A partisan Congress and financial crisis

If we do not study history, we will never learn from it.

In the 1920s, people were living on the credit edge, government was overspending and speculators were operating with little government oversight.

These actions led, in part, to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Similar actions have recurred and once again we are on the precipice of a depression.

Though it is a staggering amount of money, the government needs to stabilize the financial sector or risk a domino effect that will spill into other sectors that will cause a depression that will take years to recover from.

Yet even with a crisis that can cripple the economy, members of Congress still cannot get past their partisan political bickering and their need to blame the other side for the problem instead of achieving a solution.

The need to get "their" side elected in the upcoming election seems to supersede the need to arrive at a solution to benefit the country.

Along with that, there are members of Congress who are still looking to pad the pockets of their friends and backers through earmarks added to a package that should be about the financial health of the country and the American people and not the select contributors to the members of Congress who are guilty of this practice.

With their approval rating tanking at a speed only rivaled by the retirement accounts of the average American, Congress needs to remember that they work for the people of the United States and not their political machines, financial donors or wealthy lobbyists.

Bob Kusek

Arlington Heights