Hard Working American First!

By Robert Weiss

This weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. economy deteriorated far more than previously thought in the fourth quarter, according to new revisions of government data, casting fresh doubt about the chances of a recovery this year. "With falloffs in consumer spending and exports, gross domestic product declined at a 6.2% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a Commerce Department report Friday. The agency's first estimate for GDP, reported in January, was for a 3.8% decline. The more recent figure - which represents the steepest drop-off since the depths of the 1982 recession..." Amidst these somber reports, Washington touts investment banks as the forefront of America. By this, they mean that without our big Wall Street Banks, America would not be what it is today. I believe that this is a horrible mantra - America is the people. Hard-working Americans put this country as the #1 superpower at the beginning of the 20th century and although times have been tough, Americans are what kept this country growing. Now as the economy hits turmoil, the government first bails out CEOs making millions of dollars each year, leaving those who have invested their confidence into America, with nothing. They now face a hemorrhaging retirement portfolio or a sinking pension fund. Where is their help? The much awaited stimulus package has not taken into account the investors who have built Wall Street - these investors are left out in the cold. I have been an attorney for twenty years and I know the battle they face - I fear that their battle will now be harder due to the billions of dollars the investment banks have received to fight my clients. The larger fear lies in the fact that many of these investors have not enough felt the worse of what is to come. [more...]