Dear Mr. President:

My father taught me two key, relatively simple, historical lessons many decades ago: 

1) The Great Depression was caused largely because business leaders got everything they wanted in the 1920s. Put foxes in charge of the henhouse, and soon there won't be any hens. For anyone. Pres. Roosevelt laid the groundwork for general prosperity by strictly regulating banks, Wall Street, and other financial institutions. Business leaders screamed bloody murder, yet fared vastly better than when they'd gotten what they demanded. The lesson? Elected leadership is preferable to being looted by foxy plutocrats. For everyone. FDR was right. Wall Street was wrong.

2) The military must stay under civilian control for much the same reason business must be regulated by government: otherwise, wars will explode out of control. Pres. Truman allowed a measure of peace to flourish starting in the 1950s by firing Gen. MacArthur, when MacArthur insisted publicly the Korean War must be extended into China. The lesson? It's better to be led by a cool-headed President than by hot-headed generals. Pres. Eisenhower, of course, warned us explicitly of this in his farewell address, the year you were born. Truman and Eisenhower were right. MacArthur was wrong.

Today, history repeats itself, and I wish you, Mr. President, born just months after I was, had learned such lessons at your own father's knee. That's why I urge--scream from the rooftops!--that you understand these lessons and act on them:

1) FDR's financial regulations, destroyed by both Republican and Democratic administrations in recent decades, were far better than any of the loophole-ridden regulations now under discussion. Banks, insurance companies, and Wall Street money players must be strictly separated and regulated to avoid the concentrations of power that have led to the massive concentrations of wealth destroying our society and economy today. Yes, these power players will scream bloody murder if you do the right thing. And the nation, including those power players, would forever be in your debt for restoring stability to the economy.You have the opportunity to be right, because your financial advisors are wrong.

2) As Truman had MacArthur, so you have Gen. McChrystal, who seeks to publicly shame you into an ever greater quagmire war in Afghanistan. I need not recount the empires that have been crushed by such foolishness there for millennia. And yet, reports leak daily of McChrystal's demands for 40,000, 60,000 or more new troops in order to "win" in Afghanistan, though such a "win" can never be defined, because the concept is blatantly absurd. You must, Mr. President, find the courage to end that war and fire the insubordinate Gen. McChrystal. As with Pres. Truman, your popularity will likely collapse for a time. But history will vindicate your courage. You must do the right thing, because your military is so clearly, catastrophically, wrong.

Restore the regulations that allowed the greatest prosperity in the history of civilization. End the wars that threaten to end civilization. 

The time is now. And there isn't much time left. 

Thank you.

Your constituent,

David L Steinhardt

The Democrats have the opportunity to keep Sec. Paulson from giving away the US Treasury, even if they conclude a bailout is necessary:
Don't fund it till the next administration. 
The support for the markets is as much about confidence as cash flow. Allowing the Bush Administration to go on a mad spree with another trillion dollars is like giving nuclear weapons to a toddler. 
The bailout, I suspect, is utterly bogus to begin with. But if there's going to be one, for heaven's sake don't let Bush and Paulson spend the money!