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Dear Mr. Berko: I understand that you are uncomfortable with the Obama administration鈥檚 handling of this financial crisis. What changes would you recommend to put our economy back on track? This is not a trick question; rather, other readers and I would appreciate your point of view. Are you in the Rush Limbaugh camp? Do you agree with Rush, who wants President Barack Obama鈥檚 policies to fail?

G.G.
Oklahoma City

Dear G.G.: Please understand that Rush Limbaugh is neither an economist nor a financial impresario. He鈥檚 a fantastic entertainer who would probably win every vote on 鈥淎merican Idol.鈥� And I don鈥檛 believe, for even a minute, that Limbaugh wants Obama鈥檚 policies to fail. Limbaugh is not vindictive, and he doesn鈥檛 wish economic failure for 310 million Americans. His job is to sell advertising for the radio stations that broadcast his program. He鈥檚 doing yeoman鈥檚 work.

There are simple solutions for most complicated problems concerning government policies. However, the solutions are complicated by thousands of sniveling lobbyists who deluge members of Congress with billions of dollars of bribe money to favor the smirking fat cats who employ them. It was L. William Seidman, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who said: 鈥淟obbyists are the poison of America鈥檚 middle class.鈥� Because we鈥檙e prohibited from shooting lobbyists, I suggest that the administration demand lobbyists wear Nazi armbands and red swastikas on their lapels.

Solving our economic problems is made even more complicated because Democrats and Republicans practice politics like the Hatfields and McCoys. Just imagine what we could accomplish if Congress banished political parties.

One TRILLION dollars, a whole number followed by 12 zeros, has been bequeathed by the administration for the purchase of 鈥渢oxic鈥� assets from our financial institutions. That鈥檚 wrong! A second $1 TRILLION of largess was bestowed to the banks, insurance companies, and the auto and brokerage industries so they can meet their financial obligations. That鈥檚 wrong! Every penny of this $2 TRILLION is euchred from the pockets of all American taxpayers.

Most of those dollars belong to Americans who lost homes to foreclosure due to unprincipled lenders, and to Americans who don鈥檛 have money for health insurance because of fraud, greed and waste in our medical system. This money is usurped from Americans who can鈥檛 make credit card payments due to unscrupulous bank practices and from Americans who purchased Detroit鈥檚 cars that implode three years later.

Finally, this money belongs to Americans who lost TRILLIONS in their retirement accounts due to the criminal activities and marauding greed of Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. This money doesn鈥檛 belong to Bank of America, General Motors, Merrill Lynch, AIG or Countrywide Financial.

It鈥檚 our money, and there鈥檚 not a single snippet of personal responsibility attached to corporate America taking it. History books will refer to this event as the 鈥渟lickest train robbery in the history of the world.鈥�

It鈥檚 so easy to spend money when it doesn鈥檛 belong to you. Everybody complains about the proposed solutions, but few offer a better one. Well, here is a better solution.

Congress goofed big time handing out $1 billion checks like cheese samples on toothpicks at Costco! I would insist that the executives of companies receiving bailout bucks personally sign an enforceable IOU for their pro-rata share of the largess. They too should be on the hook. I would insist that members of the respective corporate boards sign identical IOUs. Then I would get rid of Treasury Secretary Timmy 鈥淭he Giveaway Kid鈥� Geithner, a Brooklyn boy who got his doctorate from Dartmouth. I would replace him with Thomas M. Hoenig, a Midwestern lad born in Fort Madison, Iowa. Hoenig earned his doctorate at Iowa State University. He鈥檚 a financial conservative and president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, the country鈥檚 second largest behind only San Francisco.

If this were done, I believe the Dow Jones industrial average would be reaching new highs today.

Address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, c/o The Daily Journal of Commerce, P.O. Box 1416, Boca Raton, FL 33429, or e-mail him at [email protected].
漏 Creators Syndicate Inc.