Christmas, Christmas, time for cheer...

And unfortunately for many this year, time for tears.

It's been a tumultuous year no doubt.  With a financial collapse not seen since the Great Depression, and in some minds, still not nearly over, we're left to wonder what happened, and where do we go from here?

It's obvious that tighter regulation is the only answer.  I'm not saying MORE regulation, just more cops on the street so to speak.  The SEC has failed us.  Whether it be complicity on their part or just merely neglect they need to be held accountable, just as well as the corporate titans who led us into this morass.

In addition to tighter regulation I believe we need a system that punishes the Abe Maddoff's and other white collar criminals the same or even worse than the common thug who holds up a liquor store.  At least the thug is only affecting one life. Ken Lay, Abe Maddoff, and the like affect tens of thousands, maybe millions of lives with the chicanery they perform.  So why shouldn't they serve the same type of time, in the same penetetiaries as the common thug?

I feel Wall St. needs that Sword of Damicles hanging over their collective heads to keep them straight. You steal or cheat, you're going to jail.  And not the minimum security federal prison either.  Real jail!  There's just too much money and too many lives at stake these days.  And these type of scandals continue to chip away at the confidence of the average investor in the market.  The very fabric and foundation of our economic system is being erroded because with passing decade we are bludgeoned by ever larger and larger finanical crises and scandals.

If Americans choose to stop investing in the stock market, and instead choose safer vehicles like CD's, Treasury  Bonds, and Muni Bonds, we're in big trouble.  Corporate America needs that infusion of capital in order to expand and for research and development of new products.  Without it our economy will stagnate and even contract.

That is why I feel the punishment of these criminals needs to be more severe.  We're all affected by this, and those who are responsible need to pay.

Merry Christmas everyone!