Why are people driving less? Because the economy is in the tank.  Why is the economy in the tank? Primarily because of the unbridled greed, excess, and immoral behavior of Wall Street collectively and Washington’s near total oblivion to protecting the American people from it – especially between 2004 and 2007. I certainly don’t advocate violence, but I’m honestly surprised some executive on Wall Street who has been publicly linked to contributing to this global disaster hasn’t been physically attacked or at least getting a pie in the face given the enormity of what has just happened.  Would we be in the mess we’re in without Wall Street’s sub-prime moral meltdown? Maybe, but nowhere near the extent we’re in.  1. Given the billions of dollars of global financial destruction unquestionably directly linked to major Wall Street investment banks who had full knowledge of their horrendously immoral, nefarious decision-making, why aren’t any Wall Street executives in jail? How can one make grossly immoral decisions in the name of greed, consequently cause the world economy to dive in a tail spin, and not only skip prosecution for it, but actually have your own government give your company huge amounts of money so you can continue doing what you did before which created this astonishingly massive economic decline?  2. When will Washington enact legislation to put these types of people behind bars for careless, greedy, deceptive, misguided decisions that take down entire economies and destroy people’s lives and retirement future? Washington’s job is to not only create an environment for fostering economic growth but also protecting economic growth. The argument of “I had to behave immorally because everyone else was” doesn’t fly. Let’s have a new law that says you’re going to jail – and if the tax system can’t afford to put you in jail because the states is out of money, we’ll require your nearest relatives to pay for your jail cell.  If the federal government does not step in to address both of these questions very seriously, then how can honestly say we’re not allowing or even promoting a “clinical insane” culture of how we view money to continue in America?  If we love ourselves, our children’s futures, and our communities, then we must demand very loudly that Washington firmly and quickly address this smoking train wreck to protect our future from further greedy and grossly irresponsible decisions that would, again, in 3, 5, or 10 years spark another global economic meltdown. The mistakes of the past few years are still yet to be addressed by Congress. There is still plenty of room for systematic misperception (ratings agencies) and outright deceit to investors (bad loans, bad bonds, fraudulent mortgages, etc.). It’s time for Washington to deal with Wall Street and the financial community nationwide. There needs to be an adult figure in the room.
Drivers on U.S. roads traveled 4.6 billion fewer miles in August than a year earlier. With so many scarred by the recession and scared by the jobless rate, people seem quicker to cut back in response to price increases not just at the gas pump, but of any kind.