Clean Out Congress

I have a feeling that no one is quite understanding just how deeply the financial meltdown is affecting the average American. we all have our own views and could provide anecdotal evidence that people are pissed but the depth of anger in the aggregate is difficult to gauge.

More importantly, will this be a moment where the phrase "throw the bums out" actually may mean something? Who do people blame, President Bush, Congress, Wall Street, those who accepted subprime loans or a mixture of all of the above? From my experience, people are really upset with Congress and Wall Street and there's only one group we hold any sway over.

When one takes the time to look at what got us to where we are today, they have to start with legislation that was written as a quasi-entitlement program designed to force mortgage lenders to ease qualification requirements for low income people who would never have qualified for those loans under the standards existing at the time. As so often happens, the program morphed into a cash cow for many Clinton administration veterans who made untold millions running the government sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

At the same time, Wall Street greed turned those federally-backed loans into tradeable assets and dove head first into the a market that was built upon quicksand. Yes, these firms are culpable but they were playing within the rules and only expanded these risky investments simply because the government was backing them.

So we come back again to Congress.

This is affecting people in real-time and in many ways. The trickle down effect is devastating in scope with people losing real money on a daily basis. Most probably have no idea exactly how much they've lost and will not grasp the significance until they receive their 401K statements. Then we'll see outrage the likes of which have never been seen.

But will they turn their anger on incumbent politicians? Historically we have not, yet this is uncharted territory we're in.

Here's to hoping that the American electorate takes aim at Congress as a whole and votes out as many incumbents as possible. I don't care if they are Democrat or Republican, it's well-passed time to send a message unlike any time in this nation's history. Vote against the incumbent or if you can't stomach voting for their opponent, just don't vote in that race.