POLITICS AND MONEY

MAY 2008

I write this letter because I believe you feel the same frustration and anger with our representatives in Washington as I do. There are two points that I would like to address: dependence on oil and the crisis in the housing market.

I know your upset with the gas prices, I feel the same anger. Should we be angry? Yes, because this is not a new problem. It’s been around for decades with no action from Washington. Didn’t they see the writing on the wall or were they too concerned with protecting the investments of foreign oil, large oil companies, car manufacturers and unions? Washington has put us into a position of foreign dependence. How can we maintain a free and strong economy if we are dependent on foreign resources, be it oil or money.

The second point is the housing crisis. How did Washington allow lenders free rein in the creation of this crisis? No money down, mortgages above the cost of the home, basically a no questions policy. Historically we know there are ups and downs in the markets. How naïve have we become in the handling of money.

These two points demonstrate the inability of Washington and our representative to act on problems. Their policy is one of reaction. Once the fire is blazing they work to put it out. This is extremely serious because Washington has placed us and our economy into a critical situation. Let’s face it; Washington’s major concern has been the protection of big business and big money. They have no problem with bailing out lenders and borrowers. Whose money are they playing with? It’s your money. It’s easy to play with someone else’s money, what they have done is placed our investments, pensions and future at risk. Every evening our political leaders parade before the cameras to tell us how hard they work at spending our money. More earmarks and pork. Don’t they realize that pork makes you fat and lazy? Have they solved any problems, no!

The ratings and trust in our elected officials has dwindled to zero. How long can we tolerate Washington’s inability to prevent crises such as oil dependence and the housing problem? If you look down the road Social Security is a time bomb waiting to explode. These problems aren’t going away, they need to be solved. This is a great country with great minds and creativity. Maybe its time that Washington employ some of these resources to solve our problems. It’s become quite evident they do not possess the will nor the ability to solve problems.