Is anybody out there listening?
Ramblings of an amused mind!

Thomas Roskelly Advertising and Marketing Director

"This past weekend, my wife and I traveled to Toledo, Ohio to attend a family wedding. We had the opportunity to listen to a lot of talk radio...and could not avoid impassioned discussion about the $700,000,000,000 bail-out. A couple of things stand out.

1. The original 3-page bill offered by the administration - when finally passed by Congress - is in excess of 400 pages. Does anyone know what's in it? I'll be willing to bet that the vast majority of our Senators and Representatives don't have a clue. I sure don't. I hear about wooden arrows and bicycle incentives for employers, but I'd really like to know how this thing is going to effect you and me. And when they promised to put the text of the bill on the Internet...it took three days to do it. How is the taxpayer to understand the impact of such legislation? 2. Congress likes to refer to themselves as representatives of the people. Well, when the people clogged the phone lines and the Internet sites to express their opinion - overwhelmingly negative - about the bill, our "representatives" do what they always do...add sweeteners to buy votes, hold their nose and vote without regard for the taxpayer. One congressman who voted for the bill characterized his constituents calls as "50-50 - 50% said NO, the other 50% said Hell NO!"

3. We were all told that the bill was necessary to "stabilize the market." Unless you have been on another planet for a week or so, you know the U.S and world markets are unstable at record levels. When the Dow drops 800 points, what happens to your 401-K? Do you know? Do you care? The market has proven itself to be amazingly resilient through wars and catastrophes in the past WITHOUT the necessity of a big government bail-out. But now, because some fat cats have been cooking the books and foreclosures are on the rise, the average taxpayer - those hardworking Americans the politicians are always talking about - are called upon to fix the problems they have not had a hand in creating.

4. Where were the regulators? Several members of Congress (Hello, Barney Frank) have been asking this question as a means of directing blame away from themselves. Well, the truth is the regulators were appearing before Congressional committees warning about less than honest accounting practices - particularly at Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. But the politicians turned on the regulators and accused them of trying to "embarrass" the heads of these two government-sponsored mortgage agencies.

It would certainly help if those doing so much talking had some idea of what they were actually talking about! But when they decide they're smarter than everyone else and do not listen, why oh why should we listen to them? Are they really working for us...or simply working to stay in political power? I'll bet you know the answer=2 0to that one! There are lots of great business and economic ideas out here in the hinterlands...but who's listening?

A Washington, D.C. friend of mine - Dick Armey - once said, "Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves and politicians. All three need supervision."