This article was written four weeks before federal elections, and you are reading it a week or more after critical decisions were made about who will manage American government. You probably made a bad choice if you voted for your incumbent Representative or Senator. You certainly did in the presidential race.

I suggest that none of the people just elected have the foggiest notion of what to do or how to guide our nation. Most are corrupt with a distorted view of reality and of their own importance. None of these people should have been elected, and the U.S. will pay another terrible price. America is now on the road to becoming a socialist country, and that is a factor that contributed mightily to the financial market collapse because confidence in the capitalist system has been shaken to the core.

Your member of the House of Representatives is probably an incumbent (96% of those entering this months election were) with average tenure in office of 14.1 years. Your average Senator has had a term in office of 20.7 years. Being a member in Congress is a career endeavor, although it has no job requirements and seems to be a magnet for crooks.

In the two Legislative branches, there is an estimated seven times the criminal activity per capita compared to the general population. (Mark Twain reminded us that America has no native criminal class except for Congress.) Neither major candidate for the highest office in the land ever had a job allowing them to understand realities about U.S. economic systems. So, citizens are now stuck with an incompetent Executive surrounded by corrupt minions in a competitive branch of government, vying for power not vying to achieve what is best for Americans.

Think of it this way: You have the government you deserve, permitting past election candidates who made themselves available without competent qualifications to become your proxy in an elected government. A fellow named Dick Tuck, losing a California state election in the mid-1970s, put it best this way to explain his defeat: “The public has spoken, the bastards.”

This sounds bleak, and it is. Regardless of political or media talk, it is the U.S. Congress that is solely responsible for the current financial crisis that is clutching America and the rest of the world. The liberals in Congress, especially over the past three decades, tried to social engineer an American dream of home ownership to assure outcome without attendant personal responsibility. Banking institutions were encouraged/mandated to make loans, and bankers knew that regulations would guarantee “no failure.”

Bad mortgages were sold bundled with the good loans, and they were sold as bonds around the world. Bankers made big bucks, and management anointed themselves with great sums as reward for their slam-dunk business acumen. Bankers also issued (legal) “derivatives,” funny paper that pays them an up-front commission, to the extent of $658 trillion. And that paper is still out there. Realizing that the U.S. has a GDP of about $15 trillion lets you see this stupidity. But while it is legal and wrong, politicians courted the U.S. banks that lavished campaign contributions on every member of Congress. Now, Americans and all nations have a shaken confidence in the dollar, currencies in general and in their respective economies.

Be realistic – money is only paper. It only has value if parties to a transaction agree to use it as a medium of exchange, and it must be backed by a solid government and civil infrastructure that inspires confidence to keep that money viable. All people must be reassured that we have a sound financial system. If members of Congress and financial-institution managers (who have no compunctions other than to live for themselves) are complicit in originating these problems and are allowed to escape unscathed, these actions will only breed more of the same.

The current crisis in confidence is warranted but must be curtailed with responsible actions by citizens to coerce accountability by government, specifically Congress. And you, gullible reader, just completed abetting the existence and fostered the continuance of two federal government branches that spell your business and personal doom.

Our system of government is in a failure mode. Few citizens have the resources or resolve to singlehandedly do what makes a difference. Most readers of this journal, however, have privilege and means to make a difference by focused, common-sense, thoughtful and cooperative efforts. Unless the country experiences some saving graces through your personal involvement, America is on the wrong road.IH