As a member of the general public, I have pretty much kept my mouth shut about the $700 billion bailout Congress finalized last week. After all, it doesn’t really do any good for those of us in the general public to speak our minds; disillusion and abandonment are new requirements for a member of Congress.

However, me being a player in the metals business, which interacts with virtually every other industry in the US economy, I am inclined to agree with Sen. Pete Visclosky. In an article with American Metals Market, he said the following:

“Where was the bailout when real people, the people I represent, experienced financial crisis? When LTV when bankrupt, and thousands of people lost their jobs, President Bush didn’t sound the alarm. All I know is that Richard Fuld (CEO of Lehman Brothers) made $34,832,036 last year. When Bethlehem Steel retirees had their pensions cut, President Bush didn’t sound the alarm. All I know is that when Stan O’Neil (former CEO) retired from Merrill-Lynch, his compensation package was worth $16.5 million. When National Steel went bankrupt, did this administration ask for a bailout? All I know is that Freddie Mack’s Richard Syron made $18,289,575 in 2007. When Republic Steel went bust under this administration, they ceased to exist. On the other hand, AIG ceased to exist after a federal bailout, and no one asked Martin J. Sullivan of AIG to give back the $14,330,736 he was paid last year.”

I don’t agree wholeheartedly with the Senator, I am all for performance based incentive packages. But I do see his point. How is it that a CEO gets a $15 million severance from a company he turns belly up, and I can’t get the measly $5,000 I am still owed for hanging on until the very end? The four fellas mentioned above will probably have boards begging them to come to work; but, it took me seven months to find a job with a $10,000 pay cut. Personally, I am not bitter or even angry about my plight; it’s just the nature of the game we play when we grow up. But, I am a little miffed, though, that I’ll probably lose 10-20% of my 401(k), and now, with or without the bailout, Mr. Syron doesn’t really need one.

For what it’s worth, I think it is, was, and always will be a mistake of epic proportions, but then again, so does 70% of the rest of the general public.