Call for Public Forum on Banking Crisis/Proposed Public Bailout

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends and Activists,

The following is a discussion I'd like to have with banking experts. I am sending out this email in hopes that it reaches someone who would like to publically address the banking crisis and proposed publically funded bailout of the banking industry. I know some of you on the mailing list I included don't know me but I got ahold of your email somehow. I hate to take up anyone's precoius time but isn't this a pretty important matter? Have you ever heard the expression "money is the source of all evil?" What if the present crisis could help us change that? Money, and lack of it, impacts nearly everything in our world, whether its human rights or environmental protection or education, whatever you cause is, or even if you just want to live a quiet lifew and have no "causes" you belong to, you are impacted by money. Is there a way to make us all less enslaved to money? I

certainly hope so! Please think about it. What if we were all fairly rich, wouldn't that be freeing? Is there a way to make it happen?

OK So here's my big list of questions...

There are a variety of solutions to our current crisis being discussed that I frankly can barely discern the meaning of, and most other people are probably at the same loss. Sometimes we are told to assume that government will be inefficient. Can our government legislate enough banking reforms to make a difference? Sometimes private businesses find ways to escape doing what legislation requires them to do. Will legislation stifle growth? It seems that there is an opportunity to create a market choice instead of legislation by creating a publicly owned and operated We the People Bank. Some financial experts may prefer to work for a We the People Bank instead of working for the Federal Reserve Company. We the People Bank could coexist in competition with the existing Federal Reserve Company. Then we'd have a choice about who to entrust

our money to, a big private business or elected representatives. If we are going to shell out 700 billion for the banks, we might as well own ONE. Such an experiment could provide insights into market economies and best practices in the finance industry, and even contribute to economic stability and fairness around the world. The disaster we are facing could be the opportunity we need to change a lot of things for the better.

Rather than bail out the private banks, would creating a bank owned and controlled by the American people be a better solution? Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Kennedy both determined that in order to have a real democracy the people would have to create and control a national currency. Was it a coincidence that both of these Presidents were assassinated after trying to establish a publically owned American currency? The Federal Reserve is actually privately owned and operated by people we do not know and that we did not elect. We have no control over it. In the past, some sort of system has favored war as a profit venture. Does that system care about financial hardship and death? It appears that it is totally neutral and uncaring. It appears to even favor these things as long as they are money-makers for someone. What groups of

people are being served by this system?

Are there advantages to having a privately owned national currency such as the "Federal" Reserve? A private federal reserve may prevent us from trying to live in economic fantasy. But does the privately owned "Federal Reserve" contribute to corruption and inequality? Does it make it hard for a real democracy to exist in America? Many people think so. What could happen if we were to nationalize our currency now? Could nationalizing our currency save us from losing the 2 trillion dollars former defense secretary Rumsfeld says were "lost" in the early years of the Iraq war? Could nationalizing the currency stop a lot of crime and corruption by making criminally stashed money worthless?

I'm not suggesting that all banks be nationalized. But wouldn¢t there be some advantages in having a national bank controlled by elected representatives? Is there any real free market competition between distinctly different and independently owned private banks today? Or is it like one giant conglomerate owning all the supposedly different banks? Why was a new bank basing itself on silver-secured money outlawed in recent years? Was this corruption and racketeering or was the bank legitimately shut down?

The United States has numerous obligations around the world to be economically viable. So many international interests are invested in America that I doubt we will be allowed to "go under" completely. But this financial crisis is kind of scary. What will fix it? I read about some $700 billion that taxpayers are supposedly going to spend to aid the banking industry and I feel sick. Does the current system serve us very well? Why don't depositors get a better interest rate on their savings? Why don't banks operate more like investment clubs, so that every working person who reasonably saves and entrusts their money to a bank can retire in wealth and comfort? What is it going to take for depressions and out-of-control inflation to be a thing of the past?

I would greatly appreciate any analysis, discussion, and historical references on the Federal Reserve Company and its role around the world, as well as input from Finance professionals into how a publicly owned bank might be set up and how it would function.

Thank you for all of your efforts on this important topic.

Sincerely,

Amy Storbakken

amystorbak@...