While the bonuses are scandalous, that part of the monkey business is a grand distraction from the fact that these people stole our money.

When I put money in an account -- savings, money market, other investment -- I am The Lender. The guys I hand it over to, who always remember to tell me this kind of money isn't insured, are The Borrowers. They are making use of my money so they can add it to yours and everybody else's, and then, Make More Money.

Then, if all goes well, they can say "we" "made" X % on our investment. When we make less than that, or none, they shake their heads and remind us of the no guarantee part and that "everything is down right now, but that's the nature of long term investing, there's some risk."

And we breathe deeply, nod and agree. So far, so good. Except those guys forgot they are Borrowing money from the Lenders which is us, so they play fast and loose (what a Fun Job!) with their borrowed money, and suddenly they are hammering on my door at night in hysterics. Just got back from a trip to the Bahamas, saw what happened and no one could have predicted this, but - panting, now - all the investment firms are going to go bankrupt -- and lose all the money -- if measures aren't taken to save them!

And those "measures" are for this incompetent, thrill-seeking, lazy, thinks-he's-a-bigshot but now is snivelling IDIOT to demand that I hand over more money to replenish his accounts and so his firm (how firm is that?) won't go out of business because that would be most unfortunate for me. Already my money is gone and he's scaring me that if I don't give him more, I'll lose my money.

He is very stupid, and so is anyone who gives him more money. Of course, the government, being the middleman, says my kids have to give him the money later and I look at those little faces and I know it's not going to happen. These kids are never going to amount to much if I can't even take them to the rodeo or to open their first savings account because those folks burned through all my money and the kids' too.

Dumbest of course is how Congress, as middleman, isn't even bright enough to act like one and skim some off the top (say, for "pet projects" like electric cars for the US Postal Service).

Bonuses or no, salary caps or not, anyone who had a hand or even a baby finger in the unraveling of this crisis should be allowed to return to work. There are experts at rehabbing companies gone sour and they need to be called in to do the repairs. Think how cool it would be to be one of them, if they really can do it.

They do not need to be bankers and investors; it's prefereable that they not be. For a systemic problem, you have to change the system. The current crew of ruinous, greedy, irresponsible, can't-see-beyond-their-noses money boys have already (already! according to testimony) thrown money around and thrown it away (and I can't help but think of the sleeping children who will have nothing when they are adults and the bill come due and... we definitely need to pass a rule that no one can be allowed to get depressed and anxious alone, but has to call someone - a government run hotline no doubt, manned by the deeply empathic and emotionally sound offspring of... oh, dear, I have to stop this).

THEY borrowed OUR money. If I ran the circus, the very first contingency on the "bailout" money would be new management. Period. Bonus or not, they'd be out of a job. Suitable. And there might be a slim chance of repair to the system. Which I believe is rottener than they do (in all their expertise). The day there was no gold behind the paper, it went south. Now, they just print more paper and it isn't even backed up by numbers on account papers pretending to back it up. Money used to be currency. Now, it is paper.

Have you ever gone to see your money in the bank? "No, um, I can't see it, sir. Is it the pile over there, or the one... what? I can't even VISIT it?"

What the hell sort of system is this?