"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

- Emma Lazarus

 America has been a beacon of hope for the hopeless because it's been willing to embrace those most in need. For all the talk about how backward our nation is, it alone has allowed every nationality, race and gender to succeed. Moreover, for all the talk from elitists about how important it is for our president to have traveled outside the United States, I want a president who's well-traveled within this country. I’d rather a president that’s been to Paris, Texas than Paris, France.

We have taken in refugees, political prisoners, given trillions of dollars of aid and sacrificed the lives of our young men and women. So why is there so much resistance to saving the financial system?

Okay, nobody should have a blank check. Okay, there are no guarantees. Okay, bad behavior got us into this mess. At this point, something has to be done. Doing nothing just isn’t the American way.

Sure, finger-pointing has become an everyday pastime, I do it all the time, myself. But right now, Americans need to understand that the assets the Treasury wants to buy are their assets.

Those toxic assets are mostly shaky home loans taken out by taxpayers. Folks who oppose the deal have to ask if they've lost faith in Americans' ability to live up to their obligations. If so, let's watch this thing burn to a crisp and pick up the pieces later. After taking huddled masses for a couple of centuries and the most powerful nation the world has ever known lets watch the pain and suffering of our own citizens just to harm a couple of fat cat CEOs. Not living up to one’s responsibilities is reprehensible in a society where people rely on other people. The system was run amok and greed blinded the smartest guys on Wall Street.

I hope anger, envy and a thirst for revenge doesn’t blind the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

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