Monday, September 29, 2008

Don't believe all the hype on financial crisis

Financial TV talking heads like Suze Orman tonight are peddling the propaganda to the American public that they will pay for the failure of the bailout of Wall Street fatcats.

They cry that the credit markets are frozen. What are small and middle-sized firms going to do to meet payroll and pay utilities? You're going to lose your job, they warn.

Answer their question with a question. What do you think real people do when they can't make ends meet?

They go into their savings, 401ks and even have fish frys and garage sales to pay for things; or they do without. Do these companies have cash on hand on their balance sheets? Do their owners have holdings they can draw from until things resolve themselves?

The talking heads say we Americans do not understand. We do. It's time for everyone to live like Main Street and quit acting like Wall Street can operate by different rules.

The same accountability demanded of us in our daily lives must now be applied to Wall Street. If there must be pain, let it be shared. And for a change, let any bailout be applied directly to the American people and not the fatcats.

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