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Financial meltdown hurts the little guy

By Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village

The nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” begins, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/Humpty Dumpty had a great fall….” That is what has happened to Wall Street and our financial institutions.

Companies like Bear Stearns, AIG and Lehman Brothers have started a domino effect and there appears to be no end in sight. Now Congress is stepping in with a proposed $700 billion to $1 trillion bailout to restore a structure that is clearly broken. Washington believes this needs to be done to stabilize the banks, investment houses and hedge funds that have gone wobbly.

My gripe is what went wrong? There are reasons like subprime mortgages and risky credit to those who were not qualified. But I believe the problem goes deeper than that and can be summed up with two words: greed and avarice.

Who pays the price for these companies' actions? None other than the American people. It is the farmer, factory worker and auto worker who gets laid off. It extends to every man and woman in every town and city across America.

I hope all those responsible are held accountable. We need new regulation to prevent fat cats from ruining our nation. When the new president takes over, he and Congress should orchestrate a bi-partisan plan that can put our financial institutions back in order.