The worlds gone mad

I have spent the weekend being consumed by last week's legislation. Because the bill has 'taxable income' it includes both incomes of a married couple. Do you know how many people this covers. Here is the example. Your husband works at a law firm and makes 180k a year, you work at Wells/WB and you make 70k a year and got a 10k bonus. Your 10k, will be taxed at 100%. And by the way, you already spent it because you got it last week. Your are a technology business analyst, why would you think it would effect you? These are some examples, and it gets worse.

So, I wrote a note to my government, I'm not sure where I'm going to send it but not sure to who.

I work at Wachovia, oh excuse me, Wells Fargo. My compensation done nothing but gone done MATERIALLY since 2007. My hours of work have gone up 20% (over the already 60 hour work week) and level of stress is up 400%.

I work in the credit markets, we have been in crisis mode since 2007. I worked on everything from tracking large loan commitments to managing our Lehman exposure through bankruptcy. I was in the office (with 100’s of other people) on weekends, nights, trying to understand all the new events in the markets, how that effected us, and how we needed to move forward. On a daily basis, I did not know if I had any job future. There were days when we came in expecting the lights to be out, all of our deferred compensation to be gone, no severance, and benefits to disappear. And along with the rest of the American people, all of your investments worth nothing. And therefore, no way to support my family.

Although I admit that I benefited from the market, I am not living the life of luxury. I have a 3 year old and a working spouse. We have a nice house and I feel fortunate I don’t have to worry about food on my table. I pay a nanny (who recently passed her citizenship test) to watch my son, she has a husband and 2 children. Last year, her husband lost most of his jobs so she has been the sole income. I pay a lawn person who got laid off 2 years ago from a local trucking company. I give my mother a bonus check each year after I receive mine, and pay her $400 a month to help her with her medical bills. I give to charity, I pay my mortgage, and I shop on-line often. I am a 37 year old female who has worked her way up in a mans world. I contribute to 60% of the taxes paid in the US. I am the primary bread winner in my family. And my second job is to be a mommy during the 1-½ hour a day job I get to see my son.

I did not get a mortgage I could not afford. I did not create strange derivative products. I did not create credit instruments to screw the American people so I could drive a Maseratii, I did not short the equity market, I did not over leverage our entire financial infrastructure. Nor did the 99.9% of the other 300 people I sit with 60 hours a week in an area that is smaller than Walmart’s toy section. I was not aware that I was supposed to resign from my job and commit suicide because I ruined the American economy. Until yesterday, when the house passed a bill that basically said I did. People who work for AIG have been told to not wear their badges because they are concerned for their safety. You are promoting class warfare and hate.

Since I am not as intelligent as the rest, I will probably continue to come in, work hard, and have my salary capped through taxes, when I could leave the industry to make more money. However, the CDO trader that sits beside me is very intelligent. And rather than spending his day reading CDO indenture’s to try to figure out how to legally unwind these instruments while keeping losses to investors (and therefore to YOUR investments) low, he will probably leave the industry or go to a non-TARP company.

Now that is a bad outcome for the AMERICAN PEOPLE.