An Open Letter to Congressman Duncan, and Senators Corker and Alexander

Honorable Representatives of the State of Tennessee,

I have never had or felt the need to personally contact my congressional representatives. Normally, I find there to be enough people representing my interests to suffice. However, with regards to the current financial issues on Wall Street and congressional action regarding that, I must speak up. This is due to the nature of the legislation, that is, a $700 billion dollar plan that has great pressure being applied to it to get passed in an extremely rapid and, in my opinion, rash manner.

As an informed and engaged citizen of this country, a resident of Tennessee and a constituent in your district, I am imploring you to reject this plan and instead consider enacting the following changes:

1. Change/Suspend the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting principle regarding mark-to-market for sub-prime loans only on a temporary basis.
2. Extend the FHA insurance program to include sub-prime loans.
   

The first item costs virtually nothing to implement, yet it stands an excellent chance of opening up the market for these currently unwanted financial products.

Admittedly, item 2 will not be free, but extending the insurance is far better than buying and managing these securities. The estimate that I read was $40 billion. This is less than 15% of the cost of the currently proposed plan.

I would prefer that these companies resolve these issues themselves rather than force me and the US tax-paying populous to buy stuff we don't need (like the mortgage businesses and insurance company we bought earlier this month).

Please apply laser-like focus to this item. While I personally believe that the media has over-dramatized the situation, it is still extremely important and should not be slowed down by additional controversial and/or partisan legislation.

Finally, I will again stress my opposition to spending $700 billion dollars to purchase these financial instruments. I will be closely watching how you vote in this matter. If you vote to add a massive figure to the national debt, not only will you never have my vote again, I will exercise every opportunity I have to influence my friends and family to withhold their vote as well.

As I noted above, prior to this, I have never been politically active. I believe that my action now, along with the action of others who have never participated in this way, speaks to the gravity of this issue.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Kind Regards,

Dan Coates
Knoxville, TN

Additional Reference: http://www.daveramsey.com/tdrs/index.cfm/2008/9/23/Fix-the-bailout-with-mark-to-market?ictid=sptlt

Notes: I have personalized and submitted this letter to the congressional representatives listed above via e-mail. Please consider doing the same. Feel free to copy my letter. However, I encourage you to personalize your message to them rather than simply copy, since it reinforces your commitment to the issue.