Can You Trust Congress with the Economy?

Congress at the helm of the financial bailout is as concerning as the crisis itself. I struggle to see how a partisan Congress that has turned a blind eye to the causes of the turmoil would be able to get out of its own way this time around.

Congress has been complicit by allowing Wall Street to run amok and skirting the regulations that were intended to protect the American public. Can anyone in Congress really admit he or she does not see the excesses on Wall Street, the inherent conflicts of interest built into the financial infrastructure, and how these contribute to greed and abuses of the system?

As investors, taxpayers, business owners, employees and anyone who has a vested interest in the health of our economy, we should be extremely hawkish about how Congress addresses the excesses of Wall Street. When did it become OK for the titans of industry to walk away with tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation when our investments get anemic returns?

Think about it another way — the more money that is pulled out of our investment funds to compensate the managers, the lower our returns will be. Why do we accept this? Why is this allowed? What are they being compensated for exactly? Given the debacle facing our country and the global financial markets, they certainly are not being rewarded for their mastery of their trade, their wisdom, or performance — are they?