My friends, we’ve been taken for suckers.

We called, emailed, wrote and instructed Congress not to vote for the $700 billion bailout and did they listen? No.

Did they smirk, give us the patronizing finger and not only vote for the bailout with unabashed gusto but also tacked on pork at our additional expense? They certainly did.

Did they give in to their banker buddies who have spent half a trillion dollars on banking special interests to Congress over the past 10 years? Yup, they did. Putting their loyalties to bankers above their loyalty to us, the people who hired them.

And how did the market respond? Well, it crashed and burned; not only here but world-wide.

It seems that last weeks brief up-tick was not attributable to the congressional and presidential lie that the market was responding to the prospect of a bailout. No, it was in fact responding to better consumer confidence numbers for September. The market, which reflects the most elusive and valuable of currencies – consumer confidence – crashed because Congress neglected its duty to listen to the American public and gave the gangsters our cash.  Indeed, as if $700 billion wasn't enough, they even went so far as to generously ‘sweeten the deal.” Sweeten it for whom I must ask?

Some financial companies have decided not to accept bailout money after all because they want to avoid the tacked-on conditions especially on controlling CEO salaries. It seems that when push comes to shove they can survive without help with old fashioned 'squeeze the budget' economics.

Others took the cash and spent it lavishly, unable to hide their utter contempt for the American public. AIG, who a couple of weeks ago were on the verge - nay, the very cusp - of implosion, apparently revived quickly. You'll be delighted to hear that to celebrate they had an executive retreat in a $500/night hotel a week after receiving the $85 billion and spent $440,000 on a week of frivolity, spa treatments and room service.*

The bottom line is that Congress, politicians, Senators and especially Presidents, should not have any public fiduciary responsibility except perhaps to spend their own paychecks. They are not to be trusted with public money. They have collectively bankrupted our nation in a psychopathic approach to spending funds that aren’t theirs to spend; hosing away money we don’t have, pretending to put out a fire that they know can't be quenched except by running it's natural course.

When will we - Joe and Jill Public -  finally act on Congress’s insubordination? How about the November elections? Here’s how I’ve done it. I’ve written to my congressman (Wexler) and told him that because of his vote for the bailout that we’re voting to fire him. Wexler ‘you’re fired!’

You should do the same. Vote for anyone except the incumbent who voted to give our money away. Maybe they’ll get the message when they find themselves shoulder to shoulder among us - the great unwashed - without a job.

Take a second and open your window; listen. Hear that? That’s the sound of laughter echoing through the concrete canyons of Wall Street. Those loud guffaws are from the offices of the bailed-out bankers; the very same ones that caused this mess. They can’t believe that they’ve fooled us twice.

Which brings to mind an old saying on Wall Street; 'it's morally wrong to give a sucker a chance.'

Yeah. We know.
 

* PS. If you’d like to see what AIG executives have been spending your money on, check this copy of their hotel bill: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1007083aig1.html