SHINE the light, shine the light...

Where it properly belongs - a high powered spotlight needs to be cast on the:

TOXIC WALL ST. / FSI COCKTAIL OF:

MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES,

DERIVATIVES,

CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS,

Wrapped and Blessed in

RISK MODELS, BLACK BOXES

shaken and stirred with the extra garnish;

L-E-V-E-R-A-G-E

(Specifically, borrow in the short term market against long term paper to capture the spread or so it is hoped - as long as the spreads exist!)

ON THE CONTRARY - the future of consumer banking:

Local bankers, I believe, will revisit the deep roots of their communities, extend a loan to a neighbor, someone who they can look in the eye and whose handshake seals the loan for a house, car or student loan or small business capital. Loans such as these are the easiest credits to evaluate - banks have made these types of loans for decades - why would this time be any different?




Defeat US Treasury Bailout - Previous bailouts did not prevent...

Do our elected representatives have a fiduciary duty to the US taxpayer? It seems to be YES




Therefore vote: NO - The bailout as proposed may cause certain aspects of the credit markets, especially short term, to choke up; it is abundantly unclear that any such rescue would PREVENT consequences predicted by Mr Paulson and Mr Bernanke. The past has told us - Previous bailouts have not worked as billed.





A bit o' history - a bit o' future

Michael Milken always said a AAA rating is the best it will ever get; it's all downhill from there; perhaps the proud owners of today's handful of corporate, government and agency AAA ratings might pause to reflect on what they can do to honor, respect and do whatever it takes to insure that they continue to maintain that extreme level of confidence. If not, what will a new benchmark for sovereign debt consist of?