The Love of Money

"Had we thought a bit

Of the end of it

When we started painting the town,

We'd have been aware

That our love affair

Was too hot not to cool down."

We have been hit in the solar plexus by the greatest crisis to afflict our basic economy in decades. Not only did the fox who guarded our henhouse make off with all the chickens, he also broke far too many nest eggs as well. Predatory lending arising from untrammeled greed have led to the evils which now are afflicting the jobs and pocketbooks of Americans -- to say nothing about the remainder of the global community. A proposal by the Secretary of the Treasury and the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board would have the Congress pass a bill allowing them to spend almost a total of one TRILLION dollars to bail out the troubled institutions of Wall Street who have been improvident in the least and fraudulent on the average concerning the public trust. With the loss of that last item goes consumer confidence which could lead to panic. We've been there before -- and lived through the Great Depression. For almost ten years of our national existence, we existed and were bruised by the harsh rock-bottom of fear. It took all the resiliency of these beleaguered people plus a shining leader -- Franklin D. Roosevelt -- who led us through it. We are still tough and we'll make it this time as well.

We must absolutely effect a regulatory system which is tough and unyielding with respect to the management of our taxpayer money. We must not allow job losses to continue, and we must protect the proceeds of savings and retirement accounts throughout the land. Let this crisis lead to the rock-solid trust we used to hold for businesses which made us and themselves prosperous. Whence came the cheats and carney-frauds who dance in tune with the cravings from the bottom of their craven rotten souls? Chuck these rascals out, and do it before the next generation thinks this has been the way to go. Remember the scripture from which we borrowed today's title says nothing about money being evil -- just the overweening love of it.

We hope the candidates are also taking notes.