Open Letter

[rain_gryphon]

Sent earlier tonight:

Dear [Brown, Voinovich, Tiberi, Paulsen, W];
I'm writing to express my strong opposition to the bank bailout plan as currently structured. If the taxpayers are to pay to save investment banks from failure, then the taxpayers should end up owning those banks that we have saved. The current situation was a foreseeable outcome of high-risk lending practices. Rewarding those practices by saving the fortunes and reputations of those responsible only invites more of the same.


There's rather more I'd like to have said (and rather more rhetorical drama I'd like to have used in saying it), but I'm a believer in keeping these things short and polite, as they're more likely to be read.

The more I dwell on this, the worse it pisses me off. I can't believe they want to just bail the banks out without claiming ownership of them in the process. A token punishment like 'salary caps' doesn't even begin to fill the bill. These people made incredibly bad decisions, and no reasonable settlement can leave the same executives in control of the banks. Not do I like Paulsen's idea of block buying to shore up the share prices. It was brave and noble when JP Morgan did it with his own money in 1929 - it's robbing Peter to pay Paul when you do it with taxpayers' money.

Comments

[jnlldxn.livejournal.com]

Did you see mcains interview on cbs last night? He says the government needs to quit lying to the public about us heading for a recession. Because he feels we are heading for a depression instead. could be saying it to get more votes too. But still, scarey.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I didn't see it, but a depression doesn't seem too far-fetched. That's much of what's going on here, is an effort to keep some liquidity in the loan market in order to prevent a serious depression. I approve of that, but I don't approve of letting the people who caused this walk away unscathed.

[jnlldxn.livejournal.com]

Bush turned around and said the exact opposite. That we are heading for a major recession. I approve of it either. I don't like the idea of them getting together, and using our tax money to bail out their buddies at wallstreet.

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

If the taxpayers are to pay to save investment banks from failure, then the taxpayers should end up owning those banks that we have saved.

In the UK we did, eventually, nationalise Northern Rock. So far it seems to have been the right decision, but time will tell.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

If AIG and Goldman/Sachs are so large that they can't be allowed to fail, then government control seems about the only answer.