----- Original Message -----
From: Donald V. Watkins
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2008 9:23 PM
Subject: Fwd: $700 Billion Bailout
FYI
From: Donald V. Watkins
To: rick_dearborn@sessions.Senate.gov
CC: aseawright@medicalplace.net, jarchibald@bhamnews.com
Sent: 9/27/2008 8:03:26 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: $700 Billion Bailout
To: rick_dearborn@sessions.Senate.gov
CC: aseawright@medicalplace.net, jarchibald@bhamnews.com
Sent: 9/27/2008 8:03:26 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: $700 Billion Bailout
Rick:
Please deliver this open letter to Senator Sessions.
Dear Senator Sessions:
I strongly oppose the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. I own and operate Alamerica Bank, a five-star rated bank in Birmingham. We achieved our Bauer Financial and Bankrate.com five-star ratings (which we have enjoyed for six consecutive quarters) by making prudent business decisions in a fiscally responsible way. For years, we have watched others in our industry play fast and loose with their lending practices in a reckless disregard for the consequences of their actions. They gambled and lost.
It is simply unfair and un-American to use taxpayers' money to bailout Wall Street CEOs who, whether motivated by greed or ignorance, ran their companies in the ground. What sacrifices or financial contributions are they offering to make to atone for their fiscal mismanagement? Why haven't we seen these disgraced CEOs appear before the Senate and House Banking Committees to explain the reckless conduct of their companies and plead for public forgiveness and assistance? Why are they being shielded from public view during this crisis? Are they forfeiting the extravagant salaries and bonuses paid them during the years when they were running their companies in the ground?
What lesson does a bailout send to all of the responsible five-star rated bankers who made lending decisions based upon traditional banking standards? If the bad bankers go the bailout heaven, why should the good bankers continue to work hard to be responsible stewards of their customers' money and shareholders' investment value?
Why is $700 billion in corporate welfare for irresponsible Wall Street bankers good for America? Which America is it good for? What's in this bailout deal for hard working middle class homeowners on Main Street who are struggling every day to pay their mortgages? It has to be something more than additional regulatory oversight and a moratorium on CEO bonuses going forward.
When has Congress dropped everything it was doing and rushed to bailout struggling taxpayers? Oh, I nearly forgot that many taxpayers recently received $300 checks from the U.S. Treasury to stimulate their personal financial situations. I do not want to seem ungrateful. but if they were lucky, these checks bought the average American three full tanks of premium gas with the money going straight back to foreign oil barons.
If Congress bails these failing Wall Street institutions out of this financial mess, does this legislative act of forgiveness constitute an effective criminal defense to the multitude of apparent Sarbanes-Oxley violations that had to occur within these companies to bring them to the brink of catastrophic failure? As the chief lawyer for the only Fortune 500 CEO in America who defeated federal prosecutors in a Sarbanes-Oxley financial fraud case, I believe it does.
Please do everything within your power to stop this taxpayer sponsored bailout. If Congress is going to fix the plumbing in the country's financial system, please flush the toilet first.
I am requesting that you share this email with Representative Spencer Baccus, the other members of the Alabama Congressional delegation, and any member of Congress who can help you stop this bailout. I have already expressed these sentiments to Senator Shelby's Office. Thanks.
Donald V. Watkins
--Posted by The Meck
The Meck Report / Blog
www.TheMeck.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Watkins
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