I wouldn't call myself a psychic

but I wasn't surprised that Congress defeated President Bush's bailout plan. I don't really understand people sometimes. I know it wasn't the best plan: American taxpayers would essentially have been bailing out the idiots of some big businesses who made stupid decisions. But something needed to happen. I was really impressed with President Bush's quick response and his encouragement to Congress to try to make that something come to life. But the House of Representatives were more concerned about their upcoming election and their own popularity with their voters than the life of the American economy. As Wall Street watched the vote in the House, the Dow dropped 777 points. This is the greatest drop in a single day ever.

Let's face it. The general American population doesn't exactly understand the workings of the economy, banking, investing, really finance in general. That's why we have investment brokers, bankers, mortgage brokers (not that they've done us any good these last few years...), etc. I'm a banker and I don't understand everything either. But I am learning.

I've basically taken a crash course in FDIC insurance this past week. People are panicking and spreading their money from bank to bank. They just don't understand how to make FDIC insurance work for them. They also don't realize that even if their bank fails and the FDIC takes over, they'll be lucky to see that money within their lifetimes. It's frustrating to try to educate people who don't want to be educated. They've got their minds made up and they too are making silly decisions about their money. They're listening to radio "advisers" rather than researching the FDIC and banking for themselves. I guess if you hear it on the radio, it must be true.

At least the majority of my customers have stopped complaining about interest rates. I know deposit rates are super low and loan rates are super high. It's part of the natural cycle of economy, but of course things have been worsened by the latest credit scares. But if a bank is offering you 4.5-5% interest on a CD or money market right now, watch out. It's one of the biggest indicators the bank is failing and scrambling to rebuild their capital. I just have to shake my head when a customer insists on taking out all their money to go to Washington Mutual or Wachovia or wherever for the higher interest rates and then hearing that bank failed a week later. (Wachovia didn't actually fail... They sold themselves to Citigroup this morning when they realized failure was imminent. I do have to applaud Wachovia's leaders for that move...)

I could have told anyone who was asking last year this was going to happen. I could have told you five years ago even. As much as we'd like to, no one can stay on top forever. We'll eventually get through this and recover, but how long will it take? Can our country's leaders come together and forget their political ambitions and do what is right for the little guy like me?

What frustrates me the most are the big-wigs at the failing corporations. CEO's who knew they were writing up bad loans and shuffling around their books are getting to "retire" with multi-million dollar compensation packages weeks before their companies officially fail. Look at recently failed Washington Mutual. Their assets were sold to JP Morgan Chase just last week, and the parent company has filed for bankruptcy. But somehow, their new CEO who took over just 17 days before the failure is poised to get a $20 million paycheck. What I could do with 1% of that money... I could retire.

On the heels of recent natural disasters with more on the way, the near future looks very bleak.

But somehow I am still okay. There is no panic or fear in me. Maybe it's because I am used to life being difficult, or maybe it's because these really are the latter days and disasters like these are to be expected. I am a survivor. We are survivors. America has the ability to recover and become the powerhouse it once was. If we can return to the values upon which this country was founded: fairness, equality, integrity. Can we try adding honesty to that list?

We truly are living in historical times. Consider: we are poised for a greater fall than the Great Depression. How our government responds will determine how bad and how long this recession will last.

I thank my lucky stars, and mostly my Heavenly Father for my job. I work for the biggest, strongest bank in the United States. (If my bank fails, we are all dead...) I am lucky to have little worry for my job. The things I am learning can only serve to benefit me, my family, and my friends for the rest of my life. I've been grateful since day one at AllianceBernstein that I worked in the financial sector when I realized just exactly what the Lord was trying to make sure I learned. He was preparing me for not only the end of my marriage, but for today's economy. I know how to survive this on a personal level.

Let's hope Congress can figure it out for the rest of the nation.