First, I want to thank all members of the House and Senate for the wonderful job of reading a 431-page document in less than a week. Is that the same as Gov. Palin not knowing what magazines she reads?

Let me summarize for you. It's putting this country further in debt to the tune of $700 billion, plus $120 billion for expenses. To add insult to injury, it added $112 billion in pork.

For instance: $62 million for toy wooden arrows to help out the manufacturer, $129 million for motor sports, $192 million for rum manufacturing in Puerto Rice, $148 million for wool research, to name a few. Of course, I can see how that could slip through when you had to read and digest a 431-page bill in less than a week.

Now for the sad part. Neither party had the fortitude to admit how they got us in this predicament. Maybe this will help. It happened back when Jimmy Carter was prancing around raising the cost of peanuts. Or maybe it was during Clinton's under-the-desk escapade. I believe he said everybody should be able to own a home, and I agree with that. The problem is he said not to worry, be happy, you don't need good credit or a job. Hence, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a ball giving out loans to everyone who applied.

Of course, we had an Oversight Committee to make sure there was no cheating, so everyone sat back, fat, dumb and happy, knowing our government would take care of us. Then came Wall Street, bankers and the chamber of commerce slipping millions of dollars to the campaign funds of our elected officials to turn their heads and let things slide. I can name two who took the most, but I had better not. Oh, why not!

Barney Frank, who has been feeding off the taxpayer's trough since 1981 and is chairman of the Financial Service Committee, and Chris Dodd, also since 1981 and is the chairman of the Senate Banking and Housing committees, who lead the list.

Why would seemingly sympathetic lawmakers sell out citizens this way? Follow the money, as they say.

Recently, Portfolio Magazine revealed the bill's sponsor, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), benefitted from a program under which Countrywide Financial gave loans at favorable terms to the influential and the powerful. It turns out both Countrywide and Bank of America, which recently bought out the troubled mortgage giant, have been generous donors to Dodd since he became chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Just how much influence can money buy? It seems Bank of America wielded considerable influence in the structuring of the Dodd-Shelby legislation (the bailout). Opponents of the bill contend Bank of America essentially wrote the bailout section of the bill. The National Review Online obtained a copy of a document on Bank of America letterhead that matches the Dodd- Shelby bill almost exactly.
L T Mick
Kempner