Congratulation to the American Taxpayer

Congratulations to the American taxpayer! Like it or not, all of us will soon own over $700 billion in bad mortgages – mortgage paper that isn’t worth its face value. And to add insult to injury, the Feds want us to believe they will be able to sell it for profit. So much for fairy tales.

And if that doesn’t make you mad, add this comment from Dem VP hopeful, Sen. Joe Biden on ABC’s Good Morning America: “Raising taxes is patriotic. We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of the middle class.”

Maybe ol’ Joe would be happy if I just endorse my check and send it all to the government. Would that make me more patriotic? Sorry, that’s not change I can believe in.

I'm furious and you should be too!

I’m a strong advocate for free enterprise. Our capitalistic system is by far the best in the world because it causes us to rise to our best – no, it demands our best and it rewards our entrepreneurial efforts, hard work and ingenuity with a good living and our share of the American dream.

I don't like what's happening to our free market economy. I don't like what's happening to the survival of the fittest in the rough and tumble market where he who builds the better mouse trap wins, and he who builds an inferior one re-groups his resources and tries again or falls by the wayside.

Free markets must have overseers, and they do, a body known as the Securities and Exchange Commission, but it failed to do its job for whatever reason. We cannot afford to have failure at such levels, but the SEC is not the only culprit in this crisis.

Regulatory bodies must be tough minded watch dogs with the highest degree of integrity and moral character, guardians of the public trust who aren’t afraid to bark when something doesn’t smell right, when something goes bump or when things simply feel wrong. There’s a fine line between not enough regulation and too much, and the overseerer must walk that tightrope constantly because a slip in either direction can be fatal. Our own history, as well as that of Europe, is proof that too much regulation hinders growth and kills business.

In 2003, President Bush called for a full investigation and re-regulating of the SEC. He said it was tottering on the brink of disaster but he was shot down by Congressmen Barney Frank and Chris Dodd of the powerful Federal Banking Committee. Frank claimed there were no looming problems. The story was reported in the liberal New York Times on September 11, 2003, but got little attention. On May 23, 2006, Sen. John McCain stood on the floor of the Senate and called for a full investigation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and he too was blocked.

For those who don't follow the stock market, the type of bailout we're witnessing began under former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, along with the monetary policy that led to the imploding credit crisis. Greenspan was an advocate of the Adjustable Rate Mortgage in all of its insanity, as well as ridiculously low interest rates that encouraged the creation of severely underfunded credit policies. I truly believe Greenspan will go down as one of the worst central bankers in history. But again, there is no sole culprit.

This much I know -- if, on the day of disaster, you were long the stock of either Fannie or Freddie, you lost your money. If you were short the stock (betting it would go down), you won and pocketed profits. It's legal and I've done it a few times in years past, but there’s something very un-American about it.

I’m beginning to question what country I'm living in. Since when are profits private and losses public? This doesn't sound like America, Toto.

We're fast becoming a Socialist nation. What’s next -- socialized health care, a socialized auto industry? And while they're at it, they could socialize the credit card industry too. And how about Sallie Mae and student loans? Maybe I'll send them my utility bill.

The whole mess is a travesty of woefully inadequate monetary policies, graft, corruption and greed, and now that the inmates are running the asylum, they want a blank check drawn on the taxpayers' account to spend as they see fit. This must not be allowed to happen!

It's true that something must be done to rescue the credit markets, and soon, but no blank checks for anyone -- not now, not ever! It would be a terrible injustice to the taxpayer -- a dagger into the heart of every honest, hard working American.

Memo to Washington: Be very careful with our money. Proceed with great caution, for when free market capitalism goes away, the American dream will go with it.

Nikki