May 19, 2011
I would like to add my personal comments to the form letter below. I was forced to leave my job at age 66. My husband is also retired. We have savings that we were counting on to provide enough in interest income to support our needs. With the meltdown and the lowering of interest rates to close to zero, this anticipated income is obviously gone. This is money we would have spent supporting the economy, so the antics by the Wall Street people have trickled down to contribute to the destruction of our local economy because many people like us just do not have the money to spend.
Beyond what is described in the form letter, I believe that anyone found responsible for irresponsible decisions that cause people to lose their income, their homes, or anything else, should be required to pay society back in an amount equivalent to their total net worth, or the amount of destruction they caused, whichever is greater. Just holding back bonuses is not nearly enough.
I also believe that any Senator or Representative who tries to reduce regulation of the financial industry and has taken money from Wall Street should immediately resign their positions. It is a disgrace that this Congress is totally in the hands of the Wall Street and oil and similar big business. We are trying to export democracy to the world. We are setting a sorry example.
Form Letter: I’m writing because my family and I were affected by the economic collapse of 2008, and we don’t want it to happen again.
Wall Street greed and outrageous pay practices were a major cause of the collapse. One way to change the incentives so they don’t collapse our economy again would be to delay the bonuses for three, five or more years. That way, we’ll know if the loans they made in year one remain good. In the bad days, bankers paid themselves on the volume of loans (mortgages) they generated, not on their quality.
Thank you for considering my comment,
barbara schick