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LET'S GET RID OF THE "FED"

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Message Sam Hamod

Today, the government financial "wizards" (who have failed miserably in their duty to the American people) are talking with the Fed about what to do about our disastrous economic situation. So far, the biggest word has been that they want to sell more bonds so the banks can have more money to lend! What a sad joke this is. The banks are rife with government money, all at zero percent, and they are not lending money to prospective home buyers or small businesses (the real generators in our economy). Instead, they are buying successful banks, foreclosing on home owners who often are willing to try to keep up with their payments, and investing that zero-percent money overseas so that what they earn on it will not be taxable in America.

I have a friend, Al, who had problems with his mortgage. He called Big Mortgage (a fictitious name I'm using for one of our major banks so as not to be involved in a lawsuit, but the story is real), who said, "Yes, we'll work with you so that you can save your home." Al believed them, and went about filling out the forms to refinance his home at a lower rate but with the same debt owed. The people from Big Mortgage said all was in order and that it would be fine.

Al then went to look for more work and was happy that the bank had been willing to help him while he was earnest about keeping up with his mortgage. But then, Al got the shock of his life. In the second week after all "was fine" with Big Mortgage, he came home from work and was informed that Big Mortgage was giving him only a short time to get out of his home because they had sold it. When he called them, the people he talked to said that the two divisions within Big Mortgage had gotten different signals from the executives and whomever runs Big Mortgage Bank, and that Al was just out -- and that was that.

I could tell you dozens of stories of people who have good incomes, have low balances on their mortgages, but cannot get refinanced to the lower rates banks and the Fed talk about. I could also tell you of dozens of people who have good jobs and good credit who cannot get mortgages. Clearly, banks want to accumulate more money and not loan it out because, for some reason, they want more reserves "for a rainy day." They may be making more money on currency trading or investments other than mortgages that are at a low rate these days, or using more of their money on credit card predatory lending practices, while justifying spending more money, as we've seen of late, on TV advertising telling how they are working for us.

Now, again, there is talk of giving the banks even more money. Surely, this is madness because the folks who helped cause the problem now want more money that will only compound the problem. But again, remember, in the final analysis, the banks and the Fed are actually ONE -- not separate -- entities.

This is a strange scenario indeed, but it shows how the Fed and the banks -- who actually run the Fed, because the Fed is nothing more than a private organization set up by banks to protect their profits -- pretend to be working for the welfare of the country. That is why the banks always come out ahead, even in the worst of times, because they always get our money from our government, to make more profits and let the American populace be damned.

Thus, it may be time to actually get rid of the Fed and start a new government agency that is run for the sake of American citizens, not the banks. If we continue to let the Fed and its allies run things for their own good, and not the good of our citizenry, then we are fools just waiting to be abused even more.

At this time, none of our legislators or our president are talking of getting rid of the Fed. However, it is time we started a movement asking people all over the country to get rid of the Fed because it does the citizenry no good, and has always -- as in this recent "bank bailout" -- found a way to make sure banks make money while people lose jobs, homes, health care and more. Obviously, there is more to it than what I have said, but I think it is time we start really thinking outside the box on this and consider how much damage the Fed has done and is continuing to do, especially if they want a financial policy that gives even more money to the banks, who once again, will just sit on it.

It is time for action against the Fed and the control of the banks. Let's get the Glass Steagall Act back into action. Let's break up the big banks and not allow any bank to cross state lines in their lending. Let's stop the "leveraged buyer" experts at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and others from using our zero-percent money to allow the banks and major corporations to use our money to destroy our economy by lending our money to corporations to invest overseas or to take over successful small businesses. And, let's break up the Fed and set up a new agency run by and for the people.

Unless we do some of these things, then we are just sheep waiting for the slaughter while we keep hearing how the "wizards" in our administration, our Congress, and the Fed will solve our problems.

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Sam Hamod, Ph.D. is a graduate professor; he has taught courses in creative writing, politics, religion, mass media and intercultural relations. He has one of the very few PhDs awarded by The Writers Workshop of The Univ. of Iowa, has published 12 (more...)
 
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