Letter to the Editor

In my frustration about the economy, I decided to write a letter to my Senators and Representatives. If you are frustrated about something, I encourage you to do the same to your elected officials. It really made me feel better, even if it may never reach the intended audience.

Here is the letter that I wrote: (you may agree or not, but since it's my blog I get to say what I want!)

As a taxpayer and voter, it infuriates and disgusts me that the Government is considering a bailout for Wall Street. While average Americans have been losing their homes, their jobs and trying to budget for rising energy and food costs, Wall Street executives have been getting rich using unethical business practices. And now, instead of helping the vast majority of Americans, the executives are going to be bailed out while the average American is going to foot the bill.

I don’t understand why this makes sense to any of you in Washington. It should disgust and infuriate you as well. Especially since the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, wants what is essentially a blank check, funded from the empty pockets of the poor and struggling middle class.

When a small business makes bad business decisions and is going out of business, does the Federal Government step in and bail them out? No! So why should the government step in and fix this problem? The government’s role should be focusing on fixing banking and business regulations, not throwing money at the problem so that executives of these companies and banks can sail off in their yachts.

The worst thing the Government can do for the American people at this time is to bail out big business while main street Americans foot the bill. The best thing the Government can do is let the economy fall. How else will corporate America, the banking industry and Wall Street ever learn their lesson by being bailed out?

Besides deregulation, there are other forces causing an economic downfall in this country, the War in Iraq being one of them. Economics 101 teaches that the weakest economy is a war time economy. The sad thing is that the money we spend in Iraq is not spent on our troops, it’s spent on big business (once again) through “government contracts” for rebuilding. That’s bullshit! And no one has stood up to fight that, either.

We have been force fed the idea that Terrorism is something that we have to go and fight, but I believe that by ruining our economy, Terrorists have won the fight that they wanted to start. Osama Bin Laden didn’t attack the Twin Towers because they were an easy target. He targeted them for what they stood for: the strength of America, which has been our strong economy. Since that attack, President Bush has been playing into the hands of Terrorists by starting a war (over oil, by the way – don’t think that the American people are ignorant. We know why we went to “war”) that will never be won. Bin Laden counted on greed to destroy America, and he is about to succeed in his mission.

What the government does not understand is that without industry and agriculture, there is no foundation for our economy. Granted, there is the global economy, but the global economy doesn’t help the average American. We need industry and agriculture because Americans need jobs. Those jobs create income, which the average American spends IN AMERICA. That spending then circulates: taxes, more jobs, more income, etc.

Spend our money on us. Americans. Help the majority of the population, not the richest minority. There is no such thing as the trickle-down effect. That is a fairy tale created by the rich so that they can have all the wealth. Help America flourish again. Help America be viable and strong. Help average Americans.

I have a few questions for you, as well: Do you live on less than $50,000 a year? Do you have high insurance premiums and deductibles, while having less than adequate coverage when you need it? Have you lost your job in industry or agriculture in the last five years?

No? Then you need to get in touch with the people who vote you into office. You need to be on the same page as those voters. If you look at how they live, then you will see that you are screwing them over by voting for any legislation or bailout package that foots them with the bill of covering Wall Street executives and their bad decisions.

Please consider voting in the best interest of your constituents this time. Even if that means voting against a bailout package. Take a stand. Be a better person. Be a better American.

If you don’t put an end to this, there may not be an America left for you to fight for.