Thanks to all who read and commented on my letter to the president. The final version is at the end of this post.
Sample responses:
Pretty good. The asset-backed market is a big part of the reason lending is down. Keep up the good work. [Banker]
Right On, Mr. Citizen!! Keep writing and let me know when BO Twitters you. [Technology Executive]
A few years back the U.S. Government took over the Mustang Ranch Brothel in Nevada and it failed. How do we expect the government to run banks, when they cannot even run a whorehouse? [Successful Entrepreneur]
Your suggestion to keep banks simple enough to fail seems to be in [FDIC Chairman] Shelia Bair’s head too. Small enough to fail seems appropriate too. [Pharmaceutical Ph.D.]
I agree with the content. I have no doubt that while BO knows your argument quite well, he will never tell us. His goal is much different than yours and mine--he wants control and power to destroy free market capitalism.
Surveys indicate that 25% of the public are so ignorant that they think the government has money on its own. Rewarding that 25% will give BO the evil power he wants. He will pay them with soon-to-be very inflated dollars
Many suspect that a group—headed by George Soros-- is the stuff inside that empty suit. Did BO make up the team or did the team make up him?
Efforts from people like you will hopefully make a difference. The mainstream media is in the tank with BO because they see him as their only hope to survive---they are finished without him.
My response here is not rooted in anger. It is rooted in fear. I am very concerned about what we have left for our children. [Banker]
This last comment seemed unlikely until yesterday. Then syndicated columnist—and former Chief Resident in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital--Charles Krauthammer said essentially the same thing.
Chuck
RE: U.S. Banking Solution
Dear Mr. President:
Last week I circulated these ideas among 150 friends and relatives. Many have banking backgrounds. Their support was unanimous.
I am embarrassed about the last two Treasury Secretaries. They attended my college, yet seem confused. Here are my suggestions:
§ No government run banks. The Secretaries confusion proves that government cannot and should not run any bank, anywhere. Guarantees, regulations or shut downs are fine. But if Treasury Secretary Geithner—a former CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York—cannot figure this out, then no one in government can.
§ Stop the ridiculous “mark to market” rule on mortgages. If the borrower is paying, the market value of the underlying asset is meaningless. Also, the market value is really unknown until a regular sale, foreclosure sale or bankruptcy markdown occurs. Only then should the asset be revalued. This one rule change would instantly stop the global financial crisis.
§ Allow over extended borrowers to fail. It is unfair to force me to pay my neighbor’s mortgage. Of course this will be painful. But it will be much faster than the New Deal during which FDR dragged out the Depression for over ten years. You want to avoid that, don’t you?
§ Reregulate à la The Glass-Steagall Act. This law prohibited commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. Also, stop bank issuance of so-called mortgage backed securities and the like. President Clinton signed laws allowing all this. Banks are banks, not candy stores to be gamed by unscrupulous MBAs.
§ “Stick to your knitting.” Or, in this case, banking. Your healthcare, global warming, green energy and “tax fairness” agendas will provoke lively debate. Nevertheless, even discussing them detracts from getting U.S. banking back on its feet. Talk about these permanent changes to the America way of life now—with the economy in shambles— exposes your Administration’s diffuse thinking to our citizens, our international creditors and our enemies. Very dangerous.
Instead, tell the American people it is up to them. Once we are all working, paying our bills and living within our means, then you can introduce your agendas as the economy can bear it. Use your bully pulpit to lead us out of the wilderness.
I know you are committed to solving our financial crisis ASAP. This will do it.
Wishing you every success,
Charles Carroll
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