Years ago, they had bragged, much like the town boaster,

"If you will give us your money, we will give you a toaster.

This outfit is substantial.  It is no will-of-the-wisp.

Your money? We'll return it with a profit ever crisp."

So they gladly took our money and some then literally ran

To the nearest, below prime mortgagor or entrepreneurial scam.

"No matter what we do, our investments are all backed

By federal funds. In our favor….the decks are nicely stacked."

Now that so many owners, did their resources hurt and maim,

The public's got to help the banks.  For us they'd do the same.

For if we missed some payments with our finances in the tank,

Wouldn’t our banker guys simply get us bucks from another bank?

The Congress is the agent to effect a bail-out scheme

And our own taxes make us unwilling players on the team.

To solve a unique problem, we will need an approach quite novel,

And someone to write that book; to stave off a poorhouse grovel.

What we really need to do is discover criminal activity

On the part of money managers, who had a certain proclivity

For bad investments. Put them in jail, if needed, and then we can

Straighten out the mess they left…..with our own economic plan.

To every hundredth person, who at WalMart buys a toaster,

Toss in a bankrupt mortgage firm; one that's troubled. And most are.

It is likely that such a person, entirely picked at random

Would do no worse than "pros", whose ineptness in jail should land 'em.

 Copyright © 2008 by Frank Koerner