I tried to send the following email to our Senator but was unable to do so because of 'technical difficulties.' Use and edit as you see fit:
I write as a private citizen to make my views concerning banking, Fanny and Freddie bailouts and government debt known to you.
But first, a suggestion: In your list of 'hot topics' which serve to categorize the subject of this email, there is no indication that banking, bail outs, Fannie/Freddie or the parabolic rise in the extent of the federal debt is a hot topic.
This is a failing, in my opinion, for it suggests that you are substantially out of step with your constituents, especially opinion makers and opinion leaders, with regard to issues which are not only significant but which threaten our future and that of generations to come.
I urge you to oppose any further bailouts and to exert your efforts towards making the ones responsible for the credit fiasco assume the losses which they are contractually obligated to assume.
Successful capitalism requires that those who face risks be rewarded when their efforts pay off. It also requires that they risk takers shoulder the losses if their efforts are failures. This simple rule has made our economy vibrant and powerful. It is a bedrock principle of our system. Without it, we lose our essence, our nature. It is also a principle which is being turned upside down.
Housing losses, which the holders of mortgages and other financial instruments concocted by Wall St. should rightfully bear as part of the entrepreneurial risk they assumed, are now being shouldered by the federal government, i.e., the taxpayers. I don't think I need to mention the various bailouts that have recently taken place and those which are on the horizon. I will assume your familiarity with them.
The housing bubble has been punctured, and the allocation of the inevitable losses attendant to its puncturing are being allocated to taxpayers, not to the individuals and entities who assumed the risk of loss.
In a nutshell, taxpayers are being forced to shoulder Wall Street's losses. It is that simple.
This process is unfair, and a violation of one of the the bedrock principles that has made our country great. If it continues, it will cleave our nation for the fabric of our social contract will be stretched and torn.
But even more important, it poisons the future for our children and their children because, given the enormous amounts of federal debt which pre-existed the bubble's puncturing, it is absolutely clear that an ever-rising percentage of our future GDP will be required to service the increased debt which is being foisted upon us if bailouts continue as our government's policy.
The future if bailouts and increased debt are the norm is clear. Money for education, health care, research, infrastructure, etc., will simply not be available. Our great corporations and enterprises will be increasingly subject to foreign control. The great benefit of having the dollar as the global reserve currency will disappear for its value will become increasingly cheapened. Our childrens' standard of living will inevitably go down.
This parade of horribles is not a fantasy but one which a great number of honest and public-spirited economists and policy makers recognize as being inevitable if current policies are not reversed.
There is yet time to oppose this process, but not much more time. I strongly urge you to oppose financial bailouts of any nature and to vigorously oppose the further increase of our national debt.
Sincerely yours, |
