Thirty Billion Dollars is a huge amount of money, but it translates into less than $100 per US person— a small price that we should all be willing to pay to give the Automobile Industry time to restructure itself and to save a few million jobs.

Give them the green, but have them pay it back in a more economy and environment friendly manner. Here’s the deal:

Every new American-made car buyer would receive a debit card along with his ownership papers. The card could be used for anything other than the car purchase itself. Card amounts would vary from $6,000 for “smart” cars, through $3,000 for fuel-efficient sub-compacts, $1,000 for other borderline greenies.

The debit cards would lose 20% of their value per month if not negotiated. All debit cards would function as free passes for all highway tolls so long as they are used with the proper automobiles.

The 60’s gas-guzzler tax …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Seven: Executive Compensation - continued from Part Three of the SIBORAP report.

Every dollar paid to corporate executives, directors, and employees (in any form whatsoever) in excess of two million dollars would be matched by a ten-cent per share extra dividend to all shareholders and a 10%-of-annual-pay bonus to all employees.

All golden parachutes, separate “non-qualified” retirement plans, stock option and deferred compensation programs, and others that do not benefit all employees and shareholders will be unwound over a three to five year period. Any employee who receives …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Five: Brokerage Account Statements.

Investors have a right to brokerage account statements that: (1) help them monitor and manage their asset allocation, (2) report realized gains and losses for the year, (3) track both the cost of their holdings, and their net account deposits, and (4) emphasize the long-term, cyclical nature of the investment process.

Under SIBORAP, all brokerage firms would be required to maintain cost basis information on all holdings, and the ACATS system would be required to provide it in all transfer transactions. Mutual funds would be required …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Two: Regulation and Education (continued from Part One of the SIBORAP report).

Security industry regulators will be charged with many responsibilities: (1) educating investors with respect to product content; (2) developing a “hierarchy-of-risk” tool that identifies the risks in all things sold to investors; and (3) preventing the spread of unregulated Internet based investment advice offered by persons of unknown qualifications.

Additionally, they will be responsible for:

(4) Preventing the development of multi-level, multi-leveraged, WMFDs; (5) requiring that all financial blogs include appropriate caveats that speak to the qualifications of …

We the securities investors of the United States, in order to form more transparent financial markets, establish effective regulations, defend against destructive speculation and manipulation, promote financial well-being, preserve working capital, and protect retirement income, do establish this Securities Investors Bill of Rights and Protections (SIBORAP).

These rights are intended to replace, amend and/or abolish all laws and regulations currently in conflict with SIBORAP, and are to be implemented by all parties to financial transactions.

Any institutional efforts to create and/or market securities and/or derivative products that do not comply with the spirit of SIBORAP will result in fines to corporate officers and directors, congressional oversight committee members, regulatory agency directors, and their financial or legal counsel.

All derivative investment products of any kind, any investment programs or specific recommendations promoted in any medium by non-professionals and professionals alike, SEC …

Both presidential candidates want to crucify SEC Chairman Cox for failing to control our creative financial institutions. But rumor has it that Congress specifically excluded the devilish derivatives from SEC purview. Let’s fire the right bunch of “poips” for a change!

Scary markets are brought about by many factors, some normal, and some not so normal. It’s often helpful to look backwards before getting too paranoid about the present. The S & L crisis of the early 80s might be an appropriate starting point.

Later that decade, a multi-year rally had its head lopped off by high interest rates, high inflation, and a computer loop. Ten years later, another soaring market was toppled by economic factors. The turn of the century witnessed the bloody demise of the no-value-at-all dot-com illusion.

A profit taking strategy during the rally days was all that was …