Up, Down and Around Our Town

Let me put it all in perspective this week.  It will be a challenge, but here goes.  In my lifetime, I have seen us land a man on the moon, a President assassinated, two other leaders who met the same fate and a President who resigned after disgracing the country.  And that only got us to the 70's.  We've seen other Presidents get shot at (and hit), not one, but two spacecrafts that have blown up and killed entire crews, the toppling of the Berlin Wall, the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the Tampa Rays head to the baseball playoffs.  Wow!

I had heard tales of the Great Depression and for the history books, it was fine reading.  I heard stories of those whose lives were enriched on a daily basis and one day found out that all that they thought they owned had disappeared.  It was great reading - it was almost 80 years ago and we just had to write another chapter.

This has nothing to do with this year's election.  It has much more to do with the fact that for the very first time in my life, there is real doubt as to our immediate future.  Not from attack overseas, but from the collapsing of our own financial infrastructure.

We Americans love to find blame and we usually like to act on those ideas first.  Okay, using that strategy, I must know what the hell the Treasury Department, the US Attorney General and the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission have been doing for the past year or so.  Obviously, not much.

Yet I hear John McCain tell us that our economic system is sound.  For you history buffs, the last guy that said that was Herbert Hoover.  How did that turn out?

Combining both the measurement of youth with the joy of life's experience has been a wonderful mix.  While such may mean more to me than the young people, they are not totally unaffected and react with the same conclusion.  They know that "something" happened, but are not sure what it was.  But it did.

The very first brokerage firm that I had ever encountered was Merrill-Lynch (Pierce, Fenner and Smith for you grayheaded types).  Now it's gone.  So is Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and now the government....THE GOVERNMENT...owns AIG Insurance.

Deregulation was seen as the panacea for all that politics and finance could see.  So we deregulated.  We deregulated the airline industry and it is about to fall.  We deregulated the phone companies and now we pay 10 times more for various levels of phone service than we did 20 years ago.  We deregulated the utilities and are now held hostage with the new players. We deregulated the lending industry and took the responsibility from the lender to the government and now the government is the biggest homeowner in the nation.

Just maybe we really need a little regulation. Just a passing thought.

I remember my Grandfather (who never went into a bank again after 1929) chuckle at the introduction of "insured" accounts.  His answer, cynically put, was "insured by whom?"  When he found out the government was the insurer, he just squirreled more dollars under the bed.  A lot of people are looking for their beds this past week. While they still can.

Aren't we glad that we didn't deregulate and privatize Social Security.  It would be Merrill/Lynch II and like it or not, it is an entitlement program that is part of the American fabric.  At least until the politicians screw it up.

I wonder if we are immune from actually learning anything.  Perhaps because, for the first time, we really don't know what to do.  Yes, the Federal Government now owns AIG.  It is backing loans that were only made because greed ruled.

Folks that couldn't afford at $100,000 home were encouraged to buy the $400,000 home because the loans were theirs for the asking.  No money down - below market cost and as we all know, real estate just keeps appreciating every year by 20%.  Or so we thought. 

Interest rates changed after a year.  Mortgage payments went up.  The reality of owning a mortgage that they couldn't pay ended up with the "homeowner" walking away and defaulting on the loans.  And why shouldn't they? They didn't have any of "their" money in that contract anyways. The likes of Lehman, Bear-Stearns, Countryside and the others had already spent their millions on executive bonuses and the purchase of a few dozen lobbyists.  The Fed said fine - we'll back the loans so the banks don't have to.  Only problem was that those loans were spread all over the world and suddenly people wanted to get paid.

This ain't no Tony Soprano episode.  It speaks to the very bedrock of a financial system that has leaked, sputtered, patched and now is on the verge of being broken.  Along with pensions, homes, jobs and futures.

And we're still debating gay marriage and abortion. 

Both John McCain and Barack Obama better take a lesson from the horny one from Arkansas who ran in 1992 on the simple statement that "It's the Economy, Stupid!" and connected with people who had real jobs, real loans and wanted to continue both.   And I don't care if Joe Biden has hair plugs or that Sarah Palen shot a moose.  I just don't care.

What I want, what I desire is accountability.  Just as I am as sick of the negative ads, I also find myself looking differently at those who are overspending on a regular basis, but have found representatives to "shave $70%" off my debt.  Somebody ate that 70% - its the law.   At one time they were known as deadbeats.  Now they are shrewd consumers.

The Federal Government can and will print more money.  Some of those homes will find their real market value and probably sell.  Some debt will be repaid.  The bigger question is whether or not we have learned anything.

So, when you're listening to the claptrap of the next six weeks leading up to the election, ask the simplest of questions of both candidates.  "Can you keep you eye on the ball long enough to rebuild the financial integrity of this nation?"   Not with lobbyists and other hangers-on, but with real policy.

Madame Speaker of the House, how about getting off your dead butt and using the bully pulpit and majority that you enjoy to enact some real differences in the status quo. Mr. Attorney General, find out what happened. Mr. Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.....your ride is waiting. And Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, since neither of you have any experience running big corporations, you might want to take a correspondence course because one of you will inherit the CEO job of AIG.gov. That should even the field a little.

And Mr. Bush, you have five months left in your term. Since you have essentially done nothing for the past year, maybe you would like to consider ending with a flair. We have three deficits that need attention - the Leadership one, the Integrity one and the Hope one. Right now, we're waiting for something...anything to happen. Let's hope the wait isn't too long. Because my little hero is going to need support, training and the knowledge that what is said to her is the truth. Nothing else matters. Chew on this and gnash your teeth if necessary, but since "we" own this wreck, let's fix it. Quickly.

Till next week and more surprises, I remain determined and as always......