Letter to My Congressman

Congressman McNerney,

 

I urge you to protect the taxpayer as you consider the unprecedented Federal bailout requested by Secretary Paulson. 

 

For 8 years I have witnessed first hand the housing bubble grow in Brentwood.  I witnessed how easy credit encouraged people to live beyond thier means, pushing home prices beyond sustainable levels. 

 

At the same time I witnessed mortgage companies and investment banks benefitting immensely from the practice of making and selling risky loans. 

 

Now I am being aksed to pay for this irresponsibility and greed in the name of keeping the economy going. 

 

While I understand that our economy is tied to the financial markets, I am disgusted by the idea of buying the toxic debt from Wall street. 

 

if flowing credit is the problem, then I suggest the Federal government make the loans directly to small businesses and credit worthy individuals wanting to buy a home.  A solution such as this would leave Wall Street holding the bad paper they have been trading in, would give credit to the deserving individuals that can keep our economy moving, and woudl reinforce the notion that people need to live within thier means and not be greedy. It also might lead to the taxpayers getting a return on the investment.  I liken this to the Cal-Vet program that has been sucessful in CA.

 

It is time for some tough love to be shown to those that wanted too much.  It is not time to show them my tax dollars as a reward.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

-Edward
Brentwoood, CA 94513