What Should Uncle Sam Do?

The people are the real Uncle Sam. I am fearful that severe conflicts of interest exist in the business model and structure which must be addressed. Does AIG Iraq, Banque AIG, AIG Dubai, or Swiss bank AIG private bank give you any pause?

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/03/aig-iraq.html

Excellent point about Fannie and Freddie, Mr.R........You realise of course the opposition to reguation under Bush, proposed four times and Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd, were butt deep in campaign money, NOT TO MENTION, Barney's 'lover' at Fannie.......The Congress of the United States is getting a pass on it's culpability, with regard to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the obvious corruption. Bundling worthless mortgaes and tossing them off on our Banking System as valuable entities. I listened to your "ramblings" while with Clinton. You are still a left wing apologist who seemingly needs a bad guy to prop up your 'little man complex. Go after the real badguys.....even if they are your friends.

As a public high school teacher, the current state of our public (and private) institutions reflect our values as a society, from my point of view. I ask all readers to consider this comparison of the following American institutions: Wall Street, Financial Powerhouses, and our public schools...

We are bailing out these failing institutions with taxpayer dollars. The state of our public school system continues to decline. Bailouts and deregulation and more money for failing financial (private) institutions. But increased regulation and LACK of financial support for our PUBLIC SCHOOLS - does this tell us something about our overall priorities as a nation? Are we reaping what our leaders have sown for us?

Think about this, voters PLEASE! Not just for the sake of your own personal interests, but for the sake of our country.

Good teachers are being laid off and class sizes are growing. No child left behind is a law that requires improvements without the promised funding to implement these improvements. And our schools are listed as "failing schools" losing support from the federal government who "regulated" the schools in the first place.

What is left in our public schools is often a stressed out skeleton staff that does not have the resources to properly educate our students, our future, which we would hope will lead us someday.

More evidence is proving that No Child Left Behind (an unfunded mandate) has actually lead to increasing drop outs of our high school students. PLEASE don't blame the teachers for this. We don't want any child to fail. We are working as hard as we can. We are not "in it for the money."

Meanwhile, these corporate lobbyists have effectively secured deregulation and what they consider "optimal" conditions for their financial success (deregulation). And a few well-connected people have lined their pockets with enormous amounts of other peoples' money.

This sort of short-term gain at the expense of long-term growth way of thinking have really infected our entire way of running our society.

Unfortunately middle and lower class young people (the MAJORITY) of our future do not have the money or the resources to hire corporate lobbyists. Their teachers and their schools have very limited resources. And there is little to NO organized efforts to effectively support the reform and progress to lead our public schools to educate and prepare our future.

In every other developed and developing country we compare our students' progress with, there is a clear and dedicated effort to improve, fund, and prioritize education. We are and will be competing with these nations. In America, we are starving our schools while bailing out reckless fat cats who've thrived on greed. Is this the American Way? Or have we lost our way?

Let this be a lesson. Hopefully (as we say in class) we will learn from all of this and use it to improve, grow, and succeed.

In my opinion, (1) top executives for the duration of the bailout should not receive more than $500,000 annual compensation, and they should be obliged to stay on the job for a minimum of 3 years, until the mess they created is solved, if they fail to stay to solve the problem they should be penalized with a minimum of $1,000,000 fine, and (2) the government (The People) must get 10 percent of their current outstanding shares, as compensation for the risk being taken.

Sam Serr
Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

why do congress and senet serve more than 1 term when the constitution called for 1 four year term who changed it nowsenetor ted stevens has been indicted for 7 counts of taking bribes just so he could have his home remodled and he has been office since the cival war ended kick any congress or senetor out after 1 four year and you will put a stop to all of these lobbiests in washington and pass some federal laws protecting the tax payers against the lobbiests if they get convicted of lobbing they lose there head and oh yes the reason they are not giving you or me the gas holliday is because congress gave it all to the labors unioun to keep the construction workers working on the hiways they added a new 10 cents a gallon to gas and the taxon deasil went up to 41 cents a gallon and we havent even got out of the hole they dug for us

my suggestion is very simply the constitution called for one 4 year term for congressmen now who changed it set the term for senit and congress to 1 four year term and out the front door to rejoin the human race look at senitor ted stevens today he was indiceted for 7 counts of taking bribes from people in alaska now bribery is a felone in my state if it was me i would be on my way to the big house but he is a god so dont touch him you might offend the president orsome other senetor prosicute him to the fullest extent of the federal law and also why did congress raise the gas tax and the deasil tax just so the countrys construction workers would not be effected by the home collapse they told the congress that we need 3oo billion dollars for road construction this year and congress said the only way the gas holliday is going is up if they were out here trying to keep there head above water instead of taking a bribre to remodal his home at kenny bunkport well i would hang him out to dry and every other congress man and senetor out after one term and you would not have all o this udecent in washington dc

DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS! OH.......IF THE TAX HOLIDAY ON GAS IS A BAD IDEA. WHY ARE THE DEMS IN DENVER NOT PAYING THE GAS TAX??????NOH YEAH....WE ARE JUST THE "LITTLE PEOPLE". lIKE A FENCH KING ONCE SAID"FEED THEM CAKE". RIGHT BEFORE THEY CHOPPED OFF HIS HEAD.

Politicaql infighting should be against the law.It hinders all positive approaches to most national and international problems.

these greedy bloodsucking bastards knew exactly what they were doing, so did our so called government. they knew that how ever it went they would be bailed out so they pocketed the money and said screw you america. they got theirs didn't they..and its coming out of your pocket isn't it. we are fighting the wrong war. we should make these scum pay.. and i don't really care how.. having been in the marine corps myself, i was convinced we were fighting the wrong war..now i see the real enemy. i see them for what they are. theiving cowards, who rape their own mothers for a profit, and our government is helping them do it. no i am not angry, my anger has turned to true hate. GOD BLESS AMERICA. FIGHT THE POWER.

Our "global war on terror demands a total response.WWII history taught us how to fight ,and win, a GLOBAL WAR successfully.That includes a homefront discipiline.

We should mirror our WW2 wartime policy.Rationing,draft,,etc...

There is an emerging and alarming trend happening in our country. Every time someone has a problem, they run to government crying and expecting help, like government is their mommy or rich uncle. Whatever happened to self-reliance, personal responsibility and accountability?

The shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should oust the current management and demand changes. There is a great analysis of the housing bailout now before Congress and the flaws with it. You can read it at www.UsHousingMelltdown.org . If this legislation becomes law it will only hurt the housing market and prolong the recovery.

One guy says pay the boses $200,000; they will quit stupid.

One guy says why leave the existing guys in senior management; The government set the policies that ruined the housing market, not management.

The others are bla bla bla. The gov this the investors that.

Houses: 20% down, 2 years tax returns, 28% payment/income ratio = healthy housing market.. 35% down for. no doc.

Intelligence analyst: Getzel

This is how it begins, folks. This is how Big Banks Begin world domination. Socialism is government controlling big business. Communism is government planning which business wins, which business fails. This is not the freedom America was built on. This is not the freedom we all love. This is Big Banks telling the U.S. Government what to do, and why. The properties the Fannie and Freddie fund don't need this.

Here is another modest proposal: the US taxpayer does not insure businesses against bankruptcy. That is not out JOB. If big businesses want to create a rainy day account from dividends, or whatever to bail themselves out, that's fine, but it is not the American tax payers job to insure anyone against losses. We, the people of the United States of America are not an insurance company. Period. Look it up- it's not in the constitution- it's not in the amendments- nowhere does it say the that US tax payers have to prop up some body's pet businesses, regardless of the ramification to shareholders, or, more to the point, purchasers of faulty financial instruments issued by callous, greedy, short sighted companies.

I don't think we our going to be able to stop the path to which our government has placed us. The fossil fuel issue is more complex than anyone could ever imagine. We have become a nation enslaved on a product that would cause our country to collapse without it. It is destroying the very air we breathe, pushing our world toward total global warning, and becuase it is an industry that is dependant upon people continuing to use it, and because greed and wealth is dependant upon it. This greed extends to almost every inch of our governent. I have no doubt real technology exists that we can use for transportaion that would be free renewable energy but there is no profit to be made if they cannot keep the people dependant upon returning to some sort of supply for which they can continue to make money. Hydrogen fuel for instance is a possible source solution, however, you will still need to fuel up your tank at a station for which you will be charged per gallon and taxed of course. Some sort of air,solar and electric combination vehicle would be the best answer. Using all 3 technologies together would be the true solution, but remmember there is no continual return profit to be made by doing this. I think a true advanced society visiting our earth would find our path truely self destructive and it's people so concerned about creating wealth at any cost that they have lost site of preserving the very world that provides them life.