May 19, 2011
I’m writing because my family and I were affected by the economic collapse of 2008, and we don’t want it to happen again.
Wall Street greed and outrageous pay practices were a major cause of the collapse. Unlike many crying for government regulation on the pay and bonuses of our private sector, I don't believe we should curtail bonuses at all. What we should do is tax businesses, banks, financial institutions and other corporations that seem able to find bonuses in these difficult times.
If they can afford to pay out immense bonuses, they can afford to pay taxes. Not only pay taxes, but pay more taxes, and pay for the oversight we need to ensure that they don't threaten our national security again. That's right - our National Security!
Damage to our nation's economic well being is the largest threat our nation faces at this moment. We currently have the largest, most fearsome, highly trained, technologically advanced, most powerful military the world has ever known. Our military can defend against all military threats. We outspend the rest of the world, we can wage war with impunity, no enemy dares to threaten us on the military field of battle.
What can't we defend against? Economic collapse, financial ruin, national debt in a runaway spiral. These things threaten our national security in more ways than any foreign military, terrorist threat or nuclear weapon!
What good is the world's most powerful military when corporations that threaten our National Security are deemed 'too big to fail'? Why must we bail them out when they cause massive damage to our national economy? The corporation cannot be killed, it never dies, it's insatiable, it demands our nation's resources, it steals, it cheats, it employs an army of 'lobbyists' to wage war against our democracy - and still we lay bare our chest to it's cruel intentions. I say it's time we said 'No!' no more free ride. If corporations wish to be considered citizens of this nation, then they must act in a responsible manner, they must be accountable under the law, they must pay taxes, they must contribute to our society.
As they fail to act as responsible citizens, we must treat them as children. We must stop allowing them to monitor themselves. We must not permit them to regulate themselves. They have shown over and over again that they cannot be trusted with the freedom we've allowed. It's time to reign in their excess by making them pay for the oversight we must implement. It's time to take this National Security threat seriously.
Thank you for considering my comments,
Robert Vaessen