America, we have reached the point of no return! The government of the United States is about to embark on a course that will prove to be ruinous for our country. This morning, Congress is jubilantly announcing a tentative agreement on the Wall Street bailout plan. The plan, if approved this week by the full Congress and signed by the President, is a betrayal of the constitutional oath taken by our leaders. It is a violation of the public trust and an extreme abuse of the fiduciary responsibilities that each member of Congress and the President has to the American people. In short, any member of Congress who votes for the measure is guilty of treason and should be dealt with accordingly.

Why is voting for the plan a treasonable offense? One reason is because it gives enormous power to the Treasury Secretary, who is an unelected official. He will have power to buy deeply distressed mortgage-backed securities and other bad debts held by banks and investment firms with taxpayer money. This includes bad debts held by foreign banks that do business in the U.S. So essentially, by approving the plan the Congress will be handing over $700 billion of taxpayer money to an unelected official and an imperial president.

The whole thing reeks of fascism. In all of the debate over the bailout plan, no one (except Ron Paul) has questioned whether the move is constitutional. Congressional leaders are ignoring the will of the people where polls indicate that only thirty percent of Americans approve of the legislation. The Treasury Secretary and the President are being given extraordinary new powers to act as economic dictators. And the federal government through the plan is again turning to public debt to stimulate the economy to presumably put us back on sound economic footing. As this government induced crisis worsens, Washington is acting more and more like Italy under Mussolini than America under Jefferson.

Without question, it is a government induced crisis. For nearly twenty years, Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Fed embarked on a policy of easy money – low interest rates and expanding money supply. He became the parent who just couldn't say no to the American people. His policies as Fed chairman led to the dot com bubble and bust in the late 90s. To stimulate the economy after 911 he lowered the federal funds rate to an unbelievable one percent! The rate stayed there for a year and was increased slowly for the next three years after that. Rates were low enough for a long enough period of time to cause severe misallocations in the economy. Thus, the housing bubble was born. Of course, it also took the absolute stupidity of many Americans to get into debts that they could not afford – a concept that seems to be an implied right of American citizenship which is expressed through laws like the Community Redevelopment Act. Lastly, by sprinkling in some fraud by lenders and borrowers alike you have the recipe for the disaster that looms over us today.

So, what do our esteemed leaders propose to get out of this mess? They are proposing more of the same things that got us into this mess. Passing a $700 billion bailout package is easy money to the politicians and says to the stupid and fraudulent that any mistakes or criminal actions you may have committed will be remedied by the deep pockets of the American taxpayer. Congress will appropriate this money as if there will be no repercussions down the road. This sounds very familiar to the mindset of Fed governors when they lowered rates to one percent.

Congress is also being as stupid as those Americans who got themselves into debt that they couldn't afford. The U.S. government doesn't have $700 billion dollars to spend. Hell, it doesn't have $10. It has $9 trillion in debt on the books with at least another $50 trillion in future obligations like Social Security. At some point soon, foreign countries will stop loaning the U.S. money. Our currency will become worthless and our standard of living will deteriorate. Yes, debt does matter whether you are a business, a family, or a huge government.

Lastly, fraud is a component part of our leaders' proposal to get us out of this mess. We are being told that this “rescue” plan is for Main Street not Wall Street. We are being told that somehow putting up huge sums of taxpayer money to buy bad assets is the best answer to get out of the mess that deregulation of the financial industry caused. The lies go on and on. Make no mistake about it, the politicians will pass this plan to help their benefactors on Wall Street – those that have helped them get elected. It is a fraudulent use of taxpayer money.

If not the politicians plan than what should be done to remedy the crisis? Immediately, the government should cease intervening in the crisis. Let the market determine its own equilibrium. Former private assets like Fannie and Freddie should be liquidated. Government spending, especially military spending, should be reduced. The budget should be balanced, taxes cut and regulations on businesses eliminated. Any protectionist measures enacted by Uncle Sam should immediately be repealed.

In the area of foreign affairs, the U.S. should bring troops home from bases around the globe and stop riling up hostilities with Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. These moves would free up funds to be used at home where they are needed and not on high-risk, no gain military adventures.

In conclusion, any member of Congress who votes for the bailout package is betraying their constitutional oath, violating the public trust and abusing their fiduciary responsibility to the American people. On November 4th they should be thrown out of office and not replaced with a clone from the other major party. Instead, minor party candidates should be elected to return our government to “We the People”. I urge all Americans to write letters to the editor, talk to community groups, friends and family, become involved in minor party candidate campaigns and vote your conscience. The vicious cycle perpetrated on us by the politicians in Washington must end. But it cannot end without the efforts of all of us.

Kenn Jacobine teaches History and English for the American International School of Lusaka, Zambia. Send him email at lovesliberty@gmail.com.