T: Is for Trouble on Wall Street?

There is an age old saying you have to rob Peter to pay Paul. With the mortgage crises and the banking system crumbling like a house of cards, it seems this is exactly what our Federal Reserve has set into play. The problem is when you play God, who gets divine intervention and who gets sent straight to oblivion. I think my biggest problem is that the people that are getting bailed out are the ones who were conning America in the Enron scandal. To clarify, the companies that participated in helping Enron, knowing it was a scam and made a profit. A required film and book, should be Enron" The Smartest Guys in the room." The current market crisis began when the Feds lowered the interest rate below-market value, which led to over investments. Recognizing the mistake and to ensure the large Wall Street firms would not lose money, it began by lowering the rates of interest charged to banks who borrow directly from the them and lengthening the term. This however has not worked and now the Federal Reserve is throwing money at companies they think are too important not to survive. A prime example is the $5.2 trillion in mortgage-backed securities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How many smaller companies and people who are losing their homes could of benefited from that amount? Investment banks, which for years have been given free reign have been given guarantees that they to will weather the storm. Merrill Lynch heavily featured in the Enron debacle, invested too heavily in mortgage-backed bonds and refused to come clean about the state of their balance sheets, will receive a pardon. Bear Stearns was also led to the gates of financial security. Next on the rumored list, Lehman Brothers but what about Indymac? They not only didn't make "St Peter's" list but were also ignored on the Federal list on institutions that needed help. Those who invested or watch the list to be safe were never warned. Is this a good old boys club that only those who cheat and make bad decisions get on? And what about the American Public that is suffering by losing their homes? Four other regional banks also failed this year. Not to mention the individual mortgage holders and borrowers who have defaulted on loans, receiving little aid from the government. Do the SEC's emergency rules only applies to 19 Wall Street banks? That safe list includes, Bank of America $545 million, National City $380 million, Citigroup $261 million, U.S. Bancorp $241 million and Wells Fargo $238 million. The Fed extended JPMorgan Chase a $30 billion credit line to help it buy rival Bear Stearns for about $236 million and yet they couldn't help the individual?

So in nut shell the people who started this mess are now playing a selective God and are failing at the task. We need to be informed. We need to make noise and we to see this crises for what it is and make a change. These are F.A.C.T.S. we may not like to face but they still are F.A.C.T.S.