Open letter to Congress

[setravis]

*Open letter to Congress*

You people are hilarious. First, you let the bankers self-regulate. They were able to generate huge profits under the table by making loans they knew were impossible to pay off. Then they packaged the junk and sold it to taxpayer's pension funds and other investors, with the active help of unregulated rating agencies who gave the junk inflated ratings.

Then you let the supposedly regulated insurance industry sell trillions of insurance in the form of credit default swaps, knowing full well there was not enough money to cover potential losses. When the insurance companies faced huge defaults, you bailed them out with taxpayer money.

When public pressure finally made you clean up the bank's accounting system a little, it became clear the banks were all virtually insolvent. So you bailed them out too with taxpayer money, enough that they could pay themselves big salaries and bonuses for doing such a great job of sucking money out of the public.

Now you are going to let the banks return to the "liar's poker" accounting system they had before, so they'll be able to start the scams all over again. I thought you were supposed to be working for us, not for them!

When the bankers whistle, you come running - tail wagging, tongue hanging out, ready to please. Good dog.

[setravis]

The great statesmen of the past saw themselves as heroes who took on the burden of their societies' painful journey from the familiar to the as yet unknown. The modern politician is less interested in being a hero than a superstar. Heroes walk alone; stars derive their status from approbation. Heroes are defined by inner values; stars by consensus. When a candidate's views are forged in focus groups and ratified by television anchorpersons, insecurity and superficiality become congenital.