Well, I guess Wall Street showed those foolish folks in Congress who has the power, didn’t they? And before that Congress showed those greedy bankers they don’t have to rush to their rescue, didn’t they? And before that? You can take this pretty far back before you find someone who wasn’t being greedy or arrogant or blind. Make no mistake about it – this is a contest to see who really controls the economy in this country. And one thing is certain, neither of the contestants thinks it’s you and me. We’re just the PR pawns in their power struggle, the folks they both say they want to help while they pick our pockets to line their own, or to grow their power base, or to simply get re-elected.

There. I got that off my chest. Can’t do anything about it except tell you how I feel. And if you feel the same way you could tell someone. And they could tell someone. Hey, maybe I can do something about it. But only if you and I team up to do it together. How? Well, here’s my suggestion:

Tell your congressional representative to get off his/her duff and get this thing passed! It’s a horrible bill except that it’s far better than the alternative. Not in the long term, when everything will right itself as it always does; but in the short term the bankers will make our lives miserable if we don’t save them so they can lend back to us the money they got from us through Uncle Sam.

But there’s more we’ve got to do. After this thing gets signed, we’ve got to get our reps to do something really meaningful for a change. We’ve got to get them to enact real reform in the banking system. Not from the ideas that the banking industry lobbyists or congressional staffers will propose, but from the minds of our best economists and experts on financial systems. So at least one of these two groups has less opportunity to get rich at our expense by finding still another loophole in the banking and securities laws.

Then go to the polls and take care of the other contestant.

As always, I welcome your comments.