to share everything they know about him, including his address, his phone #, the names of his relatives and neighbors, as well as his entire financial history. If consumers are to have a fair chance, the practice of information sharing needs to be curtailed, not expanded, and consumers must have a bona fide right to opt out. Our current system only allows consumers to opt out of receiving solicitations; it does nothing to guarantee an individuals constitutional right to privacy or protect them from malevolent collectors. The government should respect the law and not join in the game by purchasing private information from the credit bureaus. And agencies like the IRS should not be allowed to share personal information with credit bureaus or debt collectors. Personally, I feel that our credit bureaus and the FICO credit scoring system is quite similar to what the mark of the beast will be like. You know...........you can not purchase food, clothing, or shelter unless you bow down and worship the anti-christ.
I have heard the term, floor rate, which means that is the lowest a credit card company will drop their rate. Why does not Congress address this issue as well. Why are not the banks interest rates capped. We see that paw shops and casinos are regulated so then how does a $12,000 debt suddenly balloon to a $50,000 debt. It is unfortunate that regulation has been viewed or made tantamount to socialism and deregulation has been mistaken for freedom. Where are the checks and balances. Are there not supposed to be limits on interstate banking. I wonder how many people think Congress has been asleep at the wheel for too long. Or how many people bought Hank Paulsens pleading with Congress for the $700 billion bailout, that what is good for banking profits, is always good for the American people. I wonder how many think It is time to create a new metric in order to judge how many middle-class Americans are joining the ranks of the poor. The poverty line is archaic because it is based solely on food (this poverty line is defined as 3 times the cost of feeding a family of 4). Is that the only factor to determine if someone or a family is in poverty. What about exorbinant healthcare costs, housing costs, and insurance costs.
I think too many have collectively thrown their hands up and said that the financial industry is too big to regulate so we give up and we will just capitulate to their demands. Or better yet, perhaps Congress is actually afraid of the BANK. You know when Abe Lincoln was assassinated, Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, screamed.....Oh, that bank. I wonder how many people have been knocked off because they did not cooperate with the BANKS agenda. Money yields and amasses incredible power and control.
And interestingly, regulation was instigated to protect the financial system from a Depression-style meltdown. Perhaps that is a prophetic statement.