I think it's pretty cool

[Mr. Laz]

UNITED STATES SENATE

Mr. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
xxxx x xxx
xxxxxx xxxxx, xx xxxxx

Dear Mr. Xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter concerning the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (H.R.1424). There is no better guide for making tough decisions than hearing from the people whom i serve.

I voted against this Act. The country is at a crossroad regarding our financial future. Congress needs time to implement an effective package.$700 billion could purchase all the farmland in the top 16 agricultural producing states in America or could buy 4.4 million Americans a home at the median price in Kansas. $700 billion is a lot of taxpayer money and should not be given without some thought and discussion.

First, "Do no harm" is party of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take and politicians should abide by as well. Quarterly "mark-to-market regulations," a requirement that demands companies to mark down their assets to the market value they hold instead of the value which they were purchased, should be reformed. This accounting principle weakens companies' balance sheets and scares off lenders thus debilitating financial institutions. These institutions should pursue the mark-to-market requirement in a way that does not lead to bigger financial bubbles or bigger financial bursts.

In order to best adhere to the do-no-harm oath, the government should take the following actions. First, we need to update our regulation of financial market and restore consumer confidence in them. The FDIC needs to permanently increase insured dollar amounts from institution as needed and requested. IN order to further protect the taxpayer, they should be given some ownership in the institutions receive capital. Once this situation stabilizes we must sell that ownership back to the markets.

Second, the economy needs an increase of available cash, We can borrow and spend federal dollars and pass the debt forward or we can free up money that already is in the private sector. For a period of one year we need to cut the capital gains tax rate to 5% for assets bought and allow for the repatriation for the U.S. capital held overseas at a 2% tax rate.

The implementation of these action will put hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy in a one-year time period. I have been through economic downturns before and they are tough. Lives are impacted and scarred. As a young lawyer, I represented hard-working farmers caught in the farm crises of the 1980's. I saw farmers,small businesses, and banks struggle to survive. Some didn't make it. Often, time is all that is needed; time to work out the problems.

I applaud the hard work of Treasure Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke and the their staffs. They are fine men and have good intentions. However, Kansans see this differently that Paulson and Bernanke. We did not do much of the sub-prime mortgages borrowing or lending and now we a being asked to pay for it.

I that is the case, then we want something that works for the broader economy to get us out of the recession rather than the just bailing out a few bad actors and hoping it helps everyone else. For these reasons, I voted against the proposed bailout package. I completely agree that we must act, but we must act right.

You are the reason that I am here, and I appreciate your correspondence regarding this important issue. I encourage you to visit my website at brownback.senate.gov for information on this and other issues. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,
Sam

Sam Brownback
United States Senator


SB:bl

[Mr. Laz]

i guess he figured my rather specific and long winded email deserved a longer and more detailed letter.

[HonestChieffan]

So did Sam really say do-no hard in his letter?

[Griswald]

Wow, you have a lot of x's in your name.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

So did Sam really say do-no hard in his letter?

nah .... that's just my crappy typing

[Guru]

Originally Posted by Laz

i guess he figured my rather specific and long winded email deserved a longer and more detailed letter.

I want to see your letter now. heh

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Guru

I want to see your letter now. heh

[Taco John]

It's a form letter that he sends out to all his constituents who write regarding that particular issue, but don't let that bother you at all. Squint Brownback is a good man. I don't particularly trust him on the economy, but I do trust that he'll look for solutions that I could probably live with - if even only for the short term.

Unfortunately for him, he looks terrible on television, and thus will never be the president of the United States.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Taco John

It's a form letter that he sends out to all his constituents who write regarding that particular issue, but don't let that bother you at all.

dick

[bango]

I see that you are living at my old address. That was a great area too. You will have to pots some pics to show what you have done with the place.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

So did Sam really say do-no hard in his letter?

What was he supposed to say "do hard"

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by Laz

dick

Heh... I accidentally got two letters in subsequent weeks from my congressman, which tipped me off. It's all good though. The fact that he's got a thoughtful letter to send out means something to me.