The Building Wealth Blog
A Letter to the United States of America
September 25, 2008 by Mark T. Rafter
I am sending this communication to all members of Congress that I can …. I’d love to have anyone who reads this to chime in with their opinions.
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Dear Senator <salutation to my duly elected representative>,
First of all, I appreciate your participation in the current financial “solution” that is being worked out in Washington in response to the debacle that has been foisted upon the American tax payers by Wall Street.
I saw this coming years ago and have - fortunately - positioned my finances accordingly. Most people I talk to are not so lucky, seeing their net worth, their job, the buying power of what assets they still have, etc. all diminish or disappear.
They feel helpless. I am very knowledgeable about global economics, how the Federal Reserve operates (they being the source of the proposed $700B), how much of our debt is owned by countries that could ruin our economy even without this current disaster, etc etc … and I feel helpless.
Do nothing, we’re doomed. The alternative is to support this package, granting unheard of powers to one person (without legal recourse), basically to same incompetents that allowed this to happen, and it might help…for the short term.
The same people who got us into this mess (Benanke, Paulson, et al) are saying “Trust us” regarding the current bailout solution. “Why?” I must ask, why should I trust you? I find it personally interesting that an even bigger crisis had to be averted before the collapsing house of investment bank cards hit Sect. Paulson old Alma Mata at Goldman Sachs.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” said Alice. That is what it feels like. We seem to be in the midst of a sort of evil Wonderland where nothing makes sense and no matter what you do, something other than what you expect results.
I am genuinely concerned about the future of capitalism as we have known it and, for that matter, democracy itself in these great United States.
May Grace and wisdom be with you; I hope to God you do the right thing.
Mark Rafter
Auburn, CA
I agree that we are at a point where we must take the bail-out - and that it should come with some stipulations and requirements to ensure that this kind of farce cannot happen again.
I believe that we are not helpless. Every single person counts and must get involved in order to be counted. Part of the reason why the bail-out situation has happened is because so many people have abdicated responsibility for participating in their community and government. I’m guilty too - it’s not always easy to find the time to make your position known. Fortunately, blogs like yours have an impact and allow us to aggregate our voice. It’s finally possible for the United States to truly be governed by the people - when they are heard by Congress! Thanks for doing your part to make a difference. It really does matter.